Pocillopora turning brown?

[~reefchik~]

I think I've read where this is due to lighting, but I'm not clear on what's going on exactly.  There is still growth and polyp extension but overall this coral is getting pretty brown.  Is this lack of UV?

[jd]

What lights are you running now? I have one and it is fairly brown, I've always attributed it to low light. Its going under MH in a few days, I'll let you know how it colors up.

[HUNGER]

it could be

[Reefd Up]

Could be a lot of things. Could be too little light, old bulbs, or high nutrients most likely. What are your phosphates and nitrates testing at?

[UDJustin]

I was gonna say high nitrates too

[harleyrider]

Pocillopora

   Intense lighting is recommended for best coloration and overall health. Use either Metal Halide lighting or a large bank of high output fluorescent or compact fluorescent bulbs. If not provided proper lighting, the colors of Pocillopora may fade, but worse the coral may not receive enough energy and perish. Strong water movement is recommended. Pocillopora relies heavily on the products of their zooxanthellae. This coral may benefit from the addition of phytoplankton as a food source.

[~reefchik~]

What lights are you running now? I have one and it is fairly brown, I've always attributed it to low light. Its going under MH in a few days, I'll let you know how it colors up.

4 x 65w 10Ks/actinic PCs.  This coral is in the top 7-8 inches of the water. 

[~reefchik~]

Could be a lot of things. Could be too little light, old bulbs, or high nutrients most likely. What are your phosphates and nitrates testing at?

Near zero and zero respectively, last time I checked.  I'm probably due to check again since messing with the sump the other day though.  I'll retest again and post if anything is different.  The bulbs are fairly new (less than 6 months).

[~reefchik~]

Pocillopora

   Intense lighting is recommended for best coloration and overall health. Use either Metal Halide lighting or a large bank of high output fluorescent or compact fluorescent bulbs. If not provided proper lighting, the colors of Pocillopora may fade, but worse the coral may not receive enough energy and perish. Strong water movement is recommended. Pocillopora relies heavily on the products of their zooxanthellae. This coral may benefit from the addition of phytoplankton as a food source.

I would be amazed if there was not enough light for this coral.  I think spectrum might be an issue though.  It's growing nicely, so it's not perishing by any means.  I will try and get side by side photos of how much it's grown and post them tomorrow.   

Now, strong water movement?  I *think* the tank has strongish water movement.  Everything moves constantly in the turbulence provided by a Koralia in one corner and the return valve on the other meeting in the front-middle.

I feed the entire tank with frozen most nights and the tiny bits in there seem like they should be food enough.  I also recently began adding cyclopeez 2x a week.  I use IPSF Coral Heaven maybe once or twice a month when I think of it. 

[cyberwollf]

That's 1 korilla (4?) and return pump in a 90?

[harleyrider]

That's 1 korilla (4?) and return pump in a 90?

Just my opinion but thats not even close to having enough...lmao, myself i have mag 7 return, and 3 Korillas, and wonder somethimes about buying another, and thats just in a 75 gallon.

[coral ranch]

It could be the lighting. When we moved our pink pocillipora under pc lighting last winter it browned up.We also got growth and when we returned it to the green house in the spring it turned pink in about 10 days. The darker green pocillapora does great under strong pc lighting.

[jeremyt]

if you have a splash shield on the fixture make sure you clean it weekly, also if it is on legs i would take them off and sit the fixture right on top of the tank (if it has a shield).

[~reefchik~]

That's 1 korilla (4?) and return pump in a 90?

Yep.  Koralia is #3 I believe.  This return pump pushes water with enough force to either dig up the sand in the corner or practically blow water out the front of the tank until it's adjusted just right.  But I went ahead and turned on the other powerhead in there (Aquaclear 20) for more. 

[Lost Floridian]

To give you an idea about water movement and SPS, when we had our SPS dominate 40g we had 2x Korallia 3s, 1x Koralia 4, and a 1200g/hr (-4' head loss) return pump, that added up to about a 80x/hr turnover - that's a bit high but the plan for the new tank is 2x 3200g pumps + the return pump... right now your at what, ~20x/hr turnover.

All that said I think the way to get it to color back up is to move it up to the top of the tank and work on water quality. The H20 flow was just a side note

[Reefd Up]

If it was lack of flow, you'd likely have STN (slow tissue necrosis) around the base.  If it was low lighting...well, you'd have a brown coral, but we had the same lights over a 40g tank.  If the coral is very close to the top, you shouldn't have a problem. How long has the coral been in the tank overall?  How long was it in the tank before it browned out?  If the coral was just added, it may be brown from stress...some SPS take a while to color back up after being added.  If it has been in the tank for a while, it probably is an excess nutrient problem.  You may have high phosphates/nitrates, but the creatures in your tank are using them...leaving you testing at an ok level.  Phosphate is difficult to test (insert discussion on organic/inorganic phosphates).  If you think your flow/light is ok (btw...what is your light cycle?), you may want to look into using GFO (granular ferric oxide) to reduce your phosphates.  SPS also require VERY stable parameters.  If your salinity is fluctuating (was that you who posted their hydrometer was waaay off from a refractometer?), Ca/Alk/Mag/pH/temp are fluctuating, light cycle is inadequate, etc, you're likely to have a brown coral as well.

[~reefchik~]

Somewhere in there Nikki, you probably hit on it.
I'm going to say it's fluctuating salinity first off, because it does.  I top the tank off each day and now it's worse with the glass tops gone.

I will post test results here later on.  I didn't get them done yesterday because we had too much going on.

[~reefchik~]

 

I guess I can STOP relying on Kent Tech A & B to keep my pH, alkalinity and calcium in balance!!
My pH has dropped to 7.7, and Ca is only 210! 

I was better off using pickling lime as my calcium source. 

Fortunately the nitrate and phosphates are still very low - almost undetectable. 

Now here's a good question:  I found a large box of reef chemicals in the basement about a month ago.  Some of them are old but unopened, and some of course have been opened.  Do these things typically have a shelf life? 

[cyberwollf]

I was better off using pickling lime as my calcium source. 

+1

[ohioreef]

Ive always had good luck using pickling lime.

[UDJustin]

yes they have a shelf life

[Reefd Up]

Yes, they have a shelf life.  What are you wanting to use ("reef chemicals")? 

[HUNGER]

yes they do some say on them when they go bad

[~reefchik~]

Have I been doing the Ca test wrong?  I use Salifert.

I add the #3 reagent in drops until the pink solution turns blue.  Where the tip of the black plunger is, is where you read the Ca in ppm on the chart.  I keep getting 1.5 ml left meaning (I think) 420-430 ppm in Ca.  reading from the chart.

Then they have this calculation on there as a second choice:

ppm Ca = (1-reading in step 6) x 500

Doing it that way, 1 - 1.5 = 0.5
0.5 x 500 = 250 

What the heck?  Big difference there.  Salifert experts, anyone?

[lazylivin]

Your first one was right. It is 425
It was .15 ml left. 1 - .15 x 500 = 425