Does PAR increase much with additional T5 bulbs?

[miyzfrider]

I currently have a 4 bulb, Aquatic Life 48" T5 fixture above my 90 gallon. I'm finding that my new fungia is bleaching out, and I'm very confident it's a lighting issue. So I'm contemplating how I can get stronger lighting to the sandbed. Specifically, I've already looked at adding two more T5 bulbs for a total of 6 inside my canopy.

I'm wondering if simply adding two more bulbs will do much as far as the PAR level in the tank, and if so, about how much should I expect to gain. Looking at a few of the threads here on the forum, I estimate I probably have a PAR rating about 140 or so at the sand now. If I add two more bulbs what would that do?

Any help or insight would be appreciated!

 

[INCEPTION7]

What type of bulbs are you running right now? PAR will increase with a different fixture (ATI) or bulb (ATI) but with more bulbs coverage will only increase. In a way, this will increase PAR in areas that didn't have proper coverage to begin with. How deep is your tank and how high is your fixture mounted?

Also, what are your reasons for blaming the lighting? Fungias don't generally require high PAR...

 

[miyzfrider]

The tank is 24" high. It's a standard 90 gallon.

I did swap the bulbs out with ATI bulbs right after purchasing the fixture. I know I have two 10K bulbs, one blue and one purple colored bulb. Sorry I don't know the exacts. I'm new to the hobby and still learning lots!

Reason for my lighting suspicion is that I have had the coral for about a week and a half. It was purchased from a fellow reefer who had it in a 29 g bio cube. They had a 4 bulb T5 fixture on their tank. Two days after I had it in my tank, it started to "bleach". All my other corals appear ok. It has been fed twice, but it still looks whiter than I think it should, and did.

Two days ago one of my clowns jumped out, so yesterday I put my glass covers back on. Today, the coral looks even more bleached. So I am suspecting it's lighting given all things considered. I'm going to put screening in place so I can remove the glass again, but I'm just wondering if a 4 bulb fixture is sufficient for a 24" tall tank, at least to keep any bottom type corals.

 

[NYCBOB]

Bleaching could be caused by bad water quality too.

 

[rtparty]

Bleaching rarely occurs when lighting isn't sufficient. Bleaching is a sign of stress and this occurs from too much light or parameters are off.

I would bet you have shocked the coral but get your parameters checked.

Also, more bulbs won't necessarily increase PAR like stated above but will increase coverage. You will also have better bulb choices with 6 bulbs.

 

[miyzfrider]

Parameters, as far as I can test for are all in check, and the 5 other corals in my tank are doing just fine, again from what I can tell, as are the three fish.

Tank inhabitants are:
2 Ocellaris Clowns
1 Royal Gramma
2 Zoa frags
1 trumpet coral
7 mushrooms of two different species
1 GSP frag

Parameters are:
Temp 78
Salinity 1.026 (which I was told to set it at by my lfs, but see most corals sold online stating ranges that top at 1.025. Maybe .026 is too high?)
KH 8
pH 8.3
Amm 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

I don't have a calcium test, but about a week ago I had the lfs test things and they tested calcium at 450, and all of their other tests agreed with mine.

So unless there is something I am missing, or a contaminate is in the water, which I don't think is the case given the status of the other inhabitants and my husbandry practices, I'm left looking at too low of lighting, or at least lower lighting than its previous home which may be causing its stress.

Yes, no, are there things I'm missing? Any additional steps suggested? I did a 30 gallon water change about 4-5 days ago and that didn't really seem to make a difference in anything, even though I knew I should do that regardless. Like I said, I'm new to the hobby with out tank only being about 3 months old. So maybe I'm missing something and would dry much appreciate some ideas.

Thanks for responding.

 

[MHG]

I agree it will increase coverage but it is doing so by increasing the PAR in the areas where there was not previously coverage...

 

[miyzfrider]

I agree it will increase coverage but it is doing so by increasing the PAR in the areas where there was not previously coverage...

So are you saying that for example, if at the bottom of the tank, in the center I see a PAR of 150 which let's say is the calculated max for the bulbs, reflectors and water depth I have in place, and in the corner I see PAR of 110, adding two additional lights is most likely going to not really increase the max of 150 in the center, but maybe put PAR at 150 in the corners?

 

[miyzfrider]

Bleaching rarely occurs when lighting isn't sufficient.

But couldn't a coral that is photosynthetic be prone to stress if it isn't getting the lighting it needs to feed? I guess maybe I'm confused then on the way corals receive nutrients if they are photosynthetic and how that can affect them.

I guess that's why I assumed that may be the root cause of the issue, especially since it seemed to bleach worse yesterday all of the sudden and the only change was the addition of the glass cover on the tank, which I'm sure reduced the amount of light in the tank, especially the bottom.

 

[LukeGI]

fwiw, bulbs like the Blue+ are much higher in PAR than say the 10k bulbs you have. So...adding Blue+ bulbs, or replacing some with that bulb will increase the PAR put out by your current fixture.
Personally I would think you had a water shock going on that caused the bleaching before I would assume lighting.
Maybe an alkalinity change from its previous environment.

 

[MHG]

No, What I am saying if directly under the bulb I have a PAR pf 100 at the sand bed and under an area of no bulb you have 50, when you add a bulb over that 50 area you now have a higher PAR that what you had before in that 50 area...

IMO there woulkd be overlap and the PAR inn the 100 area would go up. I would not guess as to how much but probably slightly...

 

[INCEPTION7]

Yeah, I am more leaning towards a parameter shock from the difference in water. Your levels are fine and I've never had any issues with Acans. These are not generally difficult corals to keep. Maybe just leave it alone and see what happens. If it continues to recede/bleach in the coming week then I would suggest keeping it in a different tank. You could also try an iodine dip to rule out an pests stressing it out.

 

[miyzfrider]

Just for clarity, this is a fungia I'm having issues with.

Here is a before shot, taken the first day I brought it home about 11 days ago:

Here is a shot from a few days ago. It's actually whiter than this now.

I know this isn't the section on the board about corals, again I wonder if it is a lighting issue, but am open to parameter questions or things I can check to see if I can "fix" whatever might be happening. I don't want it to die!!