Do I have enough light over my tank? Corals (even softies) have lost color.

[cab395]

Hi everyone. I'm currently trying to figure out my problem with coral coloration. Based off of pictures I take when I place the corals in the tank first, they have all mostly really lightened up. I have a PO4 test coming in the mail soon so I can test exactly what it is. Otherwise, all other parameters are in normal limits.

pH - 8.1
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates 0
PO4 - ? (test kit on its way)
CAL - 490
MAG - 1425
ALK - 8.3 (dKH)
SG - 1.025

I have a 36" 4 bulb t5 fixture over my 38 gallon tank which has a footprint of 36" x 12" and is 18" tall. The fixture has one large reflector and does not have individual reflectors for each bulb. I am using 2 ATI Blue+ and 2 ATI Coral+ bulbs. Up to 1 week ago, I had the Blue+ on for 12 hours and the Coral+ on for 8 hours. After noticing the bleaching or fading in color of all my corals (even my zoos), I turned down to 10 hours Blue+ and 5 hours Coral+. It has been a week, and I THINK I am seeing better extension and a bit more coloration, but it's totally subjective and really difficult to tell. The main coral I'm looking at is a frogspawn. Other inhabitants are a hammer, zoos, a leather, and shrooms/ricordea. All of these have lost color since I put them into the tank. The fact that the low light softies lost color made me think that I had the lights on for too long. Does this sound right?

If it was too much light, how long would it take for the frogspawn and other corals to color back up? Does it sound like it could have been too much light? It's only a 4 bulb fixture with only one large reflector. Then again, the tank is only 12" front to back. Could it be not enough light? How can I tell? Sorry, this light/coloration issue has been very frustrating to me lately.

Also, if it matters at all, it looks like the FS is starting to split on one of its heads which seems like it is a sign of health. I would look at it this way if I didn't see old pictures of it and how deeply colored it used to be. It has definitely been more expanded this past week after lowering the light duration though. Also, my purple mushrooms have been opened much wider than they have been prior to the light duration reduction. I figure maybe I could leave the light schedule less (how it is now) for like a month and see how everything does. Good idea? Bad idea? Please help!! Thank you, all!

 

[Reefmedic79]

I would guess too much over too little, shortening the light cycle was the right thing to do. How long have the current lights been on the tank? Unfortunately it could take a couple months to get the full color out your corals as you had begun with, but it is nothing to worry about unless you start seeing some tissue loss on the corals.

You don't want to change too much too fast, but you may want to consider changing one of the coral plus bulbs with a purple+ or an aquablue. Most people seem to get better color from using less "white" spectrum lighting.

 

[SGT_York]

get a better test kit, nitrates will never be zero if they truly are that is a problem, what kit are you using?

 

[cab395]

I would guess too much over too little, shortening the light cycle was the right thing to do. How long have the current lights been on the tank? Unfortunately it could take a couple months to get the full color out your corals as you had begun with, but it is nothing to worry about unless you start seeing some tissue loss on the corals.

You don't want to change too much too fast, but you may want to consider changing one of the coral plus bulbs with a purple+ or an aquablue. Most people seem to get better color from using less "white" spectrum lighting.

Thanks for the input. They seem like the tissue is fine their color is just so washed out and blah. A couple months is definitely not what I wanted to hear, but if it is what needs to be done, so be it. In a few months if I do not see the color return, should I drop the photoperiod even more? Also, I was under the impression that the Coral+ was bluer than the ABS and the Purple+. Is this incorrect? I thought the Coral+ had around half ABS and Blue+ with a hint of the Purple+, whereas the ABS was more white?

get a better test kit, nitrates will never be zero if they truly are that is a problem, what kit are you using?

That would be an API. My pH, Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite tests are all API since I bough that cheap starter kit. All others are salifert. My nitrates are less than 10 and are probably closer to 2 or 3, but they show zero on the kit, due to it not being as precise as other kits.

 

[Art13]

I found salifert is a great nitrate kit that isn't too bad on price, and pretty accurate on the measurements, a lot more so than api. The only thing i'll ever use api again for is cycling a tank for the ammonia and nitrites.

 

[cab395]

Yeah I definitely have my eye on Salifert for the last four tests I need. As soon as I can justify spending the money I will grab them all lol. I just shelled out a lot for BRS ROX and bulbs and a Salifert kit so I need some time to spend more. I just spent more than I ever told myself id spend on carbon, haha.

Is that the consensus then? They probably were getting too much light?

 

[Art13]

It's possible, though i have no experience with t5's. Might try raising it off the tank a few inches and see if it helps. My recent experience has been with LEDs, my sps came from a tank where the lights were also LEDs and to be safe i started out with about 30% blue 20% white. I recently went up 5% and it looks like my birds nest does not like it at all, I think because my supplier used mostly just the blue leds and my whites may be what is causing the issue, so i will be backing it down again to see how they do, next step would be to remove the 90 degree lenses for more light dispersion. I think trying everything in small steps and seeing if anything improves/gets worse would be the best way to go and will also help narrow down the problem you have been having.

 

[rtparty]

Did you go from cheap t5 bulbs to the ATI bulbs? Did you acclimate the tank or just change out all the bulbs at once?

