Christmas Favia Bleaching

flameangel9 · 12/25/2009, 01:58 PM

My Christmas Favia is bleaching--ON CHRISTMAS!!!
Before:

After

Couple of potential reasons
1. Sent an anemone through a powerhead yesterday
2. Coral Warfare, he's next to a Green Tree and an Elegance Coral

Not sure what to do. Should I move him?

urastame · 12/25/2009, 02:05 PM

Merry Christmas....lol

MalIII · 12/25/2009, 02:05 PM

The coral next to hm is not stinging it. The whole coral is fading, not just that side.

How long have you had him?
How long has he been in that spot?

They like light. What lights do you have and how long are they on?

It may be water quality problem. What are the paramaters of your system?

flameangel9 · 12/25/2009, 02:49 PM

3X150 Mh with pc atinecs. Its a brand new(2 week old light) USA current outer orbit. Not sure of parameters, water change last week, I'm pretty good about them. 1025 78 degrees Thats as much as I know.

MalIII · 12/25/2009, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flameangel9

3X150 Mh with pc atinecs. Its a brand new(2 week old light) USA current outer orbit. Not sure of parameters, water change last week, I'm pretty good about them. 1025 78 degrees Thats as much as I know.

Since you do not know your water paramaters, how can you say they are good? A water change makes me more concerned. If you did not prepare your new water with the right paramaters, you can be throwing the tank off more. Most salts are not complete with the proper elements and must be buffered.

You could be bleaching the coral with too much light. How high is it in the coral in the tank? Is it directly under a MH? What light was it under when you got it?

flameangel9 · 12/25/2009, 03:11 PM

Its on the ground in a 180 (25") I would say its getting about the same light as before. Same salt same temp and spec gravity. It was under 250 watt MH but that light strip was a good 7" off the water this one is 2 1/2" off the water. Same placement. My biggest concern is the anemone I sent through the powerhead. Probely time for another water change. Nothing else in the tank is showing signs of stress. I have other Favias and brains without issue.

MalIII · 12/25/2009, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flameangel9

Its on the ground in a 180 (25") I would say its getting about the same light as before. Same salt same temp and spec gravity. It was under 250 watt MH but that light strip was a good 7" off the water this one is 2 1/2" off the water. Same placement. My biggest concern is the anemone I sent through the powerhead. Probely time for another water change. Nothing else in the tank is showing signs of stress. I have other Favias and brains without issue.

You have 150's and it was under 250w. Raise it up half way. it needs more light! They like light.

dnreef · 12/25/2009, 05:39 PM

How old where your old lights before you changed them? and could you confirm that you where using 250w in the same fixture. So far I'm thinking it's a light issue. I've had the misfortune of having corals bleach out on me when I put in new bulbs.

romsoccer12 · 12/25/2009, 05:47 PM

could be light aclimation issues

flameangel9 · 12/25/2009, 07:34 PM

I think you guys are right, its a lighting issue. I recently put my lights on timers. I cut the mh 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the pm trying to save a little electricity. I'm going to change them tomorrow maybe see what 1 less hour in the am and one less in the pm. Thats gotta be it.

dnreef · 12/25/2009, 08:07 PM

So if I got this straight. You dropped your wattage from 250w to 150w AND took off 4 hours of light in the day. You also dropped the height from 7" to 2 1/2". Also, are you driving the 150 on a 250w ballast or where you driving the 250's on 150w ballast. In any case, you have a lot of variables you changed in this one area of husbandry. Just FYI, I keep my x-mas favia toward the bottom of a standard 75gallon tank with 250w MH. I also run the MH for 5 hours total per day. The pc actinics stay on 12 hours. HTH.

flameangel9 · 12/25/2009, 08:41 PM

I got a new light a week and a half ago. The OLD light was 7" off the water and was 250mh w/ 4 t5's bulbs were about 6 months old. The NEW light is 3 x 150mh with 4 pc's and 2" off the water. A week later I put the lights on timers and had the mh come on 2 hours later and off 2 hours before the atinics. My current lighting schedule is actinics at 9am mh at 11am. Mh off at 6pm and actinics off at 8pm. Tomorrow I plan on changing this to 9am actinics 10am MH. Then MH off at 7pm actinics off 8pm. This is the only coral that seems affected.

Amici316 · 12/25/2009, 08:50 PM

IME christmas favia will bleach with to much light as well. If you went from a SINGLE 250w to 3x150w then its getting more light than it was it sounds like. A params test would really help though....

dnreef · 12/25/2009, 08:50 PM

If the coral looks healthy in every other way it might just be responding to the change in light and should settle down after a couple of weeks. I find the favias to be a pretty hardy group of corals.

Also, 2" above the water is just begging for trouble with MH. I don't think I've ever seen a setup where the MH are less than 6" to the water surface. Keep in mind that if the protective glass cover gets splashed by a jumping fish when it's hot that it may crack and then you'll have bigger problem than a coral that lost a little color.

flameangel9 · 12/25/2009, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dnreef

Also, 2" above the water is just begging for trouble with MH. I don't think I've ever seen a setup where the MH are less than 6" to the water surface. Keep in mind that if the protective glass cover gets splashed by a jumping fish when it's hot that it may crack and then you'll have bigger problem than a coral that lost a little color.

This light may be 2 1/2 at most but it is a current usa outer orbits fixture which is quite popular. There are no safety concerns here. I had the same light (4 ft) on my 75 gal with no issues.

