I got a frag of a birdsnest; I think it is a sour apple because it is pink with a green glow on the stock. It came from a tank with 150w MH lights, but it was near the bottom of an 18 inch deep tank. I placed it near the top of my tank because I only have 4X24 T5HO, Wave point, and I though it would require more intense lighting. I have begun to notice the horizontal stocks are beginning to turn white after about 5 days. I just moved the frag at the bottom of my 20H tank. Could it be that I needed to acclimate my coral to my light when they are placed near the top of my tank?

My water is using my ati test kit
Salinity 1.026
Ca 460
Phosphates 0
KH 8
Nitrates 0

It should have good flow and I have a protein skimmer with chemi pure in an AC50. My tank is now 6 weeks old, but most of the rock transferred was either cured or half was from my old tank. The monti cap I also got appears fine at this time, should i lower him too before any thing happens to him or wait and see? Any help would be appreciated thanks. Rob

Is it showing full polyp extension? It's always best to play it safe and acclimate a coral to new lighting.

What is your alkalinity?

I have no way to test for Ph, but is the KH an indication of the buffering properties. I will make a trip down to the LFS on Saturday to have them test my Ph. As far as polyp extension I think they do but I will have to wait until the lights come on, and then I will try to post a pic.

t5's at the top of a tank are actually really strong, for future reference try and start new corals near the bottom of the tank since even corals in tanks with strong halide lighting acclimate weird to t5's sometimes...

Cool thanks; do you have any ideas on how to acclimate? Such as 1 week on the bottom, 2 weeks in the middle of the tank etc.

That's a good method. Basically, you want to observe the coral to see if it doesn't bleach when placing it higher up. A frag that turns brown indicates it has insufficient lighting, but it's unlikely you'll experience that in your tank.

KH is possible, but it depends on the test (should be related to reef tanks) and what units you're using. The API alkalinity test kit is one option.

That's is what frag racks are good for, you can slowly slide it up every couple days.