browning sps

[lilduud]

hmph so my miami orchid never really coloured properly and the rest of my sps seems to be brown on the skeleton... its polyps are all still colourful and give the deeption that they are colourful and healthy but it looks like the skin is darkening/browning... i only now notice this because ive watched i lighter yellowish frag trun darker and darker brown since ive put it in my tank... if im correct this is from high dissolved organic compounds in the tank but my phos is 0, my nits are 0-5 and everything else is in check. i know that one solution would be a phosban reactor but not on a ten gallon tank so what is another solution thanks...

 

[bjohanson1234]

you could just run a HOB filter with some GFO. Change it out every couple weeks to keep it from becoming a nitrate trap.

 

[lilduud]

you could just run a HOB filter with some GFO. Change it out every couple weeks to keep it from becoming a nitrate trap.

GFO? hah

 

[bjohanson1234]

ground ferous oxide. You know, to remove phosphates

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/june2004/review.htm

 

[yote]

Some else to look at.Just how stable are your alkalinity and calcium levels?

 

[lilduud]

they are the most stable thing in the tank... every time ive tested alk is 9 and calc is 420-440

 

[reeffreak]

The obvious question is what lights are you running?

Keeping SPS corals in a nano is much like keeping a frag tank.You really need to keep the bioload very,very low.

 

[lilduud]

haha the lights are more than adequate... 150 watt mh with 30 watts t5 actinic

 

[sen5241b]

If your phos is zero why are you talking about GFO?

 

[bjohanson1234]

If your phos is zero why are you talking about GFO?

Sometimes the algea in the tank masks the actual amount of phosphate in the tank. Also, the commercially available phos tests are not sensative enough to read low levels of phosphates.
FUrthermore, some of the tests only pick up one type of phosphates. I cant remember if it is organic or inorganic phosphates. But if it is only measuring one of those, then the other one could still be high and the test is ineffective.

 

[yote]

Its the organic phosphates that kits wont read.And the only NOT to have organic phosphates is to have an empty tank.

 

[Kwater]

wow that is some really good info i never knew that about organic and inorganic phosphate, i was just hoping to know what are the causes of organic phosphate and the causes of inorganic phosphate, and if organic phosphate seems to be more of a problem y do tests only test for inorganic and not organic phosphate. thanks for any help :)

 

[Kwater]

never mind queston answered