Regaining Lobo Color

smiz

Member
About 3 months ago I got a crazy lobo from jason fox. Recently though it is fading color and changing from about 10 different crazy colors to just two or three bland colors. I realized this could very likely be due too to much light in my system.

I currently have a 29g biocube with a retro 14 LED rapid DIY LED fixture built into the hood. I had several issues with rapids potentiometers and blew through several sets of LEDs. After they replaced my LEDs several times from the faulty potentiometer they sent me a certified "working" potentiometer. However when plugged in it showed the same signs my previous ones did before they blew my LEDs so I didn't use them and left it alone.

So after all that being said for the past 6 months I have been running both blues and white at 100% and that has certainly effected my coral.
Last night I got tired of fading colors and tried the potentiometer again and so far its working and running at about 60%. I'm wondering if my Lobo will color back up to its previous glory or if it is to late. Any help on the matter will be greatly appreciated, Thanks!
 
Put the whites at 30%, and the blues at around 50% then raise them to 70% over the course of a week or two. I keep mine at about 90%+ on the blues and 30% on the whites. White LEDs are really good at washing out corals, and blue LEDs are great for coloring them up to neon awesomeness.
 
And don't think that 30% whites isn't enough light for your corals, I know a few guys with tanks that are lit by only blue LEDs and they've got some of the nicest corals I've ever seen with good growth. My tank is 34 gallons and only has 3 white LEDs, the rest are blue and purple, makes the colors really pop :)
 
Awesome thanks for the tip! Do you think my washes out corals will regain color or is it more of a permanent morph?
 
I think there is a good chance of it coming back to a darker, more normal coloration. Whether it comes back in the same exact way, who knows? It can take some time to color up, so patience is needed.
 
Awesome thanks for the tip! Do you think my washes out corals will regain color or is it more of a permanent morph?

Actually if you keep the blues up and whites down it could end up looking better than it did before :)
 
With some of my corals its taken well over 6 months to regain all color after bleaching.

So the issue is permanently fixed? If the LEDs can't be dimmed you can always raise the fixture until you get it fixed again.
 
Thought it was fixed but after two days of usage the rapid led potentiometer doesn't work again. Luckily this time it didnt blow my LEDs. Only problem with raising it is that it's built into my hood.
 
Thought it was fixed but after two days of usage the rapid led potentiometer doesn't work again. Luckily this time it didnt blow my LEDs. Only problem with raising it is that it's built into my hood.

I'm using a simple POT from LEDGroupBuy. Couple months and no problems. It's only a few bucks and can save you lots of headaches.
 
Started dosing and the lobo color came back in almost two weeks! Still doesn't look as good as when I got it but looks a lot better.
 
I think the issue with lobos, trachis and other corals is that they need to have a certain amount of light with a wavelength about 420 nm what is not always the king of light offered by regular led setting.

What I did is to complemnt with two fluorescent actinic T5 lights and it seems it works.
 
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