Dragon Soul - favia Goniastrea

[Ijwapoto]

So this is one of the frags that I got at the October frag swap. When I first got it. It was maroon with the green mouth. Now the maroon is not as vibrant any more. There is some lime green color starting to appear on the maroon tissue. Is this a bad thing or good thing? Thanks for any comments.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Looks like it might be getting too much light. What lights are you using? And if you can provide some other tank parameters such as alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, phosphate and nitrate levels, that should help better get to the root of the problem.

 

[Ijwapoto]

The lights I have are the Hipargero A029 LED. The lights are 4" above the water surface and the coral is about 15" below the surface. Water temp is 77 degrees. Monday's water test showed 7.8 ph, 0 nitrates, 0 am, 0 nitrites, 1.025 salinity. I don't have test for the alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, phosphate yet.

 

[createyourown]

Ph might be a little low? Im no expert, that be my guess though.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I'm not familiar with that light, and if you're doing regular water changes with reputable salt, then I would lean towards too much light, without a par meter reading you can't be sure. Are those lights dimmable? If so I would turn them way down and acclimate your new coral to your light. If you can't control intensity, put the coral in the shade and allow it to get used to you tank parameters.

LED's are notorious for bleaching new corals, dimming them and slowly bringing the lights up over the course of a few weeks would be the best schedule. That coral doesn't require a lot of light in the first place.

 

[createyourown]

Also ive got some Hanna test kits if you'd like to borrow them. PM me if your interested

 

[Ijwapoto]

Thank for all of your suggestion. The light are dimmable. I think I will start with that. I will also do a 10% water change this weekend.

 

[Ijwapoto]

When and had the water tested today.
Ph 8.0
Am 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 0
Salinity 1.025
Mg 1400
Ca 400
DKh 9.8
Temp 79f
I have the blue LED at 70% and white LED at 60%.
The Dragon Soul - favia Goniastrea still looks in happy but the brain coral looks happier.

 

[kjonulak]

When and had the water tested today.
Ph 8.0
Am 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 0
Salinity 1.025
Mg 1400
Ca 400
DKh 9.8
Temp 79f
I have the blue LED at 70% and white LED at 60%.
The Dragon Soul - favia Goniastrea still looks in happy but the brain coral looks happier.

LED's are a lot more powerful than most people realize. What are the ratio of blue to white LED's?

You may want to turn your LED's down to 45% blue and the whites to 35%. Let the tank settle for a few weeks. If needed slooowly increase by 1-2%/week. The club use to have a PAR device, if it's still available borrow it and take some readings.

 

[Ijwapoto]

I will lower them down to 40%. The lights are about equal. The adjustment is in increments of 10%.