55 gallon SPS reef- new additions (12/18/14)

i love selcon. best thing ive ever done for feeding my fish and corals

 

I was reading and have some thoughts:

Through my readings, I found that it is not the zooanthelle that provide the pigment- they are brown in color. The coral itself provides the pigment we enjoy. Elevated nutrients causes a coral to brown by fertilizing the zooanthelle, causing their population to explode.

If my nutrients are low, why are the zooanthelle in such high abundance in my coral tissue?

 

the high amount of light you have?

 

Do you think they are acting as a sunblock? Common thought is that coral shed zooanthelle and lighten up when getting too much light.

 

Took the GFO offline last night. Tested my phosphates today and they are at .024 ppm. That's approaching a the .03 to .05 range, so that's good. Better than the 0.003 I was reading weeks ago.

 

The zooxanthellae adapt and change with the intensity of light. You get the best blues and yellow under the most intense lighting as long as phos or other nutrients are not affecting the coloration. The bright coloration is zooxanthellae types that protect the coral from UV waves.

The tropical sun is vastly more intense than any MH you have.

Yes I always agree to light acclimate to a new fixture or lighting type. If this is the bulb/fixture the corals have been under I would not expect the corals to loose color.

Many a tank has 400 w Radiums, multiple bulbs, with the most stunning colors imaginable.

I agree drop the GFO or cut the amount, feed the corals and if you believe lighting is playing a factor raise the fixture.

 

Well I cut the GFO and raised the light (last Sunday) 3 inches. I also bought some Reef Nutrition Oyster Feast, which is advertised as SPS food. I am starting to add Amino acids again.

All minor changes that should put the final touches on my massive overhaul these last several months. We finally have growth, now we just need to fine tune.

 

I lied. The sample had bubbles in it when I took it. The reading was 0.006 ppm.

 

lollololol

 

After reading a lot and speaking with several local reefers, I decided to add two fish to my system.

A well respected LFS (SPS king) told me that I was running a zeovit like system but I wasn't adding the necessary stripped organics/nutrients/minerals (whatever it is) that was being removed from all of my filtration methods.

He advised me to cut the reactor (which I did the other day) and cut my halides back to 6 hours and run supplementation (not really an option) at other times.

Adding the well fed fish is step one and then if I want, I can dose amino acids as well (which I do now).

He said cut the vinegar dosing (which I did last week). He said vodka and sugar are much better sources but that I don't need to dose either.

He said get my mag up closer to 1350 (which I did last week) and that my other numbers were spot on.

All in all, he agrees that their is a deficiency (I don't think anyone really knows what it is. I don't think it's phosphate or nitrate per say, but those numbers may indicate that our mystery nutrient(s) are available) in my tank and that a larger bioload should be the trick. He said give it a month or two and things should improve. He stated that things may brown out before coloring back up, which seems to be spot on from my readings.

BTW, I added a bicolor chromis (black w/ white tail) and a blue damsel (yellow tail). The bicolor is a little bigger than the (biotch) Sebae clownfish and the clown doesn't mess with him/here (awesome news). The blue damsel is eating and adjusting well, but is being bullied a little. He doesn't really back down though.