Fragastic Elegance Coral not looking great?

[neptune]

I attended the fragtastic show Sep 22. Thank you!! It was fabulous to see so many reefers and have so many choices for Coral. My 180 tank has room for new coral so I purchased hammer head, torch, and an elegance coral. I *think* they are doing OK but don't look great? the hammer head and torch coral are the same size but colors do not look as good. My elegance coral is much smaller then it was in the DT when I purhased? I *think* my reefbreeder LED's are not dialed correctly? any suggestions on what settings would help my new corals pop in color and open up? I am posting a few photos.

Tank Parameters:
salinity 1.025
Calcium 425
Alk/DKH 4.8/13.4
Temp 77
Nitrate 20/30

 

[frank180reef]

Your ALK is 13?

 

[dz6t]

13.4 dkh is very high, it is high enough to stress out coral. Is the elegant wild or aquaculture?


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[frank180reef]

Enough to kill that and torch

 

[Aros]

Oh god that’s high how about I buy that elegance from you before it dies? Lol


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[Cpage101]

alk is really high. I usually shoot for a steady # between 8-10dkh max and stay as close to the # I am running IME. I have a pretty good program for the reef breeders photon. I have a mixed reef everything from softies to acros. what are the dimensions of your tank and how high above the water is your light? what is your current program you at running? Happy Reefing[emoji226]


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[neptune]

I am running a manual program I created... I had MH and T5's. It was easy I could just shorten or lengthen the photo period for both. Now I have 6 channels.. and am unsure how to get maximum show and growth. Would love to hear successful programs.

 

[Cpage101]

I am running a manual program I created... I had MH and T5's. It was easy I could just shorten or lengthen the photo period for both. Now I have 6 channels.. and am unsure how to get maximum show and growth. Would love to hear successful programs.

tank depth and how high above water is the fixture. here is my current program 4’ x 2’ x 2’ 120g tank light is 12” above the water.

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[Cpage101]

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[neptune]

Your ALK is 13?

Let me clarify... my test kit is both alk and dkh. my alk is Alk is 4.8 and my dkh is 13.4. Make more sense?

 

[Cpage101]

what are you using for a test kit?


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[neptune]

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Beautiful!

 

[neptune]

For a test kit I am using red sea foundations. It recommends 11.5/4.1 for a mixed reef and I am at 13.4 / 4.8. I am doing a water change this weekend.. and I can stop supplementing.

 

[neptune]

tank depth and how high above water is the fixture. here is my current program 4’ x 2’ x 2’ 120g tank light is 12” above the water.

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Wow your white light is much much lower than mine... Interesting....and your cool blue and violet much higher. and this is producing your reef photo... I can swap. Mine is the opposite. I have way more white light and am much lower on the cool blue and violet.

 

[Cpage101]

tank depth and how high above water is the fixture. here is my current program 4’ x 2’ x 2’ 120g tank light is 12” above the water.

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Wow your white light is much much lower than mine... Interesting....and your cool blue and violet much higher. and this is producing your reef photo... I can swap. Mine is the opposite. I have way more white light and am much lower on the cool blue and violet.

this is logan’s version of ab+

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[neptune]

safe way to lower alkalinity?

 

[Cpage101]

if dosing stop then test daily to figure out consumption before starting dosing again. do not let it drop to quickly


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[neptune]

this is logan’s version of ab+

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Their is a reefbreeders expert club... Interesting. Where can I read more? and what is the AB+ program?

My lights are 11.5 inches above the water. I am going to try your schedule and see how my corals react. I am not going to mess with my alkalinity. I am going to do a water change and stop dosing until my alkalinity lowers on its own. My existing corals look great.. my new corals are open just not thriving. I think they will last until my alkalinity lowers and then I hope they start thriving.

net/net I think the recommended alkalinity guidance on the red sea foundations is too high - 11.5/4.1. Others commented that they keep theirs at 8 and I have been raising mine that started at 8 based on the guidance from the red sea test kit. My corals were happy at 8 but I thought this would provide more growth.

thanks!!

 

[showard]

Your ALK is 13?

I litteraly said WOAH outloud when I read that. I would aim for 8 or 9.2 at the highest

 

[showard]

if dosing stop then test daily to figure out consumption before starting dosing again. do not let it drop to quickly


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Much agreed!