Coral bleaching under LEDs, check out the pics!!

[Khemul]

Im running only 60 LEDs at the moment, would that be an overkill? Do you think that 40 is better?

It isn't so much about reducing the amount of LEDs used as it is about the power going to them.

From the sound of it this is a good size, but shallow, tank. The problem with LEDs on shallow tanks is that a lot of it is simply for coverage. Your corals may only need a fraction of it, but you need as many LEDs as it takes to get full coverage. That may well be too much light, but you can't really go below that point without losing coverage area.


Sounds like you are doing fine with the dimming. There isn't much reason to reduce the amount of LEDs, since you can just dim them and get the same effect.

 

[badstraw]

Thanks for the input.. Im still dimming the LEDs but the corals are just not recovering, they look the same. (they're opening just a little bit more)

My monti cap looks kinda gray and is not growing, also both of my seriatoporas are completely bleached, (no polyps whatsoever)
I barely do water changes and that leads me to think that I might be having some potassium deficiencies in my tank .

I haven't tested for iodine or iron.. but the balling method should replenish those elements (in theory).

Does that make any sense?

Any input would be greatly appreciated...

 

[reefgeezer]

I'm not sure what Reef Energy is but I'm going to assume it is some sort of carbon source. If so, you high alk could be contributing to the RTN and tip burning of your SPS. I imagine the excessive number and power of the LEDs are also contributing particularly to the LPS issues. I can't run my leds WITHOUT OPTICS on a 20" deep tank at 70% for the blues and violets and not even 50% for the whites and I don't have as many LEDs as you. I've also noticed that a carbonate hardness of around 7.5 to 8 seems to keep me from having problems with tip burning and RTN, but if I crank up the power on teh LEDs, I have issues.

 

[badstraw]

sorry double post..

 

[badstraw]

Thanks reefgeezer.. Reef Energy is a 2 part complete nutritional formula that provides all of the energy, amino acids and vitamins corals utilize for growth and coloration.

http://www.redseafish.com/index.aspx?id=4354

I've cut the photoperiod for the past few weeks but I'm not seeing any changes.. my seriatopora is completely white, do I need to dim the LEDs a little bit more? the tank looks dark now.. 40 blues at 90 % 20 whites at 10%

Do I need to dose potassium? Lugol or Iodine? perhaps Iron ? My monti cap still looks gray, and my styloporas are receding and dying..

I wouldn't like to purchase a K+ test kit, I've read that they're not accurate at all.. but what can I do?

Thanks for your help guys, I really appreciate it so much..

 

[reefgeezer]

Running lights @ 90% is little better than 100%. I's suggest you cut the lights to 50%, turn on the skimmer, and quit adding the reef energy.

 

[richiero]

looking for lighting advice here

looking for lighting advice here

i have led set up form rapid led i have 42 3 watt leds, 14 cool with ,14 royal blue

and a mixed string of 6 blue 4 green and 4 uv. what should i set my intensity at and how long should i have my light on for? the tank is 21 tall...

looking lps and softies for now


thank you

 

[richiero]

please help with led lighting intensity

please help with led lighting intensity

i have led set up form rapid led i have 42 3 watt leds, 14 cool with ,14 royal blue

and a mixed string of 6 blue 4 green and 4 uv. what should i set my intensity at and how long should i have my light on for? the tank is 21 tall...

looking lps and softies for now


thank you

 

[Peter Eichler]

I also think that your photperiod is too long. Corals will adapt to strong light, but they have a hard time adapting to that strong light from LED's or T5's over a long period of time. Cutting photoperiods back to 8-9 hours works wonders for tanks lit by LED's and T5's IME.

 

[mpierce]

Whats the verdict on this LED issue? I also have experienced some bleaching / pastel coloration of corals under LED and I am on board with all the people who say turn them down! I think you should continue using all the LEDs, but just run them at a lower intensity. Anyway, just looking for an update.

