pale corals

Look in the menu, you can increase the percentage/intensity blue or white or both. So I would max, 100% for growth and reduce the white to bring out blues. Also on the Sun Cycle, you can do it manual or auto. In auto you can go north or south of the Equator, I used this to shorten in sumer(south of Equator) to save AC and lengthen in winter in winter.

If yours is the Ist Generation though I dought it could cause bleaching, check water quality/nutrients
 
Well I think I know what might be going on with my corals. The pH has been creeping down and I haven't paid as much attention as I should. I tend to obsess about how clean the water is and let simple stuff slide. Although I don't think pH is that simple really.

I'm a bit confused what might be causing my tank to acidify. Once before I had a period of higher acidity but at the time, people said I must have had something decaying -my NO3 was elevated too. This time that is not a problem at all. My carbonate was about 8 but is up to 12 and Ca is over 500 mg/L. I have used Aquavitro 8.4 for about a week now and although as mentioned carbonate is up, I still struggle to get pH to stay above 8.0. Can my carbonate get too high? Should I use something else to get the pH up until I can figure out why this is happening?

Oh - would pH also cause my frogspawn to be lighter on top and greener lower down? I have cut back to 90% intensity of whites on my Solaris to help color up on that front if that's part of the problem.
 
I'd use seachem PH buffer. It is a reliable product IMO, I've used it for years w/o any negative side effects. Be aware that it also will raise your Dkh. Also, I think you Cal is high because the acidity of your water is causing a breakdown of your SB"¦I'm not saying for sure but it is a definite possibility.

On the lighting, I really don't find it necessary to run anything above an 11 hr light cycle. My tank is mainly SPS and I run my actinics for 9hrs and my daylights less than 6hrs. IMO too intense of light for extended periods will cause pale and or bleaching in SPS. Again, probably not the cause but it is something to think about IMO.
 
I dont't think so. I say between 8-10 is good. Aquavitro is a seachem product correct? I'm really surpirsed that it doesn't effect the dk, nice! I'd double check to be safe.
 
Is it normal for your KH and Cal to be high at the same time. I usually get one high and one low. My KH is usually around 8 or so. My PH is normally a little low also. Try to open a window or door when possible. It might help with your PH.
 
I know its hard to open up the house in Tucson in the summer but all the carbon dioxide built up in a closed up house will lower your PH. Another way to bring it up would be to drip kalk. I think thats the route I will probably go.
 
Aquavitro claims OH raises pH without raising Kh, however from my prior research on this product I think it is impossible based on laws of chemistry to raise ph without kh. Be careful with their claims...
 
We have a 55 year-old house. It would be hard to keep it from having ventilation - lots. We have doors opening and windows leaking, etc - however there is probably a fair amount of CO2 generated by our own hot air :spin1:
 
So here's my new plan to battle bleaching:

1) I've cut back on the length and duration of my light cycle.

2) I'm trying a couple of things to raise pH upon advice from Jason at SEA:

Dosing w/Mg to keep that up to adequate concentration
Increasing airflow across the sump to facilitate gas exchange and hopefully reduce CO2
 
Still pale...I've tried several things. Got some Aquavitro Balance (hydroxides) last night and I'll check pH and Kh later today.

My question is, as long as my corals have polyp extension (which most of them do), are they OK even if they're bleached? At least for a while?
 
Be careful medicating/adjusting to fix a problem you are not sure of cause. Are you seeing growth? Poloyp extention is good, growth is better. Pale is a open description. Could be anything, could be nothing. I have it now on half the reef, bulb spectrum/age, same corals on other side/bulb, different color.
 
Good point - well for instance, I've got a bone white Spongodes that used to be bright green - it's polyps are out if not fully extended. Same as two flavors of Bird's Nest - bone white, polyps extended. I've got some wicked furry Birds of Paradise - very pale but bushy as ever.

This is stressful! (for me and my corals)
 
I'm actually a little discouraged. I did reduce the day length and intensity of the light going on about two weeks ago. Things were doing so well and I don't understand how the LED light quality would change to make things go south. Our Solaris did go out with a pop the other night. We think we may know how to fix it and Mr. Right is letting us use a light in the mean time.

So the fact that the frogspawn was also getting pale is a point for the light variable - especially since the undersides of the polyps were greener. But the other big deal is my pH. That I can measure and don't have to guess about. Because I can't seem to raise and keep it up, I can't help but think that's a factor too. We did a 40% water change last weekend but when you keep 60% of your old water, there's only so much a water change will do.
 
My pH ranges from 7.89 some nights to 8.26 some days, its a over rated stress factor IMO. High ocuppancey at night creates high co2+low pH, lights=o2=raised pH

Calc Reactor, closed up house, old saltwater thats lost its buffers, cheap salt=low buffers to start with

Are the corals growing now? If it was bleaching on top, then yes light was a problem, till you get your light fixed, I would not try doing too many things. As long as colors maintain and polyps extend relax. Remember the light your useing will be a change to your corals again, brighter or less intense, even spectrum plays a role. Run your actenic, it might help color too, but watch the jumping around, it will stress you and your corals
 
We were wondering about the possible relationship between light and pH. I know that keeping your fuge going at night helps prevent (at least sort of) a night time pH dip. But I also wondered how the tank lights themselves might affect pH. It's weird because things were just cooking along fine.
 
If I've dated your posts correctly, you've only been addressing this problem for a couple of weeks. I would expect slightly bleached corals to take longer to regain their color. I'm with Tucson Reef: proceed systematically, eliminate one problem at a time, and allow your corals time to recover, rather than shocking your system with numerous parameter shifts over a short period.
 
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