Acro color loss (1 Viewer)

[Tstew32]

Have a couple different SPS and noticed my Acros have been losing color. Tank is 3 years old and have a ton of LPS also. Everything is looking great except the color loss in two acros. Dose two part b-ionic via doser and run about half amounts of GFO with a large skimmer and fuge. It's 27 gallons and is lit by a hydra 26.


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[webster1234]

It might be helpful if you post your nutrient levels (PO4, NO3) along with Alk, Calcium, Magnesium. Are you dosing anything for color such as amino acids, trace elements, etc.?

 

[Tstew32]

It might be helpful if you post your nutrient levels (PO4, NO3) along with Alk, Calcium, Magnesium. Are you dosing anything for color such as amino acids, trace elements, etc.?

Cal-420
Alk-9.3
Mag-1440
PO4-0.04 hanna ULR
NO3-2

Used to dose fuel but could see more algae issues while using


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[webster1234]

Levels look good. My guess would be they are hungry. I use Fuel also and like it. Are you dosing any trace elements? I does Fuel along with trace elements, strontium, and iodine. I seem to keep pretty good color doing that. Your nutrient levels are pretty low. Hungry corals is my guess.

 

[Tstew32]

Levels look good. My guess would be they are hungry. I use Fuel also and like it. Are you dosing any trace elements? I does Fuel along with trace elements, strontium, and iodine. I seem to keep pretty good color doing that. Your nutrient levels are pretty low. Hungry corals is my guess.

Thanks for the reply. I target feed reef roids once a week. I will try feeding fish more as I don't feed them daily. It's very hard to keep stable conditions in a small tank. It's also hard to keep balanced nutrient levels without getting algae.


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[webster1234]

how many gallons?

 

[FarmerTy]

What lighting are you running? How many hours/day? How high off your tank?

Also, another big culprit is pests. If you have red bugs, black bugs, gray bugs, or AEFW, they would cause your acros to lose color as well as polyp extension.

 

[Tstew32]

What lighting are you running? How many hours/day? How high off your tank?

Also, another big culprit is pests. If you have red bugs, black bugs, gray bugs, or AEFW, they would cause your acros to lose color as well as polyp extension.

Thanks for reply. I run hydra 26 about 8-10" off water. I have an Acro crab in there so I think he may help out with pests. I run peak lighting for 4 hours maxing at 30%. Attached is my lighting schedule.

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[FarmerTy]

FWIW, the acro crabs were useless for me. When I first started I kept a bunch of them in my 125-gallon 3 tanks ago and still got red bugs and AEFW.

 

[Tstew32]

FWIW, the acro crabs were useless for me. When I first started I kept a bunch of them in my 125-gallon 3 tanks ago and still got red bugs and AEFW.

I would like to say I over look at night and day at things to be bothering it.


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[FarmerTy]

While I can't point to anything, taking a couple steps to maybe eliminate potential issues may be worth it. I'd dip the acros in Bayer dip and see if the color improves. Maybe even dose interceptor in the tank just in case for red bugs. It'll kill pods and maybe some worms though.

 

[Diesel]

Pics would be great.
What kind of color loss?
Did you had a spike in the last few weeks?
How do you dose and the amount is based on what consumption rate?

 

[Tstew32]

I will post a picture at lunch. From

To a pale blue. Consumption rate was taken over a weeks time without dosing to get a daily consumption rate. And I am running a doser.


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[Tstew32]

Also a recent change was two ai prime to a hydra 26 HD. Primes were not HD.


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[FarmerTy]

Also a recent change was two ai prime to a hydra 26 HD. Primes were not HD.


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How recent was the change? That's pretty common to lose color during lighting changes.

 

[Tstew32]

How recent was the change? That's pretty common to lose color during lighting changes.

About two weeks ago.


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[FarmerTy]

About two weeks ago.


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And where the corals colored up before that?

 

[emixa]

not to steel your thunder but i am noticing the same thing. i even saw some STN happening on some hardier pieces. While it would be nice to dip, I cant. Mine are on rocks. I dont see bugs.

About a week ago, i did change my Radiums, and i noticed that all this started after i changed or cleaned my CARX and had some fluctuations in ALK levels which are now stable again. On some of my corals, i noticed the lack of PE.

Vitals:

Salinity: 1.026
Alk: 8.3-8.6
Cal: 480-500
Magnesium: 1500 - 1520
Phosp: .06
Nitrate: .02

I am running GFO and Bio-Pellets

 

[Tstew32]

And where the corals colored up before that?

I feel like more so than now.


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[reeftopia]

When I was suffering color loss finally came down I was running to me reactors cleaning the water and was starving my corals. Cut down on the reactors
and color came right back.