Rainbow Acan under 150W MH - Best Placement?

[Maddevil1]

I have been slowly acclimating my new 150W MH (Phoenix 14K bulb) over my BC14 (8 gallons of water total). Its been about 3 weeks (started at 11" above) and last week I was at 8.5" above the water and this week I am at 8" (moved it lower on Saturday). I dont think I am going to go any lower than this. This past weekend (on Sunday) I bought my first rainbow Acan and placed it on the sand toward the front left of the tank (trying to get it away from any direct light- in between the GSP and Duncan). Vertical distance from light is ~19".

 

Yesterday, Monday, I came home from work expecting to see the Acan puffed up, no such luck. It looked the same way it did as when I first put it in the tank. I decided to move it where it would get some shade (behind the GSP) and within 5 mins it puffed up. Does that mean it was under too much light and I should raise my light? Or was it still acclimating?

 

I also noticed that my chalice (solid bright orange) was turning a bit white (I immediately put it under some shade). Not sure if this was due to the light being 8.5" above or 8" above. But everything else is happy and extended fully.

 

What would be the ideal height for this fixture over the BC14 so I could keep the Acan in front?

 

Tank Parameters:

Temp - 77.5F

SG - 1.023

pH- 8-8.1

dKH - 8

Cal - 410

Mg - 1400

 

 

[Maddevil1]

[Degener8]

The idea height depends on whats in it.

 

I would say that the acans reaction to being moved would either be due to a difference in amount of light or flow.

The chalice sounds like it was starting to bleach out. Moving it to the shade was the right move. Some corals will never acclimate the the intensity of MH lighting. Keep it shaded until it regains its coloration then slowly inch it out from the shade little each week until its either acclimated or you can determine its not happy again.

 

Your light height would be about as low as I would go on your tank.

I started acclimating my tank to a 175 mh this week. I am starting 15" above the waterline with mine and will move it down to about 8-10" is the plan at this time. but we will see how it goes. Right now my clam has never been happier.

[Maddevil1]

The idea height depends on whats in it.

Well I would like to keep the acans and chalice on the sandbed.

 

I would say that the acans reaction to being moved would either be due to a difference in amount of light or flow.

So do you think it was still acclimating and I should maybe move it back?

 

Your light height would be about as low as I would go on your tank.

What would be the highest I could put the light and still be able to keep the acans/chalice on the sandbed and keep SPS anywhere?

[Degener8]

The acan and chalice will be happy in medium light so you could go up 5 inches or more and they would still be happy.

If you keep SPS in the top 50% of rthe tank this should still work.

Right now if the acan is happy and the chalice is shaded I would leave things the way they are if everything else is happy. Allow them time to acclimate to that placement and go from there. If the chalice starts regaining color go ahead and slowly move it out.

[nUgZ]

What would be the highest I could put the light and still be able to keep the acans/chalice on the sandbed and keep SPS anywhere?

 

You can't accomplish this and keep the Acans happy. If you have enough light to keep SPS anywhere in the tank then you'll never have happy Acans. Like Degener8 said, if you're OK with having the SPS in the top part of the tank then you can make it work.

[Nemo Niblets]

Acans will (generally) lose their rainbow colors under higher light. The lower the better.

[Freakin]

Beautiful looking BC14

[Bill Nye]

Beautiful looking BC14

 

 

19 inches below a 150 watt MH is alot of light (assuming that includes the 8 inches above the waterline). My tank is 10 inches deep and my light is 8 inches above water level (its a 70 watt MH). I just got a chalice as well and placed it on the sand bed in the corner and noticed that has started to color up a little more than it was when I first got it. You are definitely doing the right thing with the shade though, just move it slowly out. You could also put screens on top of your tank and take one off every week.

[Maddevil1]

Beautiful looking BC14

Thanks!

[Maddevil1]

19 inches below a 150 watt MH is alot of light (assuming that includes the 8 inches above the waterline). My tank is 10 inches deep and my light is 8 inches above water level (its a 70 watt MH). I just got a chalice as well and placed it on the sand bed in the corner and noticed that has started to color up a little more than it was when I first got it. You are definitely doing the right thing with the shade though, just move it slowly out. You could also put screens on top of your tank and take one off every week.

