Corals not so brilliant

[natureAddict]

Hi I have been fiddling with ats for 1.5 yrs. My corals r not so brilliant
now compared to the pre-ats days when I water change weekly. Of course
I now water change monthly(that's the bonus ), but the corals r not as brilliant.

Those that have lost some brilliance r GSP , zoas, rhodatics , mushrooms,
Those that have maintained their brilliance r acan, candy

Would appreciate your input, share experiences n theory.

Some of my thoughts- should I dose trace element?( My regular
regime is bi-carb, magnesium, cal. )
I feed my fishes DAILY with pellets , mysis, tuna with spirulina n garlic-
wonder if any trace elements get into the water ?

Thanks in advance for contributing :)

[SantaMonica]

You mention all softy problems. Maybe your nutrients are really low.

[natureAddict]

You mention all softy problems. Maybe your nutrients are really low.

Please elaborate . Tks

[kotlec]

My zoas and mushrooms never looked good as well. Nice are only LPS and SPS birdsnest.

What I have investigated is that for corals too low nutrients are actually bad. If your P lower than 0.02 and (or) n lower than 2 , your corals never look good enough.

Trace elements also depletes. Boron, Strontium, Potasium, Jodine, Iron. Check them at least once and you will see what mess is here. At least it was in my tank. Boron , Iron and Jodine - undetectable !!! Potasium low. Boron dont have test but why should it be level when all other are not...
To read more on this, find thread on RC that discusses DSR method. DSR is another way to go with no wc.

[SantaMonica]

If your scrubber is working very well, the nitrate and phosphate might be too low to be used by the soft corals you said are having trouble. You should test.

[natureAddict]

My zoas and mushrooms never looked good as well. Nice are only LPS and SPS birdsnest.

What I have investigated is that for corals too low nutrients are actually bad. If your P lower than 0.02 and (or) n lower than 2 , your corals never look good enough.

Trace elements also depletes. Boron, Strontium, Potasium, Jodine, Iron. Check them at least once and you will see what mess is here. At least it was in my tank. Boron , Iron and Jodine - undetectable !!! Potasium low. Boron dont have test but why should it be level when all other are not...
To read more on this, find thread on RC that discusses DSR method. DSR is another way to go with no wc.

i tend to agree with u. My sps has colored up green, pink n purple, wow i am surprised. But now to trouble-shoot on the softies.
So do u dose trace elements?

[natureAddict]

Question is should i cut back 1hr light on my ats so that there is abit more N and P for the softies to color up?

Am i on the correct thought process?

[kotlec]

i tend to agree with u. My sps has colored up green, pink n purple, wow i am surprised. But now to trouble-shoot on the softies.
So do u dose trace elements?

I bought most of tests and preparing to take control over all trace elements. Was dosing I, Sr, K but without testing was too careful. Ended up at too low (undetectable) values.

[natureAddict]

If your scrubber is working very well, the nitrate and phosphate might be too low to be used by the soft corals you said are having trouble. You should test.

is it correct to say that if the ats is working well, so N and P is zero, there will be no nuisance algae n slime? this is the visual test kit

[SantaMonica]

Yes the slime would be the first to go.

[natureAddict]

Have been dosing Concentrate Amino acids (Seachem) about a month back n now
seeing results. All softies GSP , zoas, more brilliant now.

I remembered reading a marine biologist article about how algae will
release amino acids into the water, don't seem to be happening here
:((

[SantaMonica]

You are just feeding more.

[natureAddict]

You are just feeding more.

Elaborate pls

What I understand is that these softies need the proper chemistry n
light to grow well n brilliant. Pls correct me if I'm wrong.

Is the amino acids not affecting the softies ?

[SantaMonica]

Amino's are just food.