So much reading. Starting to see why SPS are more difficult to care for.

Man, the learning never stops...

I discovered that SPS corals want 'dirtier' water than LPS corals, ie they want some Nitrates and Phosphates in their environment. I also discovered that coral, particularly SPS, can change drastically in color depending on minerals and water chemistry. Mind. Blown. This could explain why the Leptasrea went from greens to red. Not quite sure if it is dead or not so I moved it to a different location to see if it has any affect. It could also very well be starving due to lack of nutrient. You'd think places that sell SPS would say they like some Nitrate and Phosphate...

Also, since the SPS want dirtier water, I may have to add another, very small, fish to increase the bioload and up the nutrients in the water. I'm going to skip this weeks water change and slightly increase the feeding of the tank to see if this affects anything. I turned the filter down to a low setting from a high setting. I don't want to do too much and overload the system.

The bleaching of SPS is not only due to too intense of light but lack of nutrients. I'm beginning to see why people say caring for SPS is more difficult that caring for LPS... I may have to get a much more sensitive Nitrate and Phosphate test kit so I can monitor these parameters at a much finer level. 

Sheesh, all this information is overwhelming but I'm loving the learning. Kind of worried about the health and life of the new SPS though and hope I can make the system happy for them and the LPS before they begin to die. 

~ Keep on Swimming! ~