 

Yes, from the light to the waterline, it is 8". From the waterline to the sand, it is 11" - total 19". So this is considered a lot of light? Then I will move the light up. Any recommendations to what height? I would like to keep lower light corals in the bottom 1/3 and SPS/higher light corals in the top 2/3.

 

And if I am understanding this correctly, even if the rainbow acan puffed up with the current light height, it would lose its rainbow colors? So all those nice colored acans are kept under lower lighting?

[MikeTR]

I've got a 70w sunpod fixture.. probably 4-5" off the water and I think it's totally too much light for the whole tank. German blue is bleaching mid way.. wtf eh. .. I remember reading somewhere that 50 par is what you want for acans.

 

If you look at my avatar.. I moved the german blue from the front right corner where the green blastos are shown to where the red cap is shown.. i'm perplexed.

 

and my blue milli is coloring up on the sandbed!! jeez.. sizzle sizzle?

 

bout ready to get rid of the whole tank as it's got me beyond frustrated.

[Maddevil1]

I've got a 70w sunpod fixture.. probably 4-5" off the water and I think it's totally too much light for the whole tank. German blue is bleaching mid way.. wtf eh. .. I remember reading somewhere that 50 par is what you want for acans.

 

If you look at my avatar.. I moved the german blue from the front right corner where the green blastos are shown to where the red cap is shown.. i'm perplexed.

 

and my blue milli is coloring up on the sandbed!! jeez.. sizzle sizzle?

 

bout ready to get rid of the whole tank as it's got me beyond frustrated.

 

50 PAR?! I guess I'll leave in the shaded area. I have a maxima clam on the sand that needs lighting.

[MikeTR]

Found it:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=236691

[jjjo]

Keeping rainbow acans "rainbow" can prove to be very diffucult, when trying to support clams and SPS.

 

Althoug rainbow acans can tolerate higher light, they tend not to puff up as much, (polyps over time get smaller) and they either lose their rainbow colors, or some will just plain morph to a whole new color. To further make this issue more complicated, some acans actually look better under higher light. for instance, RandyO's pink dreamz acan.Up in high light, the red becomes very very intense, an the pink becomes more distinct.

 

On the other side of the spectrum, I've owned a rainbow that turned totally red, from too much light. I tried putting it at the bottom of my aquarium (35ish PAR) and the thing was still red. It wasnt until i Totally shaded it, that it got its colors back. and even then, they weren't the same as they were when I had first gotten it.

 

So all in all, acan colors can indeed be quite tricky AND no matter what, they usually WILL morph, for better or for worse.

 

Lastly, to help with color, low to medium flow, and feeding 1-3x per week will help tremendously. Too much flow, and the polyps wont extend right, and the acan will just look bad. (another issue with keeping acans with SPS)

 

 

zooxanthellae is brown. when an acan is deprived of food, it will produce more zooxanthellae to compensate for the lack of food. because of this, and being in low light, the brown zooxanthellae will show through, creating a brown acan. KEEP the acans nice and fat! also in a nutrient poor SPS tank, you will especially need to feed the acans. low Phosphates (below .02) will also bleach acans AND chalices.

 

its a big misconception that MORE zooxanthellae = more color. its not true.

 

 

-jjjo

[Maddevil1]

Keeping rainbow acans "rainbow" can prove to be very diffucult, when trying to support clams and SPS.

 

Althoug rainbow acans can tolerate higher light, they tend not to puff up as much, (polyps over time get smaller) and they either lose their rainbow colors, or some will just plain morph to a whole new color. To further make this issue more complicated, some acans actually look better under higher light. for instance, RandyO's pink dreamz acan.Up in high light, the red becomes very very intense, an the pink becomes more distinct.

 

On the other side of the spectrum, I've owned a rainbow that turned totally red, from too much light. I tried putting it at the bottom of my aquarium (35ish PAR) and the thing was still red. It wasnt until i Totally shaded it, that it got its colors back. and even then, they weren't the same as they were when I had first gotten it.

