SPS turning brown

[oceanviper]

coz i have watched my sps die from STN disease over a period of time...these creatures will try to fight back and survive...so it will drag...the fastest i ever witnessed was 2 days...whole thing botak...fast n furious...

Hi Siang bro...

I encountered the 2days RTN for my staghorn and rest of the SPS....

Not to mentioned that my purple valida RTN in 24hrs.....

[TayHongSiang]

Hi Siang bro...

I encountered the 2days RTN for my staghorn and rest of the SPS....

Not to mentioned that my purple valida RTN in 24hrs.....

that's the thing abt the dark side...every morning and every night, i have to inspect my sps b4 i sleep...after trying out a few months...this is affecting my sex life...i decide to give up....but unknowingly i got myself a plating monti which GO told me it's krup coral, in thai or cup coral, in english...

[MarcoVan]

WOW, this is really some god-like discussion here! Keep it going yea!

Anyway just to chip in why sps turns brown are:

1) Lights

2) Nutrient Level ie. PO4 especially

Imo, those 2 above are critical to maintaining a thriving SPS tank. Low lights can cause SPS to lose color while high nutrients can also cause the SPS to brown out.

[braincoral]

Sps turn brown because of high nutrient

!!

Thats why only two fishes in my tank!!

I never feed my sps for the past 6 mths

....

[JizzHut]

thanks all for the input.. i will try to do what you guys have adviced.

besides ahsiang, anyone's sex life affected? haha

[AloysiusMun]

Great Sharing! I did not know about the KH portion. Wah. I better watch my KH once my SPS grows into larger colonies!

[yellowtang]

that's the thing abt the dark side...every morning and every night, i have to inspect my sps b4 i sleep...after trying out a few months...this is affecting my sex life...

Great Scott !!! Learn to devote daytime to reefing and nighttime to bedding !

cheers

[desideria]

And I didn't realise lemon KNEW SO MUCH about WOMEN...and the direct corelation with SPS!!!!!

AHEM AHEM!

[TayHongSiang]

And I didn't realise lemon KNEW SO MUCH about WOMEN...and the direct corelation with SPS!!!!!

AHEM AHEM!

well..u can start some sps...the feeling is better than pms

[MarcoVan]

well..u can start some sps...the feeling is better than pms

[JizzHut]

where do SPS get thier food source from? light + Kh Ca and Mg?

[yikai]

kh, mg, ca are just building blocks needed to build the calcium carbonate skeleton.

they get majority of their food from a symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae that lives inside the tissue and cells of the SPS. this zooxanthellae is found on other photosynthetic corals.

the zooxanthellae photosynthesizes and produces sugars that feed the SPS.

also they obtain nutrients from plankton and other suspended food particles, which they consume primarily at night. this makes up a smaller part of their nutrition.

[MarcoVan]

kh, mg, ca are just building blocks needed to build the calcium carbonate skeleton.

they get majority of their food from a symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae that lives inside the tissue and cells of the SPS. this zooxanthellae is found on other photosynthetic corals.

the zooxanthellae photosynthesizes and produces sugars that feed the SPS.

also they obtain nutrients from plankton and other suspended food particles, which they consume primarily at night. this makes up a smaller part of their nutrition.

Just to add on, sps gets food from fish poo! You can skip a weekly/monthly AA dosing etc if you feed heavily.

Fish poo helps!

[TayHongSiang]

Just to add on, sps gets food from fish poo! You can skip a weekly/monthly AA dosing etc if you feed heavily.

Fish poo helps!

yep...that's the best sps food! but sometimes the wave too strong...dun know whether they get to eat these sheets..

[MarcoVan]

yep...that's the best sps food! but sometimes the wave too strong...dun know whether they get to eat these sheets..

HAHA! I dont know. Hope it does

Similarly, you can stir ABIT of your sandbed to give food to your sps and corals

[thairun]

TS had bring good discussion on SPS issues here. Mod should this thread move to SPS and Advanced Reefkeeping forum?

For him I seconded Wilson checklists that you MUST follow. Am not an expert, I discovered you use kind of enzymes to remove PO4? Goodbye PO4 I believed. In general all this products are very effective and myself using more powerful enzymes for commercial use from US to help my PO4 issues that make my SPS one time browning! This incident happened due to believing chemical test given by some test kits as Sherman mentioned. Hanna photometer or checker now a days the reliable one,

Enzymes removing PO4 is excellent in doing the job BUT with a good working skimmer in compliment. As this enzymes will precipitate instantly your PO4 in the water column and normally make the water chalky right? This precipitates should be skimmed out at that instant. But thats not possible as some residue will slip and deposited in you live rocks and DSB. Due time you have accumlated PO4 residue in your SB as well as in your rocks provided you have a good wavemakers to push and aggitate them out in the water column and skim by your skimmer. I recommend wavebox or kind of wavemaker like MP40 that perform wave movement/ surges to flush the rocks in between. They also bring food to your coral on the low gradient side (if you reed more about how water flow is important for corals than light), Then your SB you need good crews of sand shifter to stir the. The rest skimmer will do the Job. So if you keep on pouring this PO4 remover it will not do good infact detrimental in long run. Counter productive. Its JMHO.

