Corals turning almost white

[CandyCane]

I have 6- 18watt T5 bulbs about 4 inches above my tank.

Some of my corals love the light and others have been turning white. My kenya tree corals- 3 of them- are all very white and my frogspawn is also loosing its colours along with my zenia. My pulsing blue zenia however is at the top of the tank and has kept its colour just fine.

So besides that their "bleaching" they are full and all out and show no other signs of any problems

Any idea's of why the algea inside them is dieing? At least thats what I think is happening

[Blom]

Im not going to be a lot of help on this one, but someone here will be. Maybe posting your water spec would help them out in addressing the issue.

[FishyFishy!]

There are quite a few things that can cause bleaching. Your most common are generally high water temperature, and excessive light/photoperoid.

Stress can also cause it as well. So check all your basics. Look for anything that you have done as of late that might have changed something. I would look at your salinity and ph first. Swings in either of these could cause bleaching.

Bugs and algae's can also cause it, though more rare. Do you have cyano or byropsis or anything?

Start with the basics, and work your way up. Did you do a recent water change? You may have forgotten to roll your bucket and caused a trace element spike or drop. A stuck heater, dead power head etc etc etc. Let us know if you can think of anything.

[lorenz0]

how long is your photo period? had a similar issue when I first started out with a hammer.

[CandyCane]

The kenya's have been white since I first put them in the tank in July. The zenia and the frog spawn turned white about a week after I put them in the tank.

Salt: 1.023
Temp.:78F
pH:Unknown- I dont have a test kit
Lighting: Actinics 7:30am to 7:30pm
Day lights 8am to 6pm
I have no cyano or byropsis

On a side note my acropora died even though it had high water flow and top of the tank for lighting. My RBA has only its red colouring left when it used to have some green at the base, it now has a white base.

Last water change about 2 weeks ago nothing at all changed, everything stayed white or colourful

[reefwars]

The kenya's have been white since I first put them in the tank in July. The zenia and the frog spawn turned white about a week after I put them in the tank.

Salt: 1.023
Temp.:78F
pH:Unknown- I dont have a test kit
Lighting: Actinics 7:30am to 7:30pm
Day lights 8am to 6pm
I have no cyano or byropsis

On a side note my acropora died even though it had high water flow and top of the tank for lighting. My RBA has only its red colouring left when it used to have some green at the base, it now has a white base.

Last water change about 2 weeks ago nothing at all changed, everything stayed white or colourful


if i had to guess which is all i can due is i would bet your lights arent strong enough for a anemone or sps so i wouldnt bother with those, 18w t5's arent all that strong unless your tank isnt very high,better suited for softies and lower light demanding corals..another guess would be excess nutrients in the way of nitrates. a few things to remember is when it comes to saltwater aquariums its be3st to spend as much as you can on good lights,skimmer and media reactors.water changes are great but they wont fix everything its more of a good way to replenish certain elements and lower things that happen or things that get built up that we dont want in our tanks.water isnt a source of food for most inhabitants, most rely on photosynthesis others require target feedings or microscopic foods. since the ones at the top of the tank are doing better i would think more on getting a better light if you want to keep corals.sps,anemones and frogspawn all like light and do better with stronger lighting while kenyas are a good way of telling if nutrients are high or when a water change is needed.wouldnt hurt to do water changes every week of at least 10% and buy test kits if you plan to keep corals.most important would be cal,mg,alk,nitrates,phosphates other important one would be amonia, these are a must have in a reeftank and when any of the above mentioned arent where they are supposed to be its your corals who feel it first.cheers and good luck

[reefwars]

The kenya's have been white since I first put them in the tank in July. The zenia and the frog spawn turned white about a week after I put them in the tank.

Salt: 1.023
Temp.:78F
pH:Unknown- I dont have a test kit
Lighting: Actinics 7:30am to 7:30pm
Day lights 8am to 6pm
I have no cyano or byropsis

On a side note my acropora died even though it had high water flow and top of the tank for lighting. My RBA has only its red colouring left when it used to have some green at the base, it now has a white base.