 

So all in all, acan colors can indeed be quite tricky AND no matter what, they usually WILL morph, for better or for worse.

 

Lastly, to help with color, low to medium flow, and feeding 1-3x per week will help tremendously. Too much flow, and the polyps wont extend right, and the acan will just look bad. (another issue with keeping acans with SPS)

 

 

zooxanthellae is brown. when an acan is deprived of food, it will produce more zooxanthellae to compensate for the lack of food. because of this, and being in low light, the brown zooxanthellae will show through, creating a brown acan. KEEP the acans nice and fat! also in a nutrient poor SPS tank, you will especially need to feed the acans. low Phosphates (below .02) will also bleach acans AND chalices.

 

its a big misconception that MORE zooxanthellae = more color. its not true.

 

 

-jjjo

 

Wow, thanks for the info! I will keep it where its at and if it starts to lose its rainbow colors, then I will put it in this really shaded area, where I actually have my chalice now. I actually fed the acan last night, a piece of mysis for each head. But now you have opened a can of worms for me. I dont think I was feeding my SPS enough, and maybe thats why they are brown as well? And I am running SeaChems Phosguard (5 tsp), I'll cut this back to 4 tsp and see if this helps the chalice any.

[jjjo]

Wow, thanks for the info! I will keep it where its at and if it starts to lose its rainbow colors, then I will put it in this really shaded area, where I actually have my chalice now. I actually fed the acan last night, a piece of mysis for each head. But now you have opened a can of worms for me. I dont think I was feeding my SPS enough, and maybe thats why they are brown as well? And I am running SeaChems Phosguard (5 tsp), I'll cut this back to 4 tsp and see if this helps the chalice any.

 

too much nutrients in the water, can cause zooxanthellae to go out of control (like any other algae) and cause corals to turn brown from excess zooxanthellae. (sps corals) i think... i read it somewhere in a college marine biology book.

 

either way, what are you water parameters?

[Maddevil1]

too much nutrients in the water, can cause zooxanthellae to go out of control (like any other algae) and cause corals to turn brown from excess zooxanthellae. (sps corals) i think... i read it somewhere in a college marine biology book.

 

either way, what are you water parameters?

 

Temp - 77.5 started this week (was 79.5)

SG - 1.023

pH - 8-8.1

dKH - 8-9

Cal - 400-420

Mg - 1350-1400

 

I use to feed Roti Feast, Phyto Feast, and Rod's Food on Sundays (before water change). Then On Tuesday feed Mysis Shrimp and Thursday Brine Shrimp.

 

I know I dont have too much nutrients, cause I dont really have any algae problems and rarely have to clean the glass, though I still do every 2 days, just because.

 

This week I am going to start adding the Roti Feast and Phyto Feast when I feed Mysis/Brine. I'll check to see how my nutrients are doing, and if not really affected, then maybe increase a day. Also for the past 2 weeks I have started target feeding my brain, chalice, blasto, trumpets, duncan and now acan with mysis - once a week.

 

Do you think I should raise my light as well?

[jjjo]

Temp - 77.5 started this week (was 79.5)

SG - 1.023

pH - 8-8.1

dKH - 8-9

Cal - 400-420

Mg - 1350-1400

 

I use to feed Roti Feast, Phyto Feast, and Rod's Food on Sundays (before water change). Then On Tuesday feed Mysis Shrimp and Thursday Brine Shrimp.

 

I know I dont have too much nutrients, cause I dont really have any algae problems and rarely have to clean the glass, though I still do every 2 days, just because.

 

This week I am going to start adding the Roti Feast and Phyto Feast when I feed Mysis/Brine. I'll check to see how my nutrients are doing, and if not really affected, then maybe increase a day. Also for the past 2 weeks I have started target feeding my brain, chalice, blasto, trumpets, duncan and now acan with mysis - once a week.

 

Do you think I should raise my light as well?

 

check ur po4 with photometer. one of the most important params.

[LogansRunRx]

nice avatar

[Maddevil1]

check ur po4 with photometer. one of the most important params.

 

Will do. I will look into the PO4 Hanna checker meter.