Reason for dull/faded colors in sps

tinman

tinman

Well-known member
i did a google search on this topic and my head started spinning, so thought id ask here and see what you guys say.

My system params first
Alk - 7.5 ( trying to increase it to 8.5 slowly)
Calc - 420 (trying to get to 460
Mag - 1260

Nitrates - 0.75 to 1 ppm
phosphates - 0.03

so almost all my corals are doing fine and are colored up nicely. except two corals. ... the procorals rainbow acro and the wwc SOTR milli.. ( they are in high light (around 600-700 PAR) and medium-high flow)

they have been in the same spot since i put them in the tank, only thing i changed is the location of the mp10 ( really doubt if this would have any affect) and increased the whites from 4.5 hours to 6.5 hours,

the pinks on both the corals are fading .. the pink/red color is still there but they are soo dull it almost looks like white mixed with red pink.

i decreased the whites duration back to 4.5 hours.


now the second question .. .i am under the impression Blue only lighting wont cause bleaching under corals .. is this true or does blues also cause coral bleaching ?
 
How long have you had the lackluster sps in your tank? I've noticed that red corals lose the most color when it put them in my tank. Then they color up for a few months. It has happened to me twice now.

I almost thought a red prostrata that I put in had RTN. It was almost white with red polyps. Now it is almost all red again, just like it was in the seller's tank. Same thing happened with a red stag. I put it in the back of my tank because it was so white and ugly. The one day I noticed it was coloring up. Now it's a beautiful red.

If these are newer pieces, I'd give them some time.
 
About 2 months

They are super colorful for the first 2 or so weeks and then slowly started fading and now the rainbow is to the point where it's like really pale pink.

I can see the rainbow loosing color like on a weekly basis but at the same time green on it very vibrant
 
I'm having the same issue tin. My parameters have been stable for months with all my params in check and I've noticed my colors have been fading also. It's driving me nuts. If you figure it out let me know lol
 
Joe5688 said:
I'm having the same issue tin. My parameters have been stable for months with all my params in check and I've noticed my colors have been fading also. It's driving me nuts. If you figure it out let me know lol
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For me only these 2 joe

Other have the deeper rich colors they are supposed to
 
SOTR Milli is known to never look like it is supposed to (original mother colony). Blue light DOES bleach coral (not sure who told you it didn't), in fact it carries a higher PAR level than white light, in general. I've found that the best thing for getting red/orange/pink to show properly has been a good Cool White chip from CREE or a single red chip in a large array. Really though, the best reds I've seen have been in tanks lit by T5/Halide.
 
I have this problem on a millie and a small acro frag too lol though i did notice the blue finally coming out on the millie.
 
Do you really want to raise your Alk that high? You seem to have a pretty low nutrient system. If I go above 7.5 Alk, I get some RTN from the base of my SPS. As Sawdonkey said, I'd give them time to adjust.
 
SkullV said:
SOTR Milli is known to never look like it is supposed to (original mother colony). Blue light DOES bleach coral (not sure who told you it didn't), in fact it carries a higher PAR level than white light, in general. I've found that the best thing for getting red/orange/pink to show properly has been a good Cool White chip from CREE or a single red chip in a large array. Really though, the best reds I've seen have been in tanks lit by T5/Halide.
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Hmm may be thats the reason .. i leave my blues at 100% all the way from 12 noon to 11 at night, that seems too long if blue bleaches coral too. But i have always done that even in my zoas/palys tank and everything colored up nicely. Time to rethink the schedule then.

Maxspect razors ( that im currently running) have 4 cool whites and 4 warm whites and warm whites should provide for the red spectrum, or so i thought.

The Sotr Milli i got my piece from looks just like the picture if not better and that tank is lighted up by Ai Sols.

im soo lost ..
 
I get better pinks in lower light. Since i got rid of lot of white bulds and added tons of blue i get a 20k look and coral colors r better then they ever been. Maybe they in to much light .my short cake loves the high 700 par but the red in my red planet is better at 250 par. If its only two corals doing it my guess be they aint happy in that par range. But what do i know
 
ghostman said:
Do you really want to raise your Alk that high? You seem to have a pretty low nutrient system. If I go above 7.5 Alk, I get some RTN from the base of my SPS. As Sawdonkey said, I'd give them time to adjust.
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so just stay around 8 ? even with kalk dosing my alk is swinging between 7.5 - 7.9

also that term low nutrients always confuses me .. low nutrient means low on both phosphates and nitrates right ?? but my nitrates are around 0.75-1 ppm. :(
 
madjoe said:
I get better pinks in lower light. Since i got rid of lot of white bulds and added tons of blue i get a 20k look and coral colors r better then they ever been. Maybe they in to much light .my short cake loves the high 700 par but the red in my red planet is better at 250 par. If its only two corals doing it my guess be they aint happy in that par range. But what do i know
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thats what im trying to achieve by lowering the white light time. mine being a small tank i cant really move the corals :( sucks having a nano i think. so light and flow are the only things i can play with.


Also it would really help if sps pros post their Nitrate levels :D is 0.75 -1 ppm too much ?
 
I keep below 7.5 Alk, and get better colors with 0.05 PO4, and 5 NO3. If I go too low on any of those parameters, I get duller colors and some STN from the base.
 
ghostman said:
I keep below 7.5 Alk, and get better colors with 0.05 PO4, and 5 NO3. If I go too low on any of those parameters, I get duller colors and some STN from the base.
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Interesting. Thanks for the info. Do you target feed your sps, if so, even then below .05 and 5 and you get base up STN? Is it very slow STN?
 
ghostman said:
I keep below 7.5 Alk, and get better colors with 0.05 PO4, and 5 NO3. If I go too low on any of those parameters, I get duller colors and some STN from the base.
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Very interesting

Do you run any Gfo, pellets ?? Would love to know about your setup in detail please


Did you mean 5 or 0.5 ppm on nitrates ??

And what lights and lighting schedules do you run??
 
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Didn't mean to hijack in any way...
I run a GFO reactor and used a bio denitrator in the past. When my parameters approached 0.0 (PO4 and NO3), my colors dulled. I added more fish, fed more, and kept my PO4 around 0.3, and my NO3 less than 5.0. Colors are more vibrant, and SPS look healthier. If my Alk gets above 7.5 or so, I get slow STN from some bases of acros mostly. This stops if I get my Alk in check. My lighting is Hyperion full spectrum LEDs.
 
ghostman said:
Didn't mean to hijack in any way...
I run a GFO reactor and used a bio denitrator in the past. When my parameters approached 0.0 (PO4 and NO3), my colors dulled. I added more fish, fed more, and kept my PO4 around 0.3, and my NO3 less than 5.0. Colors are more vibrant, and SPS look healthier. If my Alk gets above 7.5 or so, I get slow STN from some bases of acros mostly. This stops if I get my Alk in check. My lighting is Hyperion full spectrum LEDs.
Click to expand...
No hijack .. your post is very helpful.

so you stopped running GFO and everything now ? just waterchanges now ?
 
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