Lighting - Coral Color. Too much light!?

[SputnikNYC]

Hey all

This been bothering me for quite a while, so i wanna get this of my chest...

I really think that (no matter how crazy does it sound) i have too much light, every time i buy corals, they have rich/deep color and after 2/3 weeks in my tank they start to turn very dull and light, they lose that dark/rich and deep coloration, that goes to my LPS, SPS and my softies are all shrunken up!

Before you say that there are may more reasons to that besides the lighting (water chemistry etc..) i've done an experiment, i moved some of my corals from the main tank to my sump, where i have simple 25w fuge light (MicroGlow).

After a week in the sump, my Golden Torch from pale tan turned to rich brown with white tips, Green MotiCap from light/pale green turned to dark/rich green, as soon as i move my mushrooms to a shade, they triple in size! The test speaks for it self, kinda. So what do you think?

My hardware is in my sig!

[Louis]

I didn't see your light cycle listed. How long do these lights stay on? Maybe consider building up your light intensity so that corals get blasted maybe an hour each day and the rest of the day they have lower lighting. I have always had the best luck with a 6-8 hour photoperiod.

Does this happen to new corals only? Light acclimation may help your corals a ton. It takes time for your new corals to become acclimated to your lights, if you blast them right from the start you may notice bleaching.

When you bring your coral to the fuge where there is very low light the animal needs/retains more zooxanthellae and shows a darker color. When it is blasted with light the coral doesn't need as much zooxanthellae and may expel it, leaving the coral bleached. Light acclimation will help you find a medium and keep the coral looking colorful.

I hope this helps you solve your issue.

Good luck to you my friend.

Louis

[SputnikNYC]

Thanks Louis

I have x6 T5 bulbs:

x2 bulbs: Blue Plus and Super Actinic, turn ON at 11am, OFF 12am = 13hrs
x4 bulbs: x2 Blue Plus, Aquablue Special, 6000k, turn ON 12 noon, OFF 11pm = 11 hours

Light acclimation, i usually set new corals on the sand bed for a week or so and then plant!

[AD87]

First how deep is your tank? How far are you lights from the water? You proved it yourself with your experiment. I would back your main lights down to 7hrs a day and see if that helps.

[SputnikNYC]

Originally Posted by AD87

First how deep is your tank? How far are you lights from the water? You proved it yourself with your experiment. I would back your main lights down to 7hrs a day and see if that helps.

Tank is 19" tall, the fixture sitting exactly 4" above the water line, plus i got 2-2.5" sand bed!

Here's a few iphone pics...

[Louis]

I would definitely reduce the photoperiod. That is a ton of light for a long period of time! I typically go for 8 hours photoperiod. I would keep your dawn/dusk effect but with an 8 hour max duration. Give this a shot for a few weeks and let us know how it goes.

Off topic, how are you liking your biopellets? Are you supplementing Potassium or any other nutrients?

Louis

[SputnikNYC]

Originally Posted by Louis

I would definitely reduce the photoperiod. That is a ton of light for a long period of time! I typically go for 8 hours photoperiod. I would keep your dawn/dusk effect but with an 8 hour max duration. Give this a shot for a few weeks and let us know how it goes.

Off topic, how are you liking your biopellets? Are you supplementing Potassium or any other nutrients?

Louis

Thanks again Louis

I will try that and report on changes, i also bumped into this article, interesting stuff!

I started using NP biopellets about 3 weeks ago and it's probably too soon to start seeing anything, however, my skimmer started acting different this week, it produces some really dark (blackish) gunk and doing it nonstop! The only thing i dose is two part Ca/Alk Bi-ionic, i'm also planning on getting ZeoVit Pohl's Xtra "Special"!

[wankelrx]

Any updates?