LEDs and sps bleaching

[power boat jim]

I put LED lighting over my tank about 3 weeks ago. The only coral that has lost color is my red planet. It still has excellent polyp extension. My question is, for those who have gone through it, do somewhat bleached corals tend to recover or will they continue to bleach and perish?

 

[roberto_lopes]

Put they down a little or dimm the leds about 20 or 30% lower than your current setting.

They will recover.

 

[power boat jim]

Thanks I will turn it down a bit more, I took 10% earlier.

 

[Felixc395]

What LED's are you running?

 

[power boat jim]

I have 6 AI Sol blues over my 180.

 

[Phishguy]

Seems to be pretty common when people switch to LEDs.. Dim them down and acclimate. Good luck and post pics if you haven't already!

 

[power boat jim]

I cant seem to get any good tank shots. They always look blurry and the color is horrible.

 

[Felixc395]

I only run my AI's at 45% max. Like said before, turn them down. I'd start at 30% then ramp up 3-5% each week until you get to a desired set point. Works well for me at least.

 

[power boat jim]

I only run my AI's at 45% max. Like said before, turn them down. I'd start at 30% then ramp up 3-5% each week until you get to a desired set point. Works well for me at least.

I had 3x400w MH before the switch so they were used being hammered with light. I have turned down the max intensity to white 60% blue 65% and RB 70%. The lights are only at max intensity for an hour or so before they slowly ramp back down. All other corals beside the red planet have gotten more intense color since the switch.

 

[Felixc395]

Sounds great! Just make sure you don't blast them on full for any part of the day until they adjust! But you seem to be doing well and if the corals respond well then thats all that matters! Good luck!

 

[edsreef]

I acclimated my RP slowly over several months. It still ended up looking a pale, bleached color under my DIY led fixture. I relocated mine to a spot that gets less direct lighting and it has started to color back up.
Here's a pic from when I first moved it, then about a month later:

 

[tahiriqbal]

With AI LEDs light is lot more directional hence causing bleacing to certain corals. As suggested above gradual incease in lighting should do the trick.

 

[power boat jim]

EDSREEF,

Lowering it in the tank may be somthing to try, mine is quite large but it does sit under a hotspot in the tank.

 

[edsreef]

Jim,
3 weeks isn't alot of time so it's hard to say. I do know that my red planet won't tolerate the full intensity of my led's and keep it's color. All of my other acros can though.

 

[Psyops]

I have 6 AI Sol blues over my 180.

I had 6 AI sol blues over my 180 also and I had the same exact problem. My red planet is doing much better when I decreased the highest intensity to 40% and removed one of the units. I am using 5 units now and the colors are even better. Hope this helps.

 

[power boat jim]

I had 6 AI sol blues over my 180 also and I had the same exact problem. My red planet is doing much better when I decreased the highest intensity to 40% and removed one of the units. I am using 5 units now and the colors are even better. Hope this helps.

Thats interesting that in three of our tanks (Eds aswell) the same coral fades out with all others remaing ok or improving. I wonder if the red planet is a lower light species? I have since lowered it and put it between lights as opposed to directly under them.

Nice looking lab in your avitar!!!!

 

[Psyops]

Thats interesting that in three of our tanks (Eds aswell) the same coral fades out with all others remaing ok or improving. I wonder if the red planet is a lower light species? I have since lowered it and put it between lights as opposed to directly under them.

Nice looking lab in your avitar!!!!

Thanks Power Boat. My wife took the picture of our lab when she was 9 weeks old laying in the iceplant. She has actually won two photo contests with it. She is 90 lbs now.

I actuallly lowered the red planet to the bottom also. The color has never come back fully, but it's doing better overall. There seems to be a whole new level of knowledge when we switch to LEDs. At least the AI ones anyway.