Last water change about 2 weeks ago nothing at all changed, everything stayed white or colourful



also there is a species of white kenya

[CandyCane]

Sorry I guess I didn't add also that everything I bought that turned white originaly was NOT white

[reefwars]

Sorry I guess I didn't add also that everything I bought that turned white originaly was NOT white


bring your water into red coral for a full testing is your best bet if you dont have the proper test kits.would look into a better light as well or keep less demanding corals:)hope this helps

[CandyCane]

bring your water into red coral for a full testing is your best bet if you dont have the proper test kits.would look into a better light as well or keep less demanding corals:)hope this helps

Whats wrong with 6 T5 bulbs over a 20gallon tank? sounds like lots of light to me. I've done the math before

[whatcaneyedo]

I'm thinking that your lighting has a lot to do with your problem as well. Watts per gallon doesn't mean anything. Most people stopped believing in that in the 90's I think. What you want to look for is intensity and spectrum. Regular output T5 bulbs like what you've described are meant for freshwater tanks or maybe fish-only saltwater tanks. However the vast majority are marketed for freshwater period. If you want to sustain and grow coral you need (high output) HO T5 bulbs, metal halides or LEDs.

You also want to target full strength seawater which is 1.025. 1.023 is a little bit low.

How much flow do you have? You said 'high' but that can mean different things to different people. So how much in terms of gallons per hour?

[reefwars]

well would depend on the height of the tank, yours are only 18w t5's so not overly powerfull and you could easily get away with softies and lower light lps but sps prob wont do well unless near the top of your tank and nems require high lighting...they may live but they can do better.....to give an example in my last 20g i had a 250 metal halide (extreme mind you)and i was able to keep anything i wanted and had no colour issues at all, you would do better with 39w or 54w t5's or a 150w halide. its just my experience that lights that are border line strong give borderline results ,they may work for some stuff and may not for others depends on the coral.lights are only half the story though water parameters have to be spot on ,some corals can tolerate bad water while some slowly die off or die off right away again depends on the coral.

[whatcaneyedo]

How long is the tank? You said it was a 20gal so I'm guessing its only 2' long.

[CandyCane]

I was told on many website to keep salt lower for corals and in the 1.025 for fish tanks. Yes the are high output T5's they are ordered from big als specially and they are meant for corals. However since I havent replaced the bulbs since I bought the light used maybe it could just be time to replace them?

[reefwars]

less salt would be better for fish not so much corals the key is to not have to high a salinity or one that fluctuates....1.025 is ideal

when they say on big als website the lights are good for corals they are being pretty basic as it is good for corals but if you want to keep corals that demand higher lights then theyre not the best;)

another thing is to remember is big als will tell you anything to sell you anything....its something we all have learned...they just dont give good advise as their workers arent really experienced:)

[whatcaneyedo]

Websites are great for opinion but poor for facts. Put your faith in books written by scientists and industry experts.

"There is a similar range for acceptable salinity, but it is a narrow band, around 35 to 36 parts per thousand (ppt). At normal reef temperatures temperatures, this is a specific gravity of about 1.025 - 1.026."

p15 Marine Invertebrates by Ronald L. Shimek, PH. D. 2004

This must be the light? http://www.aquaticlife.com/products/286#1 I don't think I've ever seen 18" HO T5 bulbs for sale before. Does Big Als sell replacement bulbs in their store? I don't see them on their site. The recommended replacement schedule for T5s is up to every 6 months I believe. I personally don't follow that with my own fixture but I'm sure some people do.

Is your 20gal only 20" long?

[Aquaria]

That can't be the fixture cuz thats what I got( a 4bulb t5ho at that ) and my coral are not bleaching my ponci is fine and my borneman nem moved from the top to the sand now if the bulbs are old they should be replaced at least once a year as for salinity yes 1.025 is for reefs anything lower is fish only also I used to shop at big ALS when I lived in Alberta and yes te will tell you whatever u wanna hear so long as u leave with there products aquarium illusions and blue world are deff the better choices if u want good advice ( red coral wasn't open yet so i have nothing to say about them)

[Aquaria]

Also big ALS only sell IMHO cheap bulbs I would spend the little extra buying brands like ATI, KZ, and guiseman( wrong spelling)

[CandyCane]

http://www.current-usa.com/lighting/nova-extreme-pro

its model 1083

[blacknife]

Its funny how the "cheap" bulbs cost more at the big box stores than the premium bulbs do at the ma And pa stores. I had older bulbs and a high ratio of daylight bulbs and my Coraline was all bleached. Slowly changed out to new bulbs and more blue and everything looks better.

My tapadroid has my back

[cwatkins]

Well since you cannot be sure how old the bulbs are then for sure go and replace them. Pick some good quality bulbs from a dedicated Saltwater store.

Avoid the generic common bulbs from the bix box retailers.

Mind you I don't have any T5 experience, just MH. So take this with a grain of salt...

[Gripenfelter]

How often do you change your lights?

One of my friends has 8 T5 lights. All different colours. He has sps, clams, duncans, acans, leathers, etc. All doing great. Been 3 yrs. He changes the lights every 10-14 months.