I will literally quit this hobby! Corals lose colors in a matter of days or weeks
Dolphins18
Valuable Member
Do you know what the DKH is? 35 PPM would be very low and 35 DKH would be super high, usually it should be between 7-8 DKH, things can easily have issues above 8.5.
Goaway
10K Club member
Sounds more like SG. That number doesn't really work for alk.
35ppm, I don't think they'd have puffy hammers.
Dolphins18
Valuable Member
Not a problem there. I like to run a little lower but that shouldn't be an issue. Maybe try pulling the carbon? ICP shows no contaminants the carbon may not really be serving a purpose. Not sure that will help anything, but i've run into some burnt acro tips due to high amounts of carbon in the past. Never seen any LPS affected by carbon however.
So, I notice your iodine shows up as 0 on your ICP test. That doesn't necessarily mean there isn't any - the margin of error on the test may not be able to give you the accurate number. BUT, it is odd you're dosing for it and it shows undetectable. How much Iod are you dosing? What frequency?
Also, have you cross referenced your iodine levels with another test like Salifert's? Maybe you actually have way more iodine than you think?
A look on Tropic Marin's website shows it's basically Lugol's solution, so elementary I2 in solution. I don't know if your carbon would readily uptake this, but algae in your system would. Iodine is present in several forms in seawater (iodate, etc) and its chemistry in seawater is complex.
Did the color change start when you began dosing iodine? Iodine can affect coral coloration, along with lighting and nutrients.
Also, it doesn't look like it's affecting ALL your coral, just a select few. I'd look at the timing of it and how recent the problem is. Solving coral coloration issues is likely gonna be a process of elimination, and multiple factors could be contributing. There's a lot of complex chemistry that goes into excitation of fluorescent pigments and zooxanthellae growth in corals.
What happens if you just stop dosing iodine, add a bit of white light? I'm not sure that there should be such a significant shortage of iodine in your water that it would cause this issue. As RHF has pointed out, food contains plenty of trace elements that we often forget, and the jury is still out if there is a benefit to dosing iodine (at least in stony corals - gorgonians MIGHT see a benefit as they incorporate it into their structure more).
Also, have you cross referenced your iodine levels with another test like Salifert's? Maybe you actually have way more iodine than you think?
A look on Tropic Marin's website shows it's basically Lugol's solution, so elementary I2 in solution. I don't know if your carbon would readily uptake this, but algae in your system would. Iodine is present in several forms in seawater (iodate, etc) and its chemistry in seawater is complex.
Did the color change start when you began dosing iodine? Iodine can affect coral coloration, along with lighting and nutrients.
Also, it doesn't look like it's affecting ALL your coral, just a select few. I'd look at the timing of it and how recent the problem is. Solving coral coloration issues is likely gonna be a process of elimination, and multiple factors could be contributing. There's a lot of complex chemistry that goes into excitation of fluorescent pigments and zooxanthellae growth in corals.
What happens if you just stop dosing iodine, add a bit of white light? I'm not sure that there should be such a significant shortage of iodine in your water that it would cause this issue. As RHF has pointed out, food contains plenty of trace elements that we often forget, and the jury is still out if there is a benefit to dosing iodine (at least in stony corals - gorgonians MIGHT see a benefit as they incorporate it into their structure more).
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I just realized what the problem is
You have to stop looking at corals on Instagram
JK... Your tank looks great. A lot better than my LFS's "high end" tank, which is where corals go to brown out.
In my opinion, you've got a good approach and are doing things smartly. Things may just need more time. The worst thing to do is to chase a bunch of random "fixes" because people are telling you your alk is half a point too high or whatever.
You also have to brace for real emergencies! Doing this for years, there will be some serious challenges and obstacles that seem impossible. They work out if you have patience.
You have to stop looking at corals on Instagram
JK... Your tank looks great. A lot better than my LFS's "high end" tank, which is where corals go to brown out.
In my opinion, you've got a good approach and are doing things smartly. Things may just need more time. The worst thing to do is to chase a bunch of random "fixes" because people are telling you your alk is half a point too high or whatever.
You also have to brace for real emergencies! Doing this for years, there will be some serious challenges and obstacles that seem impossible. They work out if you have patience.
I agree - it's actually a very nice looking tank. The hammer coral losing all its yellow is odd, but the elegance looks arguably better. I'd take losing color any day over a bubble algae war.
big oof, sorry man
See that's what I'm talking about! Nice mate!
I flooded my basement day before yesterday too, actually. It gives me an ongoing response to the times my wife asks about carpeting the basement. So that's nice.
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