IME, 2ndly browning may come from not enough light. My recommend is MH 250W at least or Good reliable HO t5 tube suffice for the job.

There so many issues on enhancing colors and preventing STN/RTN. Have faced this numerous time and am still learning. +1 on the issues of KH! as Mr Cedric brought out, That is another killer of SPS.

Actually SPS keeping is very challanging that the interesting part when you later see how they shoot and grow. Learning distance that never end. PATIENT is the key I bet.

Happy 'sps'ing

[TayHongSiang]

i'm using LaCl3 to remove po4....powerful chemical n cheap...but not suitable for sps tanks...coz most of the time the skimmer cannot pull out the residue quick enough and it floods my filter socks within mins with all the residue...but water will be crystal clear the next day....

one of the factors that cause my sps to botak also....the drop in po4 is too sudden + residue...

and one thing, cannot scrub your tank too thoroughly until your water is cloudy n full of floating algae...sps also cannot tahan...

[yikai]

topic moved to SPS forum.

[JizzHut]

okay.. i'm abit late to read this, pour 5ml of GdbyeP04 just now. My SPS is botak after 6 days =(((((((((

So its dead right?

sad

[thairun]

i'm using LaCl3 to remove po4....powerful chemical n cheap...but not suitable for sps tanks...coz most of the time the skimmer cannot pull out the residue quick enough and it floods my filter socks within mins with all the residue...but water will be crystal clear the next day....

one of the factors that cause my sps to botak also....the drop in po4 is too sudden + residue...

and one thing, cannot scrub your tank too thoroughly until your water is cloudy n full of floating algae...sps also cannot tahan...

Agree with you Ah Siang, sudden dropped in PO4 will have adverse effect on corals. In fact most parameter should never be adjusted drastically within hrs. In my case the deployment of the PO4 remover lately make my 3 LPS STNed as they had been comfort with certain value for years. I dropped it value from 0.16 to 0.056ppm (checked by hanna) in 2 days.

In another case also one occasion at sudden 3 deg elevated due to chiller pump not working my SPS RTNed within 8hrs. So corals especially SPS sitting at comfortable zone of temp 26-27 deg or lower thru the year will be shocked at that big margin temp rise. Recommendation best around equatorial water temp near 29deg. If any fault in chiller temp rise it will be small. Though there are pros and cons keeping coral at high temp.

Yes bro you should not disturb stable colonised bacterial system in the tank like what you had said wall of your tank, rock works and SB etc. Anything you have to adjust will have to do in small adjustment.

Yap very sad Jizz, recommnd you change your skimmer at an oversize 1.5- 2X if your skimmer is under rated. Mean while WC at 15-20% using good salt mix and siphon all possible detritus and blow the rock works. Most importantly monitor your water parameter stable KH/Cal/Mg/Sr/temp/Sg tro out these week.

[TayHongSiang]

okay.. i'm abit late to read this, pour 5ml of GdbyeP04 just now. My SPS is botak after 6 days =(((((((((

So its dead right?

sad

yep...haha..

[divinesloth]

For SPS, how fast can we raise the parameters for Ca, Mg and Alk?

Thanks!

[thairun]

For SPS, how fast can we raise the parameters for Ca, Mg and Alk?

Thanks!

We are OT though anyway here is the safe calculator if you dose them. Come with proper advice for dosing of the supplement.

http://reef.diesyst.com/cf/chemcalccf.html

Cheers

[MarcoVan]

For SPS, how fast can we raise the parameters for Ca, Mg and Alk?

Thanks!

you want the honest opinion or the layman one?

Honest one is slow and steady.

Layman one is "JUST HOOT AH!"

Personally I dump my salts and have not observed any ill-effects to my tank. But I do make it a point to measure my Ca/kH/Mg levels before my dumping. I won't anyhow dump for no reason and I got a 500ml Seachem old Reef Buffer bottle as my measuring cup for the amount of salt. I don't weigh the right amount, just agar agar

If you want something really precise, go computer dosing or draw up a chart on your sps consumption over 2 weeks. Measure the levels depleted and adjust your dosing accordingly. For my tank, I notice the levels drop within 2 weeks ie from 500ppm Ca to 410ppm Ca and 1500ppm Mg to 1260ppm Mg. After which I will mix the relevant salts and dump into my overflow.

Personally I cannot be bothered to measure kH because it's forever hovering around 6-7; I will be happy if I can get 8! hurhur. :X but that does not stop me from dosing NaHCO3 to the tank everyday. 2 teaspoons and into the sump! (:

I think there's a certain set of rules and do-nots for a sps reef. The thing however is to find somethings that suit you and your lifestyle best (:

Hope this helps.

P.S: The above methodology is solely based on myself and my HongKong buddies. Please be careful when you exercise my method. Like I say, there are certain do-nots in a reef tank. You gotta find something that suit you. Mine is like a guideline. In case you overdose your tank by a bit and you panick, you will at least feel assured that there's a goondu outside in Singapore doing the same thing as you (:

[MarcoVan]

yep...haha..

why did you pour so much?

Personally for removal of GFO, I will recommend Rowa or Sorb4; small amount in a FR (: