T5's Causing Coralline Bleaching???

[Horace]

Well like the title says, pretty much all the coraline in my tank is turning pure white right now. I originally thought that my coraline was dying because of my light being too strong, but now I am not 100% sure that is the case. I have a retro 6x54w standard driven T5 setup. Anyone else see thier coraline just turn white using T5s????? Ive had them in there for about 2-3 months and it seems just recently that it REALLY started turning white fast. It has withered away slowly for a while, but the last few days it has seemed much worse than before. It was growing like made before this. Any ideas?

 

[samsfishnchips]

I would check parameters, if I let my alk drop my coraline bleaches and dies, in my tank it likes alk around 12dkh,

sam

 

[crash519]

Coralline is a low light lover. Mine really grows on the glass, but not right below the halide bulb. I would imagine the intensity of the T5's are just wiping it out. Sounds like it's time to cover all the white patches with SPS

 

[Obi-dad]

In my old stonies tank my coralline did this once. After testing for Mg I found the Mg was under 1000, way low. After adjusting the Mg levels the coralline came back.

 

[Horace]

Man...I sure hope this is not Alk related. I run my Alk at ~7.5-8.0dkh (natural sea water). I should test my mag again. Last I tested it (about a month ago) it was about 1400. I would be surprised to see it drop that fast, but you never know. I havent been the best about doing water changes lately, but all my SPS look great for the most part. Cant imagine my water params are way out of line.

 

[Horace]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6950683#post6950683 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by crash519
Coralline is a low light lover. Mine really grows on the glass, but not right below the halide bulb. I would imagine the intensity of the T5's are just wiping it out. Sounds like it's time to cover all the white patches with SPS

Im thinking this is the case, because there is some coraline in the dark areas of the tank. Last week I moved a rock that was covered in coralline so part of it was in the light. That part is pure white now. I really wouldnt have thought that the light would have wiped it out that fast!

 

[sasa311]

I found that too!
I had a good coralline-algae growth until my Ca fell to 380 and Mg to 1200. Since that all of my coralline is white! But there are a lot of them on the dark side of the stones...


I really don't know why..

 

[Drewcipher]

This happened to me when I switched to new T5s. It all came back in time.

 

[Horace]

I really do hope it comes back.. I will do a mag/calc test when I get home today. I have a new dual dosing pump arriving tomorrow so I will be dosing Randy's DIY two part on a steady drip. I am hoping this keeps my alk/calc super stable from now on. Perhaps the mag is the problem, though like I said before the problem is only on exposed rock. I would think all the coralline would die, even in the shade, if it was a water parameter problem.

 

[gregrex]

I had the same problem when I switched to T5s. I've got a vigorous coraline growth on the glass now, but it's still very pale pink, and I can't get the nice deep purple colours I had before... Very little coraline ever came back on the rocks.

 

[horkn]

my coralline only stays purple under rocks and in shadows. the coralline on the glass, and elsewehere is light pink to white ish.

its been that way since i started the tank up, using t5ho from the get go.

 

[Sk8r]

Watch your temperature, too: doublecheck your thermometers. If any part of the tank is heating to 85, that could do it.

 

[horkn]

naw, my tank has never been above 81 degrees.
it merely seems t5ho is too bright for coralline.
t5ho doesnt heat much at all.

 

[fitti69]

Who ever thought we would see the day where a flourecent bulb would bleach coralline ????? lol . damn those T5's are impressive .

 

[Obi-dad]

It does seem like too much light doesn't encourage coralline - I have more algae in my sump than where the light shines in my display tank. And my lower lit softies tank has tons of coralline everywhere.

 

[Horace]

Also just for reference. I used to have 6x54w T5s in my tank with crappy reflector and ballasts. My coralline grew like CRAZY! All I did was repalce the ballasts with Triads and get new Icecap SLR reflectors (same exact bulbs from old setup) and now my coralline is pure white. Also I had a few pure brown SPS color up within weeks. I can show you pictures of this...its pretty amazing. I was ready to throw them out because they looked like turd in there!!!!! The difference that the SLR reflectors makes is tremendous.

 

[horkn]

which ballasts did you have before horace?

 

[Horace]

Whatever the ballasts are that come with the craptastic Odyssea fixtures.....

 

[horkn]

i see.

I dont read chinese either

 

[Squiddy]

My coralline is all bleached as well with my 6x54W T5's. The growth has certainly increased (especially around my heater) but it's all a very pale pink colour. Too bad.. I like the darker colour.