I do think this fading is a light issue the ?? for me now is too much or too little.

cykenp · 12/25/2009, 10:16 PM

I agree with Amici and DnReef. Definitely a light adjustment thing and dropping a full 5 inches does effect corals. It's probably a combination of bad water quality from anemone death, which not only stresses the favia but other corals thereby increasing the chemicals produced by each coral to defend itself. Especially that softy. I've seen a leather slime up and kill an entire section of sps right above it overnight. Give it some time and raise your light to about 4 or 5 inches above the water for a couple weeks. Then lower it a couple more inches to give it some adjustment time.

12/25/2009, 01:58 PM	#1
flameangel9 OnyxInc. Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Upstate N.Y. Posts: 439	Christmas Favia Bleaching My Christmas Favia is bleaching--ON CHRISTMAS!!! Before: After Couple of potential reasons 1. Sent an anemone through a powerhead yesterday 2. Coral Warfare, he's next to a Green Tree and an Elegance Coral Not sure what to do. Should I move him?

12/25/2009, 05:39 PM	#8
dnreef Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: port jefferson, ny Posts: 73	How old where your old lights before you changed them? and could you confirm that you where using 250w in the same fixture. So far I'm thinking it's a light issue. I've had the misfortune of having corals bleach out on me when I put in new bulbs. __________________ David Current tank: 75 gallon mixed reef + 40 gallon sump ~ 90 gallon volume

12/25/2009, 05:47 PM	#9
romsoccer12 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: ohio Posts: 2,625	could be light aclimation issues __________________ Colin R Current Tank Info: 3rd tank working fine!(29gal oceanic biocube) 5-6months old

12/25/2009, 08:07 PM	#11
dnreef Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: port jefferson, ny Posts: 73	So if I got this straight. You dropped your wattage from 250w to 150w AND took off 4 hours of light in the day. You also dropped the height from 7" to 2 1/2". Also, are you driving the 150 on a 250w ballast or where you driving the 250's on 150w ballast. In any case, you have a lot of variables you changed in this one area of husbandry. Just FYI, I keep my x-mas favia toward the bottom of a standard 75gallon tank with 250w MH. I also run the MH for 5 hours total per day. The pc actinics stay on 12 hours. HTH. __________________ David Current tank: 75 gallon mixed reef + 40 gallon sump ~ 90 gallon volume

12/25/2009, 08:50 PM	#14
dnreef Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: port jefferson, ny Posts: 73	If the coral looks healthy in every other way it might just be responding to the change in light and should settle down after a couple of weeks. I find the favias to be a pretty hardy group of corals. Also, 2" above the water is just begging for trouble with MH. I don't think I've ever seen a setup where the MH are less than 6" to the water surface. Keep in mind that if the protective glass cover gets splashed by a jumping fish when it's hot that it may crack and then you'll have bigger problem than a coral that lost a little color. __________________ David Current tank: 75 gallon mixed reef + 40 gallon sump ~ 90 gallon volume

12/25/2009, 02:05 PM	#2
urastame Moved On Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: West Coast Posts: 51	Merry Christmas....lol

12/25/2009, 02:05 PM	#3
MalIII Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 77	The coral next to hm is not stinging it. The whole coral is fading, not just that side. How long have you had him? How long has he been in that spot? They like light. What lights do you have and how long are they on? It may be water quality problem. What are the paramaters of your system?

12/25/2009, 02:49 PM	#4
flameangel9 OnyxInc. Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Upstate N.Y. Posts: 439	3X150 Mh with pc atinecs. Its a brand new(2 week old light) USA current outer orbit. Not sure of parameters, water change last week, I'm pretty good about them. 1025 78 degrees Thats as much as I know.

12/25/2009, 03:11 PM	#6
flameangel9 OnyxInc. Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Upstate N.Y. Posts: 439	Its on the ground in a 180 (25") I would say its getting about the same light as before. Same salt same temp and spec gravity. It was under 250 watt MH but that light strip was a good 7" off the water this one is 2 1/2" off the water. Same placement. My biggest concern is the anemone I sent through the powerhead. Probely time for another water change. Nothing else in the tank is showing signs of stress. I have other Favias and brains without issue.

12/25/2009, 07:34 PM	#10
flameangel9 OnyxInc. Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Upstate N.Y. Posts: 439	I think you guys are right, its a lighting issue. I recently put my lights on timers. I cut the mh 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the pm trying to save a little electricity. I'm going to change them tomorrow maybe see what 1 less hour in the am and one less in the pm. Thats gotta be it.

12/25/2009, 08:41 PM	#12
flameangel9 OnyxInc. Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Upstate N.Y. Posts: 439	I got a new light a week and a half ago. The OLD light was 7" off the water and was 250mh w/ 4 t5's bulbs were about 6 months old. The NEW light is 3 x 150mh with 4 pc's and 2" off the water. A week later I put the lights on timers and had the mh come on 2 hours later and off 2 hours before the atinics. My current lighting schedule is actinics at 9am mh at 11am. Mh off at 6pm and actinics off at 8pm. Tomorrow I plan on changing this to 9am actinics 10am MH. Then MH off at 7pm actinics off 8pm. This is the only coral that seems affected.

12/25/2009, 08:50 PM	#13
Amici316 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 85	IME christmas favia will bleach with to much light as well. If you went from a SINGLE 250w to 3x150w then its getting more light than it was it sounds like. A params test would really help though....

12/25/2009, 10:16 PM	#16
cykenp Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: MD Posts: 54	I agree with Amici and DnReef. Definitely a light adjustment thing and dropping a full 5 inches does effect corals. It's probably a combination of bad water quality from anemone death, which not only stresses the favia but other corals thereby increasing the chemicals produced by each coral to defend itself. Especially that softy. I've seen a leather slime up and kill an entire section of sps right above it overnight. Give it some time and raise your light to about 4 or 5 inches above the water for a couple weeks. Then lower it a couple more inches to give it some adjustment time.