GSP problems

So my roommate had purchased GSP and they have never really come out very well ever since he put them in his 20g tank.

I have a 60 gallon under a mixture of PCs and T5s and my GSP are doing great..

After 3 months of having the GSP in my roommates tank he decided to let me throw them in mine to see if they would come out.. After 2 days they are all out and look a lot better in my tank..

We tested his water everything comes out nicely except his alk is at 4.
He is running 4 24W T5 HO current usa bulbs.. 2 (420 actinics) and 2 (10000k Day bulbs). Would these bulbs be an issue or could it be something else.. We have tried raising flow and other tips but nothing has worked.

Calcium 460 Ph 8 Alk 4 Nitrate 10

 

i do believe your alk should be at between 7 and 10. use a buffer to raise. what is the alk in your tank???

 

I always thought you wanted an alk between 1.9 and 2.8... My alk is at 2.3 i would say

Im doing it on milli equaivalents per liter btw not dkh

 

different ways of measuring the same thing, depends on the test kit you have to some degree

DKH - total carbonate hardness - measured in ppm
Alk - measured in miligrams per litre

it gets confusing but you both right, if that helps?

Steve

 

any idea why they like my tank and not his..? could it be lighting?>

 

some corals just tend to thrive more under certain conditions.. there may not be a problem in either one of your tanks.. it just works out to be liket hat sometimes

 

Just a suggestion, how you considered the flow?

 

Does he know how old his bulbs are?