Encrusting Montipora issues

[steelers559792]

I'm having difficulty with my encrusting montis losing color while other SPS I have such as Birdsnest, Stylos, digitata and millis are all looking great. It really stinks because I have a bunch of montis such as superman, incredible, hulk, and sunset and they all seem to me bleaching/losing color at the base. I'm wondering if it is my LED light bleaching them or something else. My light is a vertica illumina 200 with blues at 90% and he whites set low at 25%. I have started all of the montis on sand bed and kept them there so they are about 24" from LED's. My tank is a 60 gallon cube and has been set up about 5 months and I run Carbon and GFO in a reactor, no skimmer though (i love zoas, rics and gonis so don't like to run a skimmer) and 5 fish (mystery wrasse, tomini tang, chromis and a clownfish pair).

I have even recently tried moving some to shaded areas and that seems to have slowed the bleaching at least.

Tank parameters:
Temp:81
PH:8.2
Alk:8-9dkh
Calcium: 400
Mag: 1300

Does anyone have suggestions or recommendations on what could be wrong? Thanks!

 

[ecvernon]

think you already have it figured out. the led lighting. i experienced the same thing when i went from metal halides to AI sol Blues. I had a encrusting montipora close to the top then i needed to move it to near the middle or lower half of my aquarium to heal. since then i have been moving it up slowly they may need to be re acclimated to the new light

 

[steelers559792]

thanks ecvernon, what percentages do you run your AI's at? I have my whites dialed back to 20% but my blues were both at 95% but i read somewhere that too much royal blue could bleach the corals as well. It's odd because the undata and seasons greetings look fine but the superman and incredible hulk look terrible, i hope they can come back and i have since moved them into the shade.


Anyone else have a opinion/recommendation?

 

[Reefer1225]

I have AI Sol Blues. I bleached my sunset monti and rainbow when I put it half way up my tank. I think my settings were 65W 70B 70RB at the time. I put them in the sandbed and it took months for them to recover. I keep my sunset and superman in the sandbed now. I put my rainbow up higher in a shaded area.

Your parameters are fine, so I think your LEDS are contributing to the bleaching. Also, carbon and GFO can strip your water too clean too quickly.

You say that you keep them in the sandbed and have your white setting only at 25%? That is pretty low and makes be double think if it is actually the lights bleaching your montis. Maybe there are starving b/c of Carbon and GFO? How is your feeding schedule? Not running a skimmer, should keep nutrient levels up though. Hmmm... got me stumped.

Just wanted to add my experience with montis and LEDs. Good luck.

 

[Ruge13]

I had the exact experience with AI SOL Blues. I have heard of many similar experiences with other LED's. My Sunset, Rainbow, purple haze, and superman all reacted negatively. The superman recovered in 6 months, sunsets died back a bit and recovered in 8 months or so and I lost the purple haze.

 

[steelers559792]

thanks for the help guys, I'm pretty sure its the lights, just need to be more careful next time

 

[ebushrow]

think you already have it figured out. the led lighting. i experienced the same thing when i went from metal halides to AI sol Blues. I had a encrusting montipora close to the top then i needed to move it to near the middle or lower half of my aquarium to heal. since then i have been moving it up slowly they may need to be re acclimated to the new light

+1
My thoughts exactly