VIDEO question: growth/bleaching

[heirfaus]

So I have been running about 50 watts of light for 2-3 years and it has worked nicely. My corals didn't grow like crazy, but they did grow. I recently switch to 130 watts of light stepping from 50 to 100 to 130.
Ever since, I have seen some undesirable changes. I used to have 2 very healthy brown/red zoo colonies. They were about 1.5 inches tall and vibrant in color. Ever since the lighting change they have shortened to about .25-.5 inches tall and have appeared bleached. Lots of pale coloring instead of the deep color. AND the 3 in my tank that are on the UNDERSIDE of one of my rocks are still huge and vibrantly color. You can see this in the video.
Also my candy cane coral frag had 1 head when I bought it. Now it has approx. 35-40 heads and has been growing steady for 1 year. After the lighting change the heads don't open as much. They used to fill up with water and be a little larger than a Quarter but now are about half that size.
Please help!!!! I don't know what happened. How do I get my beautiful corals back?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o26h0PW070I

 

[shaggyblz]

Most corals must be acclimated to light just as they do other parameters, temp., salinity, etc..Are you keeping the lights on just as long as they were before? If so, then shorten the time you keep your lights on each day and then work up to the amount of daylight time you desire. I would recommend cutting the time in half and then adding an hour each week.

 

[heirfaus]

So today I turned on the lights at 2:00 pm and right before they were all standing tall and proud. when I turned the lights on they slowly sink in and get smaller. I turned the lights off at 6 pm and they all got bigger and full again. Is it possible the 130 watts is too much for them?

 

[spanko]

How long ago was the light change? It does take some time for coral to acclimate to new lighting. Thinkd about the pupils in your eyes. In the dark they are open wide to take in the lower intensity light that is available. Now turn on the lights and boom your puplis reduce in size because there is so much light availabel, and after a time will adjust to the correct size to take in the available light. Much the same with your coral. 130 watts of what I am guessing is PC light is not too much for your coral in the long run. People keep these same coral under high intensity metal halide lighting. I would say reduce you photoperiod to maybe 4 hours per day and gradually over the course of a couple of weeks increase it back to 7-8 hours per day.
JMO

 

[heirfaus]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3031482
How long ago was the light change? It does take some time for coral to acclimate to new lighting. Thinkd about the pupils in your eyes. In the dark they are open wide to take in the lower intensity light that is available. Now turn on the lights and boom your puplis reduce in size because there is so much light availabel, and after a time will adjust to the correct size to take in the available light. Much the same with your coral. 130 watts of what I am guessing is PC light is not too much for your coral in the long run. People keep these same coral under high intensity metal halide lighting. I would say reduce you photoperiod to maybe 4 hours per day and gradually over the course of a couple of weeks increase it back to 7-8 hours per day.
JMO
Good analogy! So it's been about 2 months with the new lights. I started them with full 9 hour light cycles since the swap. Wouldn't they be used to it by now?