Acro Very Pale but Growing Well?

[Zakary2003]

Hey everyone. I'm new to acropora. I have a 20 gallon waterbox AIO mixed tank that has some very happy montiporas, so I wanted to try some acropora.

I bought jello shot, paletta pink tip, and green slimer acros from my LFS.

The paletta pink tip and green slimer are looking and growing great, and both have great color (for a green acro) and great polyp extension.

The jello shot acro is the exception. It started out red, then turned green after a few weeks in my tank. Now, it's totally pale and only shows flourescence under violet or UV light. The weird part, however, is that it's actually growing faster than the other two acros. It's the only one that has encrusted off of the frag plug and onto the main rock.

Is the coral unhealthy/dying or is it healthy but just not showing the best colors? What could I do to help it color up again? It's been in my tank since early November.

Params:
Calc 420 (red sea test kit)
Alk 9.1 (hanna checker)
pH 7.8 (neptune apex probe)
Mag 1370 (red sea test kit)
Nitrate ~0.2 (salifert test kit, it could even be 0)
Phosphate .03 (hanna checker)
Salinity 35ppt (waterbox brand refractometer)
Ammonia and nitrite 0ppm (API marine master kit)

I feed reef roids 1x per week. I also dose amino acids 2x per week at the recommendations of the LFS owner.

Parameters are maintained with All for Reef, but since my alk uptake is higher than my calc uptake I sometimes have to add extra alkalinity in the form of the alk part of 2 part.

Jello shot acro is under ~300 PAR, and it was under ~350-400 PAR at the fish store according to the owner. Light is an AI Hydra 32.

I've heard that low nitrates can make corals pale and I'm thinking that's probably my issue, but I don't want to take any actions without getting an opinion from someone with more experience.

I've attached two different pictures of the coral taken just now from two different angles.

 

[thedon986]

Probably the low nutrients those are both within testing margin of being actually zero

 

[Zakary2003]

Probably the low nutrients those are both within testing margin of being actually zero

Alright. How do I raise my nutrients? I already feed heavy and don't go out of my way to control them... I just have a couple mangrove plants for decoration in the filter and a protein skimmer. Are mangroves really that efficient?

I feed frozen food and pellets 2x per day, plus the reef roids 1x per week and amino acids 2x per week.

 

[spsick]

That’s encrusting awesome. Feed a little more to get that nitrate up and you’ll be fine!

 

[thedon986]

DIY trisodium phosphate and diy ammonia dosing are good options. Corals love ammonia.

 

[bradreef]

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Quick update on my 300 gallon system: I originally began dosing 26ml once a day, then increased to 2 times a day, then up to 4 times a day manually but have since switched to automated dosing. Started with 60ml spread out over 24 hours, every 20 minutes. My NO3 actually increased...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[klc]

Just realized this thread has had no activity for 30 days

I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but here's what I would do...
I would stop using reefroids and amino acid, nothing good will come from using those.
I'd get some sodium nitrate and either determine the correct dose for your tank or add just a pinch and retest nitrate the next day to get it to 5-10, 1 small pinch is likely enough in a 20.
I'd get some trisodium phosphate and mix 20grams with 1 liter of rodi and add 1-2ml a day to maintain your phosphate at 0.06-0.10.
I'd use soda ash to get your pH over 8. It's mixed 376grams to 1 gallon of rodi and dosed according to your tanks needs, you'll have to do some trial and error to get the dose just right, It looks like you add this already. If your alk is in the 9s and your pH is less than 8, I'd suggest perhaps more surface agitation for better gas exchange.

And fwiw, higher par and alk with very low nutrients will cause acros to pale out rather quickly. If you get your nutrients up and are able to maintain them without too much fluctuation your acros will color up in a few weeks.

 

[Zakary2003]

I would stop using reefroids and amino acid, nothing good will come from using those.

I was under the impression that amino acids and reefroids were great food sources for corals and were good for raising nutrients... can you explain why that's a bad thing? A lot of people swear by them, which is why I started dosing them in the first place.

I'd get some sodium nitrate and either determine the correct dose for your tank or add just a pinch and retest nitrate the next day to get it to 5-10, 1 small pinch is likely enough in a 20.

I've been dosing a liquid nitrate additive and ammonium chloride and nitrates are hanging around 2ppm at the maximun daily doses. My mangroves are definitely growing a lot better now, even if the tests arent reflecting a significant nutrient increase. The acro is starting to turn a darker green and there's a very slight hint of red pigments when it's under full blues and you look through a yellow/orange filter. It's nowhere near like when I bought it, but it's coming back.

I'd get some trisodium phosphate and mix 20grams with 1 liter of rodi and add 1-2ml a day to maintain your phosphate at 0.06-0.10.

My phosphates have been going up, so that's not super necessary. They were .13 when I tested yesterday, so I'm no longer trying to raise them and would prefer if they even dropped a bit.

I'd use soda ash to get your pH over 8. It's mixed 376grams to 1 gallon of rodi and dosed according to your tanks needs, you'll have to do some trial and error to get the dose just right, It looks like you add this already. If your alk is in the 9s and your pH is less than 8, I'd suggest perhaps more surface agitation for better gas exchange.

