Bleaching Coral Help

[straightrazorguy]

I recently purchased a new LED fixture and replaced my old one on Sunday. I set the program for the new one to a max of 38%. I was very pleased with myself until today. When I returned from work, to my horror I found that all my SPS corals were bleached, as was my hammer. All the zoas and palys were closed and the tank looked grim.

I dialed back the intensity right away. Is there anything I can do to help with recovery?

[NIVLEM09]

What was your previous leds and what is the new fixture?

[straightrazorguy]

The previous leds were Maxspect Mazzaras. They were 4-5 yrs old. The new fixture has approx 3 times the number of 3 watt leds. I thought I had it covered by dialing it down to 38% of maximum intensity for a couple of hours, and less for the rest of the 10 hour photoperiod.

[AquaticExpressions]

What are your new lights? You might want to raise your LED unit's height.

[straightrazorguy]

32" Evergrow. I have them a good 3 inches higher than the Mazzaras.

[NickC]

How were your mazarras 4-5 years old when they were introduced in june 2011?
The g1, g2, and extreme fixtures from maxspect are 4-5 years old. Are those the ones you were using?

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[mseepman]

The Evergrows are very powerful...I'm assuming you have a IT2080.

Just dial it back and possibly raise the lights up a bit. I would start at 20% and as the corals acclimate to the more powerful light, raise it slowly week by week.

[MitchM]

...

I dialed back the intensity right away. Is there anything I can do to help with recovery?


Increase the water flow around the corals.

[AquaticExpressions]

The evergrows are very powerful also I believe it has to do with the optic lense they use. I would recommend raising your light to distribute the spread. That should help a lot.

[straightrazorguy]

Thanks for the responses, guys, I will raise the fixture today.