ric color and placement question

[adam82]

i have a blue. when i had it in my 20l the lights where 135w pc and it was on the bottom of the tank and very big and colorful now its in a 90g on the bottom the lights are 2 150w MH and 2 130w pc and its losing its color and shrinking.

the question is do they need to be higher to get the color back or are they getting too much light???

 

[adam82]

anybody?????

 

[rogersb]

Try moving them up and maybe add some iodide.

 

[Fin Mike]

There definitely seems to be a sweet spot for rics. This happened to me too, however I think mine shrank from a lack of light. In your case, I think it might be from to much light. Sprungs Reef Aquarium 2 talks about there being a build up of super oxide radicals if the light is to intense. This ultimately leads to there shrinking. He also recommends the addition of trace elements or shading to alleviate the problem. Will it work? I'm not sure, but the trace element idea sounds good.

I agree that a 90 gal is much deeper than a 20L, however, MH lights and the PC's could be a jump in intensity, but you will need a PAR meter to know for sure. You will just have to try it both ways and find that sweet spot. Good Luck