MH bulb BLEACHED my tank!! WTF?!?

[fastredponycar]

I've been meaning to post this for some time now but I was waiting to see if mabey teh tank just needed to re-adjust to the large increase in light that was being introduced but thing's haven't gotten better.

 

I added a 250w MH bulb about a month ago and literally 2 days after I added it, the purple coraline started turning pink and now it's pretty much light tan along with the rest of the rocks.

 

The water temp stays at 78~80*. The bulb is about 8~9" off the water surface.

 

I run a pair of 65w supplimental acticics with the mh and they run for an extra hour after the mh goes off and 1 hour before it comes on. All chemical levels are the same as they were before I added it.

 

Is this normal? What should I do if not? Will a 150 watt mh bulb work with my 250watt ballast if the 250 watt bulb is too much?

[birdman204]

Some say that coralline is a lower light algae. I have seen it grow under halides, so I would give it more time. Are the rest of your animals ok?

[fade2black]

Usually going to MH from another type of lighting causes the coralline to die off, but it will slowly come back. Are you slowly adapting the tank to the higher light levels?

[MrKrispy]

yah research shows that you must acclimate the tank slowly to new MHs.

 

Bummer.

[melcolm]

Are you using a double ended bulb?

 

If so, make sure you are using UV shielding glass between the bulb and the tank.

[fastredponycar]

no it's a single socket mogule style. Dang. I didn't know I was supposed to slowly let the tank adapt.

 

Oh well. No there's nothing much else in the tank. I'm moving to montgomery saturday so I'm holding off on the livestock. Just a crew to keep it clean and a lawnmower blenny.

 

The featherdusters got big though.