My pH is around 8.2 during the day and between 7.6 and 7.9 at night. I've been dosing kalkwasser but my alk is at 9.8 and I don't want to raise it too much more.

And fwiw, higher par and alk with very low nutrients will cause acros to pale out rather quickly. If you get your nutrients up and are able to maintain them without too much fluctuation your acros will color up in a few weeks.

It's been a few weeks, and you're right. The color is starting to come back a bit like I previously said. It's not back to where it was, but it's dark green now with hints of red instead of a sickly gray.

 

[bradreef]

I was under the impression that amino acids and reefroids were great food sources for corals and were good for raising nutrients... can you explain why that's a bad thing? A lot of people swear by them, which is why I started dosing them in the first place.


I've been dosing a liquid nitrate additive and ammonium chloride and nitrates are hanging around 2ppm at the maximun daily doses. My mangroves are definitely growing a lot better now, even if the tests arent reflecting a significant nutrient increase. The acro is starting to turn a darker green and there's a very slight hint of red pigments when it's under full blues and you look through a yellow/orange filter. It's nowhere near like when I bought it, but it's coming back.


My phosphates have been going up, so that's not super necessary. They were .13 when I tested yesterday, so I'm no longer trying to raise them and would prefer if they even dropped a bit.


My pH is around 8.2 during the day and between 7.6 and 7.9 at night. I've been dosing kalkwasser but my alk is at 9.8 and I don't want to raise it too much more.


It's been a few weeks, and you're right. The color is starting to come back a bit like I previously said. It's not back to where it was, but it's dark green now with hints of red instead of a sickly gray.

Roids can fuel algae when it goes uneaten and rots. Dosing nitrate and phos is much cleaner.

Sounds like your tank is on the right track. As for ph. Oxygenation can really help raise that. A skimmer and refugium can help. Do you have good surface agitation? How is the CO2 in the tank room?

 

[Zakary2003]

Roids can fuel algae when it goes uneaten and rots. Dosing nitrate and phos is much cleaner.

Noted.

Sounds like your tank is on the right track. As for ph. Oxygenation can really help raise that. A skimmer and refugium can help. Do you have good surface agitation? How is the CO2 in the tank room?

I have a skimmer. It's an AIO so I don't have room for a refugium. My surface agitation is pretty good, and I have no way to measure the CO2 of the room but it's probably pretty high. There are 4 people, 2 birds, and a cat sharing a 2 bedroom apartment-style dorm.

 

[bradreef]

You can buy CO2 monitors on Amazon that will give you a number. But, cracking a window can help.

 

[ryshark]

Hey everyone. I'm new to acropora. I have a 20 gallon waterbox AIO mixed tank that has some very happy montiporas, so I wanted to try some acropora.

I bought jello shot, paletta pink tip, and green slimer acros from my LFS.

The paletta pink tip and green slimer are looking and growing great, and both have great color (for a green acro) and great polyp extension.

The jello shot acro is the exception. It started out red, then turned green after a few weeks in my tank. Now, it's totally pale and only shows flourescence under violet or UV light. The weird part, however, is that it's actually growing faster than the other two acros. It's the only one that has encrusted off of the frag plug and onto the main rock.

Is the coral unhealthy/dying or is it healthy but just not showing the best colors? What could I do to help it color up again? It's been in my tank since early November.

Params:
Calc 420 (red sea test kit)
Alk 9.1 (hanna checker)
pH 7.8 (neptune apex probe)
Mag 1370 (red sea test kit)
Nitrate ~0.2 (salifert test kit, it could even be 0)
Phosphate .03 (hanna checker)
Salinity 35ppt (waterbox brand refractometer)
Ammonia and nitrite 0ppm (API marine master kit)

I feed reef roids 1x per week. I also dose amino acids 2x per week at the recommendations of the LFS owner.

Parameters are maintained with All for Reef, but since my alk uptake is higher than my calc uptake I sometimes have to add extra alkalinity in the form of the alk part of 2 part.

Jello shot acro is under ~300 PAR, and it was under ~350-400 PAR at the fish store according to the owner. Light is an AI Hydra 32.

I've heard that low nitrates can make corals pale and I'm thinking that's probably my issue, but I don't want to take any actions without getting an opinion from someone with more experience.

I've attached two different pictures of the coral taken just now from two different angles.

My suggestion is to check for bugs crawling on it with a flashlight and magnifying glass.

 

[exnisstech]

I really don't have any thing to offer as help but your parameters are very similar to what my acro tank runs. NO3 0.6, PO4 0.03, alk 9 (prefer 8-8.5 and just reduced my AFR) pH 7.8-8.0 . I haven't tested par lately but I did notice an increasing in color when I increased my light intensity a couple of months ago. I run 2 photon 32s over a 36x22x22" tank with blues at 60% very little white and no green or red.

Nothing mind blowing but really nothing browning out.

 

[CHSUB]

Roids can fuel algae when it goes uneaten and rots. Dosing nitrate and phos is much cleaner

SPS can obtain food by direct capture or from zooxanthellae algae in their tissue. Feeding corals Roids directly is a much preferred option to dosing inorganic nutrients that only feed algae. Dosing inorganic nutrients only benefits zooxanthellae. I keep nutrients undetectable and feed corals Roids directly.
I maintain SPS and mangroves also…