SPS Lighting Question

[Niger12]

Was searching old threads on a certain coral and read a response that talked about SPS browning out because of to much light.

Is this possible? Just got back into reefing and have been getting a SPS nano going so I spend most of my time reading and obsessing over the tank.

 

[sedorusc]

absolutely, I had 250 watt MH over my 30 and downgraded to 150. my orange are more orange, green are more green, and my purple cap is no longer brown.

 

[nvdiz]

i had the opposite effect. i went from a 150w to 250w and noticed faster growth w/ more intense colors. i think placement plays a big role. most of my SPS are around 16-20" from the light which is why i upgraded.

but yes, sps can brown/bleach because of too much light. slowly acclimate them to the lighting and it should help prevent browning/bleaching.

 

[Niger12]

Well I am running Cree LEDs on a 14g Biocube with a 20g sump. The lights are controlled with an RKL and an ALC. The corals on the bottom the thank are still not more than 12" from the light source and some are as close as 5" to 6". I thought I acclimated the corals but after I started to dial up the lights from 50% the color got worse. The LEDs are still an experiment, so coloration is still a huge debate but I did not realize they would brown up because of to much light. As I started increasing light intensity the color got worse. Things got real bad once I got up to 80%. I expected bleaching and that never happened.

 

[returnofsid]

"Too much light," can definitely brown out coral coloration. The light feeds the Zoanthella, which is the algae that lives within the coral. The algae is brown. With too much light, the algae becomes over-populated. When the algae becomes over-populated, it takes over the color of the coral.

 

[nano427]

Great question Niger. This really changes things for me on a couple things I cant get to color up. I was putting them in brighter light with no success, looks like they are going down lower tonight!

 

[Mattik]

I have never had problems with corals browning out on me. They may get pale when first introduced, but color back up over time.

That said, I'm not one to over do it on the lighting. I have a 75, with a single 250W MH, and dual 65w PC's to supplement it. All SPS are at least 12-16" below the surface. They may be "slow-starters", but once they get adjusted, growth is really pretty good.

I also switched recently from a 20K XM to a 14K Phoenix....amazing difference. Growth WAS at a snail's pace...happening, but painful to watch.

With the 14K, I have a pink "bubble gum" mille that grows so much I can measure it (visually) on a daily basis. Last week I watched one edge grow about 1/4-3/8 of an inch from the edge of its frag plug and onto my LR......can't wait to see in in another month or two.

 

[TotalVapor]

I had some brown / pale on me. Once of my milli's was pale for over 7 months. I took it out and gave to a friend and within a month it was looking a lot better. within 2 months it was back to normal. He gave back to me and I lowered it in my tank. It went back to pale within a few months so I just gave it to him and got a frag a few months later. That frag is one of the best looking coral in my tank now, funny thing is it is in the exact same spot I originally had the first frag.

 

[prodman]

There are many factors that effect coral color with light being just one. Flow nutrient levels etc. IME when it comes to light more is not necessarily better.

 

[reefsic]

I experienced color brown-out (or wash-out) with LPS, but not necessarily SPS. I was running a mediocre 8x54 T5 CA Fixture, and when I upgraded to a 7x54 Constellation, my LPS washed out...however, all my SPS improved in color!!!