colors becoming brown pls help

[mehmet]

hi everyone,

some of my sps turns brown in 1 month , my acropora florida turns totally brown except still green polyp extensions,

and my purple montipora again turns purple from brown, not totally but at the and i think its full brown

ontheotherhand my purple tort and acropora echinata doing so well in color.

and the other problem some of the acro's seems they will never grow

light: 2x 150w 14 k phoenix mh, 2x 24 w compact t5 blue
4x 39 w t5 3 actinics 1 white

my tank is 550 lt ,3 and half months old. with sump and 60 kg live rock.

i run schuran jetstream pico calcium reactor, and add daily QFİ aminvitmix,

and add nothingelse.

strontium,iod,elementmix etc. should i add?
what can be cause this color problem.


my water parameters:

nitrate:0
nitrite:0
phos.:0,1
kh:8,5 dkh.
ca:380
mg:1400
salt:1,025
ph:8,1

thanks everyone...

[gobind]

Hi could be the case, where the corals are placed to close to the light to soon. Slowly acclimatize them to the light. Also check your iodine levels, could be a bit on the low side.

[fishdoc11]

Browing is usually caused by high nutrients, mainly phosphate(which in your case is very possible with a 0.1 reading), stress(which is also very possible in your case with the corals being so new) or inadequate lighting or a combination of factors. Additives don't really have anything to do with it if you are using a good salt mix. You might try doing a search...lots and lots of threads in this forum over the years on browning.
hth, Chris

[Hockeydad]

Flow Flow Flow

[teen]

your calcium is kind of low. that could be the reason you arent seeing any growth.

[JackKerouac]

maybe the 150 watt light are not enought I would use 250 to keep a good color.
I think you'll have a better growth rate with it and color should come too.
As teen said also the calcium level is low

[Ti]

check po4

[JackKerouac]

true I didn't see it. I thought it was 0,01

[the_anti_honda]

I don't think lighting is his issues. I would suggest trying to get your Ca and alk up and getting rid of the po4 that you have. Also your pH is on the low side. If its at 8.1 on its peak you might want to buffer that up to about 8.3

[fishdoc11]

The readings for Ca, dKH and pH are all just fine and shouldn't cause any coloration or growth issues.

FWIW, Chris

[Bosphorus]

Bircok nedeni olabilir.Asagýdaki linki dikkatlice okumanýzý tavsiye ederim.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...threadid=39309

[Bugger]

Its a lighting issue. you need stonger light,coral color is like a persons tan. Get some good relectors and 400 watt bulbs and place those corals near the top of your tank. It may take 6 months to get the color back.

[dots]

I had 150's over my 75g and couldn't keep anything in good color until I upped to 250's. Before I switched I tried adjusting flow and water params all over the place.....

Without the energy to drive growth and color......brown stubs dominate as mine did.

But before you run out and buy new lights......switch to the highest PAR 10K bulb you can find, and check double check and triple check your params.....

You should get them to color up that way......But Ill tell you what, youll learn how to read SPS like spark plugs and know when to move them up or down when using 150's......

[grimreefer01]

your mg looks good.. like said above, cal is a little low.. i would raise it to around 475 - 500ppm.. This will accelerate growth!

as for color, im not too sure about how the tank perameters do with that.. i believe its mostly lighting when something browns out or doesnt color up.. could be the item isnt close enough to the light, or too far away, or just not used to the difference of where it came from.. I have had brown pieces turn blue, from placing them where they are happiest, and blue pieces turn brown from not being placed correctly..

always start at the bottom and work your way up slowly! if it wants high light, it will get there eventually... may brown out at first, but the color will come back if tank is kept properly..

It could also be that the coral was used to sunlight (wild caught corals) and changing it to at home lighting (mh, pc, vho, etc.) could cause it to remain brown forever! This is where buying an aquacultured piece comes in.. aquacultured = grown in a tank somewhere in captivity under home lighting (not sun as with mariculture).. If it grows somewhere aquaculturally, it should keep it color, or regain it upon loss..

hope that helps!

also as stated above, u may want to step up on the lighting a little.. i have a 75 gallon, or 283.89 liter tank and I run 2x250w HQI + 2x110w VHO

[mehmet]

thanks everyone,

i use tropic marine pro reef salt ,
weekly 50 liters water change,
my flow is around 10.000 liters p/hour

i think its enough light for 550 lt tank 500 W lightening
or am i wrong

[Brad A.]

IMO, its the lighting. I've obtained better growth and color with 250 watt bulbs.

The rest of your setup looks pretty good.

Brad

[twon8]

maybe change out some of your t5 actinic for blueplus or aquablue bulbs

[northbay-reefer]

your dkh and calcium relationship is not within range, if you have a dkh of 8 then your calcium should be at about 420. That is one problem. Go to the chemistry forum and look at the cal/alk chart

The other problem is your nutrient level is a little bit high, if you have brown diatom growing on your rock or your glass then your sps usually will brown out. Use a phospahte remover and frequent water change like 10% every two weeks.

As far as lighting goes I think you have plenty of lights