Light shock?

peiloy3196

peiloy3196

New member
I recently upgraded from 2x250 W de phoenix halides on an ARO ballast and standard reflectors to 2x250W se radiums on dimmable lumatek ballasts and lumenmax 2 reflectors. I shaded all of my SPS by putting egg crate and three pieces of screen over them. I removed one piece 5 days later. 2 days after that I noticed that some of the bases were bleaching. No tissue loss and polyps still there just white. Instantly i put back the piece of screen that i took off. I am not sure what to do now though? Does this sound like light shock? If so what do i do now and will the pieces of coral get worse or better?

Thanks for the help!
 
Boss im sticking along for this one.. im going thru the same thing except i upgraded to lumenbright reflectors. I didnt put egg crate i just hung the lights at 18inches and reduced light to 2 hours..
Well turns out even then i sti killed about two sps like u described.. turning white from the bottom.
And about three more r doing the same.. the other corals are loving the light n growing but you can tell there bleaching put as well so i hung the light now at 21 inches.. its been a month now and ive only worked up the photoperiod to 3 hours.. lets see what happens idk what else to do..
 
It was probably the switch from the Phoenix to Radiums bulbs. How old were your old bulbs?? I had the same problem switching bulbs out with new Phoenix from old 20ks. I had bleaching then burning after a few days, it way pretty bad. If you have the dimmable ballasts then dim them down like 50% and cut the lighting time back. Keep the screen on for about a week, then take it off and see what happens. If all is well after a few days increase the light intensity and time by a little at a time every week of so. It can take a good month or more to light adjust corals to new lighting. Oh yeah if you dont dose iodine start to, it helps prevent bleaching and helps color.
 
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I am dosing iodine.. Also my phoenix were about 6 months old if that.. I just think its the reflector
 
Yeah that reflector is a lot better than your old one. Light intensity has increase a lot. Just follow the sets above and take your time.
 
OK so this morning I noticed two of the tips of my biggest piece has lost some flesh. Panic has now set in:eek1:

I am going to lower my photoperiod. It is originally 10 hrs, what should I put it to? Is there anything else that I can do?

The dimmable ballasts cannot be dimmed any further as they are 250/400w. I do not dose iodine as I do not test for it. Should I start dosing even though I do not test?

My Phoenix was 9 months old.
 
alright boss let me tell u what i know..
First if you can lift the metal halides up. Then lower the photoperiod to about 2 to 3 hours and increase a half hour or so every week.
As far as iodine.. I have never tested. I do 2 drops of lugols everyday, i have a 150gallon. The skimmer will more than likely take it out
 
I do not have the UV glass on the lumenmax 2 reflectors as I thought it was not needed for SE bulbs. Am I wrong for thinking this?
 
I would reduce photoperiod to 6 hours first. Give time for the coral to adjust, then after a week remove the second screen. With two screens on now the tank should still look dim. Is the bleaching directly under the reflector ?
 
I actually have three screens on top of the eggcrate. I put back the third as soon as I saw bleaching a few days ago. With three screens the tank looks very dim which is why I was shocked when i saw bleaching.

So after a week I will remove the third piece. Do I leave the photo period at 6 hours when I remove the screen? Also how long will the coral take to recover?

Yes the bleaching is on the pieces that are directly under it. The coral that is off center is fine.
 
I would leave the photoperiod the same until all three screen have been removed. The coral might take weeks to recover. I would move it away from the center of the reflector until it heals.
I know this is frustrating, but it happens to all of us, me included. When I replace my MH's I try to find bulbs with close to equal par numbers, (this is what I feel you did, with the exception of the new reflectors) to lessen the light shock. Just go slow and a week in between screens should be fine.
 
Ok will do. I am a little afraid about the iodine though as I do not know what my numbers are. Is this really necessary?
 
Yeah it can take a while for the corals to recover. Mine still are and some will never be the same. Just keep doing what yoou are doing and what we all are suggesting and thins will be fine. You may want to put your old bulbs back in if possible, corals are used to those bulbs. Then increase lighting remove screens ect, once corals look good. Then put back in the Radiums and it should be a lot easier to acclimate the coral to the new setup. But I would do that as a last idea.
 
Update. All pieces have settled except for two. One being The biggest an ORA Bellina which was STN'ing majorly. I made the hard decision of fragging this coral and placing all the frags on the sand. I also put the other piece that was still STN'ing at the base on the sand. I put some super glue around the base where it was STN'ing. I hope that I have made the right decision. I feel soo bad going through this. Here I was thinking that I was doing a good thing by getting a quality reflector!
 
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