too much light??

[martym]

Just wondering if I have too much light in my tank. Tank is 50g with the Teck T5 6 bulb light. 4 bulbs are the giesemann aquablue + and 4 are giesemann actinic. The reason I ask is that I has to monti caps, on is in a shaded area and it is a deep orange color the other is in full light and it is a pale brown , almost see through. Both are from the same original coral. There is also a digiata that was nice and brown, it is now almost white but still has full extention at night.
Should I change a couple of the aqua blue for some 6500k bulbs?
My other coral, some blue, green, and purple, are doing fine.
Alk=8
Cal=400
Nitrate=0
Phos=.02
Temp=79
Sg 1.025

[tang daddy]

[quote=martym;359039]Just wondering if I have too much light in my tank. Tank is 50g with the Teck T5 6 bulb light. 4 bulbs are the giesemann aquablue + and 4 are giesemann actinic.


above you said you have 6 however you have 4blue+ 4atinic that is 8, you changed your lights recently that sometimes can effect corals where they need some time to adjust. I don't think you have overkill power on the lights. It could also be something with your params your test kits are not picking up or maybe something you're not testing for what kind of salt are you using?

[lorenz0]

I am suprised your not having any algae problems with that lighting. 4 atinics is a but much.

you never listed measuring your Mg though. that could be an issue

[martym]

Yes it is 2 actinics.
I have been running these lights for 2-3 months now.
Test kits are Eslo and salifert, PH probe, Hanna PO4, and a refractometer.
I was using IO but have slowly been changing to RBS. The coloration was happening before the switch, which is why i switched.
I am also using the zeovit system so the nutrients are low to nil.
What else shouls I be testing for?
Potassium is reading 530ppm

[martym]

The last time I tested mag it was at 1350ppm, guess I should check it again.

[martym]

Just tested, and mag is still at 1350ppm (Salifert) Could the lighting time be too long? Actinics are on for 12hrs, full lighting for 10hrs

[tang daddy]

lots of people say that IO has screwed up the alk in their tanks, mine has been fine however I am changing soon. I wish I had an answer for you about the monti caps however I don't. IME my tank when it was a mixed reef was great in colour for the caps when I moved to full sps less feeding and ultralith the monti's didn't look as rich in colour.

I tried to link up photos from photobucket but it wont let me.

[Tom R]

Hi Martym

Corals sometimes bleach under new light bulbs or new light configurations. I find that the colour of my monti caps is darker in lower light than high and right under the lights. You can try moving the bleached corals down out of the the direct light and then slowly move them back later or just reduce your photo period and bring it back over a few months. I would move the bleached corals leaving the photo period alone as all your other corals are doing fine.

Tom R

[Tom R]

Just tested, and mag is still at 1350ppm (Salifert) Could the lighting time be too long? Actinics are on for 12hrs, full lighting for 10hrs

My MH are on for 8:00 hrs and my Actinics are on for 9:00 hrs so you might want to reduce your photo period a little.

Tom R

[tang daddy]

Tom has a good point there about t5, they sometimes can bleach corals mine are on for 6 hrs a day atinics for 10hrs, atinics are giesman blue plus x 2 54w.

[martym]

Thanks for info. I will try that. It will be hard to move as it has attached to the LR. It is pretty much on the bottom of the tank now. I'll see what I can do

[Tom R]

Thanks for info. I will try that. It will be hard to move as it has attached to the LR. It is pretty much on the bottom of the tank now. I'll see what I can do

Martym

If the corals are going to be hard to move then I would try to reduces the photo period for 3 to 4 weeks and then slowly increase it.

Keep in mind that even where they come from (Fiji etc) peak sun is only 3 to 4 hours. Not that our lights can reproduce actual sunlight.

Tom R