Help with certain corals and an anemone

kale231

New member
I have a 40gl breeder with 20gl sump, I am running a reef octopus skimmer, carbon, chaeto and live rock in the sump. I Ave one hydra26 light (going to add a 2nd for coverage) running at about 40% with an hour and a half ramp up and cool down time. All this has been running for 8 months.
Fish: 2 clowns, 2 chromis, bicolored pseduo, six line wrasse, lawnmower blenny

So I have lot of coral doing well (xenia, duncan, acan, candy cane, multiple mushrooms, hammer), but my acropora and birdsnest both bleached within a week. I had an LTA that slowly bleached over a month and just got smaller and smaller until he passed.

I don't have my exact parameters in front of me but they were all in line with everything that I've read online with the exception of my temperature which is between 81-82.

So my question is why would these certain corals and the anemone not make it while everything else is florishing?
 
IMO the water is too hot should be 78-79 and you need to lower your lights, bleached usually means the lights are too bright. LPS and softies have different requirements than SPS and Anemones.

What are your water parameters?
 
All of the corals you list that are doing well can do ok with lower light levels than either the acropora or birdsnest. The anemone requires high levels of lighting and very stable parameters as well. All three require very good water quality. Although your tested parameters may be ok, you might want to do a quick search on Allelopathy. I would suspect it as part of the problem as well, especially in a tank that size.
 
All of the corals you list that are doing well can do ok with lower light levels than either the acropora or birdsnest. The anemone requires high levels of lighting and very stable parameters as well. All three require very good water quality. Although your tested parameters may be ok, you might want to do a quick search on Allelopathy. I would suspect it as part of the problem as well, especially in a tank that size.

I have the corals pretty spread out in the tank.

Around lighting, even at 40% the lights are extremely bright. I haven't seen anyone online talking about running those hydras at much more then that. Am I just being too cautious with the lighting?

With water quality I am using RODI water, nitrates are between 5-10pm
 
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