 

[Spectre2006]

yep, ecotech radion tank... corals fading in color. Thinking that after a bit of time, the corals will adjust to the light levels, and regain color.

 

[badstraw]

Update:

Since I cut the lights the corals are getting their colors back.. At least some of them.

I also noticed a stray voltage in my tank, around 5 volts..

My green acro is still bleaching from its base, and I think the problem might be related to the leaking voltage.

My parameters now are:

Kh 8.3
Ca 420
Mg 1350
Nitrates 3
Phosphate .02

What so you think guys? I'm still thinking that there's a potassium deficiency, I don't know but some of my monti caps look kinda gray.

 

[Jeff000]

Turn your skimmer on. Low nutrients or not the skimmer will still help.

Your whites seem too low. I run about the same ratio of RB to CW and run my RB at 90% and my white at 80% or so, and I get a 20k ish look.
I'm using Cree though. And have a deeper tank.

 

[jbfloor]

I had 72 LED's over a 155g and bleached the crap out of my corals when I ran everything at 90% and for 10+ hours. I had to go down to 30% and then slowly up to 45% at 8 hours before corals started recovering. I agree with Jeff, you should turn up the whites. I'd go to at least half of the Royal Blues. Using so much blue and so little white will make corals fluoresce, but it won't bring out the colors.

 

[ffeschultz]

I have 88 3W cree LED's over my 72 gallon tank. I bleached the crap out of my sps corals at 50%. It took my green birdsnest about 3-4 months of 30% power for the color to recover. Looks can be deceiving. Led's sometimes look dim to the human eye, but are indeed packing a punch. I need to get a bigger tank to justify having the amount of LED's my fixture has.

 

[CHSUB]

I had pale/stn/bleaching sps's with leds too. i reduced power and photo period and color seemed to return. however, it was "wishful" thinking. it wasn't until I switched the led for mh that color returned.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Is there any info out there about LEDs having great penetration? They have much less than MH in my opinion.

It really depends on the leds. I switched from 4 250W MH to 2 EverGrow IT2080 fixtures (198 3W leds with 90 degree optics) and my PAR at the surface is about the same as the MH (a bit lower actually), but 22" down the leds PAR is 15-20% higher than the MH were.

And given that, I run my leds at 65% power for 5 hrs and less than that (sunrise and sunset) for another 9 hrs and my corals are doing as well... probably better, than they were under the MH.

 

[PrangeWay]

The biggest question factor I could ask is, "what are your optics?".

I switched from 2-250 Hallides and 4-54W T5's to a 99 3w LED fxiture, it is currently at 90%/90% and I have zero bleaching or lightening. But the optics are 90's and 120's (ie no optics).

If your narrow beam lazering 60d optics onto the corals, they're gonna bleach.


PW

 

[JP Reef]

I have 88 3W cree LED's over my 72 gallon tank. I bleached the crap out of my sps corals at 50%. It took my green birdsnest about 3-4 months of 30% power for the color to recover. Looks can be deceiving. Led's sometimes look dim to the human eye, but are indeed packing a punch. I need to get a bigger tank to justify having the amount of LED's my fixture has.

Most visible light is useless for growing corals. This is also why PAR meters are not accurate with LEDs because they are more sensitive to the green to red spectrum. It comes down to what looks good to you, but that may not be good for your corals. Quite a bit of the light a MH bulb puts out is in the useless light range which is also why many people get fooled on PAR readings. You can't tell by looking at a light how good it is since the human eye detects mostly wavelengths that aren't necessary for coral growth.

I would recommend reducing your blues to the 50%ish range. You can raise your whites up some to just dial in to what looks good to you.

 

[MHG]

Without a PAR meter I would say you are coocking them.... My 48 LED's at 8 inches was about 900 PAR on the top of my rocks... I was wondering why my corolone turned white so I borrowed a meter. I got rid of 12 LED's and turned them down and slowly increased them to about 70%. Now I have 500 PAR at the top of the rock work and 140 on the sand. Most everything looks great and my coraline has returned...