Corals Colors Fading??????

newsalt40324

newsalt40324

Member
Help!!!
Am I doing something wrong I dont understand why all my corals are losing there color. They are under 2-250 10,000K MH and 2-110 Actinic fluorescents. All water parameters are good nothing out off range.
Ammonia=0
Nitrite=0
PH=8.3
Salienty=1.025
PPT=35
Calcium=440
Alkalinity=3.5mEq/l
PO4=0
The lights are on 8-10 hours per day
Attached are shots of my montiporia frag about 8 weeks between shots
Frag just Received

With Approx. 8 weeks growth

Any suggestions appreciated
 
peef

peef

Active Member
The lights that they were under before you bought them were most likly WAY less intense. With a light setup like what you have (which is great by the way) with a fast or no acclimation causes them to bleach. You need to acclimate them to the light slowly or it shocks them. I am not sure about what to do once bleaching has started but I would run your light for about half the time you are for a few weeks at least to help save them and at least ease a bit of the shock. Like when first put in run lights for 4 hours a day for a week, then 5 a day the next and so on until full time is reached. Other than that I am sure others will help with more technical aspects. Hope they pull through.
 
bigblue69

bigblue69

Member
Also when you put new corals into your tank you should acclimate them to your lights. Do this by first placing them at the bottom of your tank and slowly bring them up your tank until you have them in the spot you want them. Do not rush or you will stress your coral and then they will bleach.
Take your time this process could take more than a few days.
 
wfd1008

wfd1008

Member
Originally Posted by peef
The lights that they were under before you bought them were most likly WAY less intense. With a light setup like what you have (which is great by the way) with a fast or no acclimation causes them to bleach. You need to acclimate them to the light slowly or it shocks them. I am not sure about what to do once bleaching has started but I would run your light for about half the time you are for a few weeks at least to help save them and at least ease a bit of the shock. Like when first put in run lights for 4 hours a day for a week, then 5 a day the next and so on until full time is reached. Other than that I am sure others will help with more technical aspects. Hope they pull through.
i may be way off on this one, but i thought that with MH lighting, you should only have the MH on for a few minutes at a time (15-20mins) and no more than a couple of hours a day. I don't have any, that's what i've heard.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
what kills most sps corals are also drastic changes in salinity as well as a large fluxuation in temperature. Make sure that your parameters stay constant.
 
peef

peef

Active Member
Originally Posted by wfd1008
i may be way off on this one, but i thought that with MH lighting, you should only have the MH on for a few minutes at a time (15-20mins) and no more than a couple of hours a day. I don't have any, that's what i've heard.

Nope, when you have MH you run a normal schedule of lighting after proper acclimation. It is much healthier for most corals as it is the intensity they need.
 
newsalt40324

newsalt40324

Member
First off Nitrates are at approx. 10 ppm.
Next I did place the corals at the very bottom of the tank and moved them higher each week.
The tank size is 120 gallon (48X24X24) I have about 3" of live sand. This all started about 2 weeks ago when the return pump went out, but tank temp never got above 84 degrees. I had the replacement in and running in about 3 days. The temp. normally runs between 79-82 degrees.Is that to wide of a temp band?
Other than that para. stay pretty constant.
 
peef

peef

Active Member
I have been told that you don't want more than a 1 degree change if any.
so set at 79
78 is ok and 80 is ok if chiller turns on and puts it back to 79. But temp fluctuation are not good.
 
farslayer

farslayer

Active Member
I wouldn't think the temperature swing of 3 degrees would make a huge impact. How much flow is he under?
 
newsalt40324

newsalt40324

Member
The flow in the tank currently 3 maxi-jet 1200 = 296 gph each, 2 powersweeps = 265 gph each and return pump from sump ~600 gph for a total of 2018 gph approx. I am going to monitor the chiller cycling and tweak the set points what is the ideal temp for SPS corals? I know peef you said 79 is that your recommended temp?
 
peef

peef

Active Member
Yeah thats what I run. Some corals are deep water and colder temps though. Research is what is needed to know exactly what is "best" for your tank. Some people keep their tanks at 84 some at 76 it varies alot. I know that the warmer the tank the easier it is to have algae blooms though. I am not experienced enough to tell you what temp to set at for SPS. PerfectDark will most likly know and if not someone else will!!!!
 
newsalt40324

newsalt40324

Member
Thanks peef,
Maybe PerfectDark will pass along some of his knowledge. In the meantime I will research temps for my current corals.
Thanks again for the help.
 
nycbob

nycbob

Active Member
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33
what kills most sps corals are also drastic changes in salinity as well as a large fluxuation in temperature. Make sure that your parameters stay constant.
sps like acro can survive in wide range of temps. i hv received acros thr mail order w the temps being 68. i put them in the tank after acclimating them for 2 hours, and they r all doing fine. if i am not mistaken, the pic u r showing is a red cap? they r very hardy. they like medium light w very good flow. if he is near the top right now, move him down under mh.
 
newsalt40324

newsalt40324

Member
Thanks nycbob,
The picture is of an orange cap it is about 6" from the bottom of my tank which would put it about 20" to 22" from the lights. I have about 2000 gph flow circulating. Do I need to increase flow and move it so that the light is sort of shading them. At this point I will try any reasonably suggestion to save these corals. Have gotten temp changes down to about 1 - 1.5 degrees cut light time back today to 4 hours halide and 6 hour Actinic total on time was only 6 hours will stay with that until I see some improvement. Any other suggestions are fair game.
 
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