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There is such a thing as too much light


Dave ESPI

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I recently for the third time added 3 soft corals to a tank ( 40 gal Long with 330 Watts of VHO) and they proceeded to bleach.

I added them to teh lower regions in the tank semi sheltered... STILL fer the third time they bleached. I have gotten softies fron teh same trans fer the last 2 months. They had them under VHO APROX: 300 Watts, Im concerned that it could be their lighting and initial shock, as I added 2 of the softies to 2 customers tanks before being under the 330 watts, and they are fine under 250 W MH and 64 W PC actinic ( Go fig)... Calcium and other stuff norm in all tanks. I thought it was a fluke the first time, the second and third were FUBAR.. Other corals were fine, LPS were expanded and growing... the Shrooms were NOT opening, as were some polyps...... To Much Light? Me thinks so.

I moved a colt to a 10 gal tank with 64 W pc and its regaining color ( I HOPE) and FWIW, I fraged a Kenya and added it to my 37 collumn... ALSO under 250 W MH and 64 W PC.

Its rare, but as my past history has said, I have little EXP with VHO as I am SOLID with MH and PC..... advice and or exp? The 40 L is the Only tank that is solely VHO in all my reefs and my customer tanks.

 

heheh SEE Even I am not invincible "gainds the dark side///":x

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:o et tu, master yoda?! :P

 

i'm not one for the 'too much light' but i do believe in 'too much change in light'. a long shot here but how about their frequency? (i.e. bulb age) our eyes can't pick up the flickering but other animals can. i remember reading a blurb on that years ago but never heard more (like brain cancer and cell phones).

 

the shrooms and polyps situation is interesting. : what kind of polyps? (zoos or stolons)

 

how far up did the transhipper have his VHO? his temp.? your setup and parameters? don't get insulted by my questions btw sometimes i look for my keys while they're in my hand.

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no fun intended :rolleyes: I donno they had the shieatsh in 120 highs with same watts cept more blue.... ( IF my memory serves)

kinda PMEO ! (####ed me off)

Polyps... Green moon polyps and the shrooms various. I thought it was a lack of a skimmer on the tank, bit I do a 10 gal w/c a week and I add supps. Its like they are allergic to light and growth LOL... it ####es me off ! oh well. ???

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did you acclimate them or just put them in to the full photo period?

 

could be the stress from moving and the shock of full photoperiod could have done it

 

Lunchbucket

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Hia Dave!

 

Here might be an idea that might help you!

Does your tank do a Dusk dawn effect or does all your VHO kick on at the same time? Its not natural for the corals to be BLASTED with full daylight power right away (MH is different because it doesnt reach full intensity right away like VHO). I think some corals are more tolerant then others when it comes to that.

 

Im right with you on the Mushroom thing though Brother! I can't keep mine healthy for anything. Its wierd to me though I have 72 watts on my 10 gallon tank and my star polyps are now growing like crazy. I have button polyps that are going mad. I have a small encrusting hard coral I have no idea what it is but its cool it sticks its little tenticles out :) And i have some colored mushrooms that dont do well I have a few that have moved under rocks that are doing fine but the ones that are in DIRECT PC light are not doing well at all. Im going to try my hand in LPS corals within the next month or so.

 

Hope this helps Dave. I would like to thank ya also for your help with my various topics. And I have an update that I will put into the post about coral growth. Mine are growing now ever since the addition of a cheapo HOB filter to agitate the surface better the increased gas exchange has helped 100 fold. another thing I did was move the corals closer the the front of the tank where the 10K bulb is and it has really helped.

 

Thanks again and good luck

 

Joe

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2 50/ 50 46.5 inch and 1 03 46.5 inch VHO = 330 W over a 40 Long. 8.25 WPG... not too shabby, BUT... I didnt change anything from waht the trans had cept I have 1 more 50/ 50 instead of an extra actinic ( gain I believe) BUT the halides are on a few tanks.

Im going to try to move a few around. I fragged a Colt and moved 1/2 it in to the total shade in the way back of the tank, the other indirect under a ledge. I also took a colt and added it to my 10 gal nano with PC on it. it hasne seemed to have any more bleaching, yet one week is too soon to tell. Perhaps it is just the Trans shipper that is bleaching them and I see the results?

Oh and TRUST ME... its NOT my acclimation technique.;) Ive lost 12 corals in my thousands of acclimations, it isnt that consistant.. LOL its just plain wierd.... Same coras.. Same light SAME TANK? Same Supplyer ? Per haps Ill try a few from another place and see what happens...: Thanks. !

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dave,

 

maybe you can try sending a frag back to the transshipper to see any reaction at their facility. (if they're willing, of course) that should eliminate any question of acclimation issues. you could try a couple of frags if he has different lighting schemes to further eliminate questions regarding lighting issues.

 

that would leave just leave differences in the water parameters from one system to another. :

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YA tiny I already tested across the board on ALL my systems ARGH THAT TAKES LIKE 4 HOURS ! and I got nothing out of ord.

I called DAN at the Trans I got them from. Im taking 3 different ones back in the 17th of OCT. time will tell. ;)

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  • 3 weeks later...
Originally posted by sci33

I think every coral has it's limits.  Dave I've already discussed this with you. :)

 

Thanks Pops...:P U R such a reef God. Chicks must bow before U and bend to yer every whim....:rolleyes:

ttyl J/K

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sorry, my mistake then. :blush: it was a different person with dave then. i wasn't a participant anyways. i just remember the other discussion because that was my first exposure to espi. ;) he's actually mellowed a bit imo.

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tinyreef has change comming from his 2 cents

I just remember the other discussion because that was my first exposure to espi. ;)  he's actually mellowed a bit imo.

 

LOL I just havent been irked in a while.... the intelegence levels seem to be stable here now at a soild 9th grader level.

:D

 

oh wait this is advanced forum.... X)

damn damn damn........

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