 

[cab395]

The bulbs used to be cheap but the new ATI bulbs were in place before the corals were placed into the tank. Maybe I have too much white light from the ABS that was just switched out for a Coral+?

 

[rtparty]

The bulbs used to be cheap but the new ATI bulbs were in place before the corals were placed into the tank. Maybe I have too much white light from the ABS that was just switched out for a Coral+?

You don't have too much "white" light. There are a ton of people running your exact combo with little issue. My guess is the corals were shocked a little and the tank may be too clean.

 

[cab395]

Okay, so too much white light is out. If the corals are shocked, they should color back up I'm assuming? Additionally, what do I do if my tank is too clean? Feed the fish more? Less water changes? Forgive me, but that doesn't really sound like a good idea to do these things because it might get out of hand, correct?

 

[Reefmedic79]

Thanks for the input. They seem like the tissue is fine their color is just so washed out and blah. A couple months is definitely not what I wanted to hear, but if it is what needs to be done, so be it. In a few months if I do not see the color return, should I drop the photoperiod even more? Also, I was under the impression that the Coral+ was bluer than the ABS and the Purple+. Is this incorrect? I thought the Coral+ had around half ABS and Blue+ with a hint of the Purple+, whereas the ABS was more white?

My bad, your right the coral plus is bluer, the ABS is the whiter or more red of the 2. if in a few months you don't get your color back, then I would look into other issues of the subdued color, such as parameter swings or phosphate levels.

Even though you haven't tested for PO4 yet, are you using GFO or other phosphate binding material. The use of these items have been connected to color loss as well especially with using too much or using it when it isn't really needed.

 

[rtparty]

Okay, so too much white light is out. If the corals are shocked, they should color back up I'm assuming? Additionally, what do I do if my tank is too clean? Feed the fish more? Less water changes? Forgive me, but that doesn't really sound like a good idea to do these things because it might get out of hand, correct?

It is all about balance. You need to export what you import but you also need to find out how much to import. Feeding the fish more is a great way to help things out but start off slow and add a little more each time. Even if the fish don't eat everything, something in the tank will eat it.

Don't go just dump in a ton of food though and expect things to be magically fixed. Take your time and maybe try to get your nitrates to register around 10 or so and see how things react.

 

[Wrench]

Pics would help. I'd be hesitant to blame the lights. I've seen nicely colored corals come out from under everything from 6500k 'Sakis to T5's to 20k Radiums, etc. Calfo says the most important aspects are food, flow then light. In that order.

Anxious to see what your PO4 is.

 

[cab395]

I do run GFO, but I am hesitant to say that is the root of the problem. I do get some algae on my glass/rocks (talking like 5-10mm diameter pieces) that I scrape off every two weeks, so there is definitely enough nutrients in the tank to warrant GFO use. I am also really anxious about my PO4. Before I have the results, I am planning on letting my tank run with the subdued lighting for the next couple months and diligently observing the coloring on my corals.

If I do wind up having high PO4 (which I should find out Thursday or Friday), what is the proper action to take, even though I am already feeding very sparingly with little waste and run GFO?

 

[Reefmedic79]

I do run GFO, but I am hesitant to say that is the root of the problem. I do get some algae on my glass/rocks (talking like 5-10mm diameter pieces) that I scrape off every two weeks, so there is definitely enough nutrients in the tank to warrant GFO use. I am also really anxious about my PO4. Before I have the results, I am planning on letting my tank run with the subdued lighting for the next couple months and diligently observing the coloring on my corals.

If I do wind up having high PO4 (which I should find out Thursday or Friday), what is the proper action to take, even though I am already feeding very sparingly with little waste and run GFO?

It's possible that it's not the problem, but just because you have algae growth isn't a necessary determinant that you have a PO4 issue. All tanks have algae, a tank devoid of algae is not a healthy tank. It's also theorized that a tank completely devoid of PO4 can also be detrimental.

What type of skimmer do you have?

 

[cab395]

It's possible that it's not the problem, but just because you have algae growth isn't a necessary determinant that you have a PO4 issue. All tanks have algae, a tank devoid of algae is not a healthy tank. It's also theorized that a tank completely devoid of PO4 can also be detrimental.

What type of skimmer do you have?

I have some algae but in no way is it uncontrollable. I take this as a good sign haha. My skimmer is a Reef Octopus BH-1000 and is rated for tanks much larger than mine (38 gallon).

 

[cab395]

I'm wondering if my water is in fact too clean? I guess we will see from my PO4 test? I don't feed my corals as I stated earlier. Just feed my fish once a day slowly (as much as they can eat before starting to spit the food out). I change 4 gallons a week of my 38 gallon tank. Maybe they are starving from a lack of nutrients in the water? This is so complicated/confusing. Should I try feeding if my PO4 is in fact low, or just stick with lowering the light for a couple months?

 

[Reefmedic79]

Too clean was a problem I felt I had, and increasing feeding did seem to help in my tank. Prior to the increased feeding I also didn't have any discernible algae growth. I now feed an equivalent of about 1.5 cubes of food every other day or so, 8 small fish, a huge CUC in a total water volume of 30-40g. My skimmer is rated for 100g though, and have never detected nitrates.

 

[cab395]

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