[jawwad2004]

I am having terrible luck successfully keeping SPS corals in my tank. They survive and grow but the coloration sucks! My green slimer is more like a brown slimer, same thing with my green cap. Couple of my other sps look like the colors they're supposed to be, but not as vibrant as other peoples corals. I am using strong lighting (2 250 10k plus 2 110 watt vho superactinic). nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, phos, all are undetectable. What can I do to get better coloration?

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.

	VHO Very High Output Fluorescent Lighting - Fluorescent bulbs that run on special ballasts and have an output that is significantly higher than normal tubes. It is very possible to run an entire reef system on VHO lighting providing the proper number of bulbs and mixture of spectrums are chosen. For most hobbyists, these tubes are used in conjunction with Metal Halide lighting for simulating dawn and dusk. They often provide the "bluer" end of the light spectrum and thus a more aesthetically appealing display.

[jackson6745]

Jawwad which po4 testkit are you using?

[alrha]

i too would appreciate better coloration from some of my SPS.
I also have undetectable Nitrates and Phosphates (using the Deltec/Merk kit)

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.

[jawwad2004]

I took my water to the lfs and they tested it for me. Im pretty sure they were using the red sea labs test kit.

[fritz]

Melev did a reefcast about how low-mid nitrate levels seem to have caused his corals to color up nicely (use at your own risk)

[jawwad2004]

How in the world will I increase my nitrate levels? lol

[Sean]

What size tank do you have

how much flow

what kind (if any) of chemical filtration do you use?

Note: There are different types of phosphate just because your test kit says 0 doesn't mean there's no phosphates.

[jawwad2004]

Sean,
I have about 25x turnover rate in my tank (seio 1500, return and one mj1200). I use ESV carbon. But would phosphotes have a huge impact on coral coloration?

[House of Laughter]

J, huge is an understatement - turned all my acros green for about 4 months - I increased water changes and BAM, beautiful blues, teals, purples and the greens that are supposed to be green are really nice - especially the cap and slimer.

House

[Sean]

High concentrations of phosphates can cause corals to "brown out" so a little I feel would definitely have a negative effect of the coloration. There are different types of phosphate organic and inorganic. Also phosphate "bonds" to rocks, filter pads and such so if you do test your only testing the free agents.

I think I worded that right.