Sps skin losing color

[Tangina20]

I’m pretty new to sps I have a birdsnest, monti cap, and a red digi. My birdsnest is growing but all of the polyps turned from green to brown but the tips are still green. I thought it wasn’t getting enough light because of the brown color and I put it higher up and some branches are bleaching now, don’t birdsnest like a lot of light?? I don’t have my lights turned up crazy high (50% on a hydra 26).

My monti digi lost it’s red skin and is now white with red polyps. The one thing I noticed with all my sps is that you can really see each individual polyp instead of a nice full blended look. All params are good with a slight ammonia .25 after feeding and small salinity swings from 1/2 gallon a day evap on a 40 breeder.

I just upgraded from a Chinese black box to 2 hydra 26 so maybe the new lights will help. I have no clue what’s going on here.

 

[EmdeReef]

What are your tank parameters? High nitrates can cause browning.

Any chance of toxins introduction?

Also what changes have you made to the tank recently?

#reefsquad?

 

[Michael Llabona]

We need those tank parameters. Especially when we are talking about SPS.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Yes, water pramameters and how old is this tank? Picture would help too!

 

[Tangina20]

The base of the tank is 2 years but upgraded from a 20 to a 40 6 months ago.

Params
Salinity: 1.026
Temperature: 78
Alkalinity: 9 dkh
PH: 8.0
Ammonia: .25 0ppm
Nitrite: 0.03 ppm
Nitrate: 10 ppm
Phosphate: 0.ppm
Calcium: 450ppm

 

[Flippers4pups]

What test kit are you using for P04?

If using API test kit for ammonia, its likely error. Disregard it.

 

[Reefnewb]

If you’re detecting any ammonia that is a problem. Sps will not tolerate any ammonia, or any fluctuation similar.

 

[Flippers4pups]

If you’re detecting any ammonia that is a problem. Sps will not tolerate any ammonia, or any fluctuation similar.

Age of the tank, highly unlikely it has detectable ammonia.

Api ammonia kit at low range is off.

 

[Reefnewb]

Age of the tank, highly unlikely it has detectable ammonia.

Api ammonia kit at low range is off.

Odd Iv never registered .25 ammonia on an API kit after a cycle is completed.

 

[Flippers4pups]

@Tangina20, your likely P04 limited.

Having a good P04 test kit is needed. Hannah checker is a good one. P04 levels around 0.02 is a good place to start.

Seachems flourish phosphorus for planted freshwater tanks works well in our reef tanks to add P04. I personally used it with very good results. Just follow the instructions on dosing.

 

[Tangina20]

Odd Iv never registered .25 ammonia on an API kit after a cycle is completed.

I just tested the ro water and detected .25 in that there has to be something off with the test kit.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I just tested the ro water and detected .25 in that there has to be something off with the test kit.

If its API kit, yes they are known for being off at low ranges.

 

[Tangina20]

Does anyone think it’s a lighting issue?

 

[Flippers4pups]

Does anyone think it’s a lighting issue?

Going after one aspect at a time is always a good thing. Getting some P04 in the system is one.

Lights, spectrum and intensity is part of coral health. The lights you have are more than adequate to keep them healthy. Intensity sould be questioned, but the settings you have described should be good.

A sure fire way to see if they are set to what you need would be with a PAR meter. BRS rents them.

Most SPS corals will do very well between 200 par and 300 par.

If a PAR meter can't be had, you can use a LUX meter and do a conversion to PAR. It will get you close.

 

[Tangina20]

Going after one aspect at a time is always a good thing. Getting some P04 in the system is one.

Lights, spectrum and intensity is part of coral health. The lights you have are more than adequate to keep them healthy. Intensity sould be questioned, but the settings you have described should be good.

A sure fire way to see if they are set to what you need would be with a PAR meter. BRS rents them.

Most SPS corals will do very well between 200 par and 300 par.

If a PAR meter can't be had, you can use a LUX meter and do a conversion to PAR. It will get you close.

Any recommendations On the p04, I have a really low bioload with only 2 fish in 55 gallons of water and feed small amounts every other day

 

[Flippers4pups]

Any recommendations On the p04, I have a really low bioload with only 2 fish in 55 gallons of water and feed small amounts every other day

Having a good test kit thats accurate for it is one. 0.02-0.04. is a good range to have.

I recently had my SPS pale on me. I'm not one to test P04 on a regular basis and hadn't in sometime. A member here suggested that i test for P04 and found that i was at 0.00. He suggested adding some phosphate.

I added seachems flourish phosphorus as directed on the bottle till my test kit read 0.02. within a couple of weeks they all regained color.

I suspect this may be the case with your corals.

 

[Tangina20]

Having a good test kit thats accurate for it is one. 0.02-0.04. is a good range to have.

I recently had my SPS pale on me. I'm not one to test P04 on a regular basis and hadn't in sometime. A member here suggested that i test for P04 and found that i was at 0.00. He suggested adding some phosphate.

I added seachems flourish phosphorus as directed on the bottle till my test kit read 0.02. within a couple of weeks they all regained color.

I suspect this may be the case with your corals.

I will give it a try thanks a lot!

 

[Flippers4pups]

Having N03 around 5ppm and P04 at 0.02 is a good starting point.

 

[Tangina20]

View attachment 923189

View attachment 923190

Having N03 around 5ppm and P04 at 0.02 is a good starting point.

Looks awesome how big is your tank?

 

[Flippers4pups]

125 gallon.