Tank crashed from phototoxicity

[mrok12]

This is like the most rediculous thing!! A few months ago I came home from vacations to find that my SPS were bleaching out. It seems that I had TOOOO much Light.

The tank is 120 gallon 48*48*24 and has 8 fans in the hood. I was using 2-400 watt MH with 2-250 watt MH running full tilt 12 hours a day. If matters could not get worse my skimmer pump quit and it took me a week to get the parts to fix it!!

I did not give up though!! Now I am using the 2/250 watt MH and running 65K bulbs. I have only three fish that made it through. I have had these guys over two years. I have a new PFO VHO ballast on the way (THANKS JASON AT PREMIUM AQUATICS) and am going to run three actinics one day and the MH. I am thinking of a tapppered lighting for the tank. Setting each set 2 hours apart and have the VHO come on 1 set 2hours before and one set two hours after. To get the dawn dusk thing going on. It has been a long road!!

MROK12

[mrok12]

That was the tank a week before it crashed!! I still get choked up looking at this picture!

MROK12

[Ninong]

MROK12,

How did you determine that it was your lighting that caused your corals to bleach?

There are many factors that cause bleaching but the most likely one to become a problem in home aquaria is elevated temperature, not lighting per se. A rise in temperature of only 4 or 5 degrees Fahrenheit above your usual tank temperature can sometimes cause problems that result in bleaching.

It does not appear to me that your lighting was strong enough to cause bleaching in SPS corals provided your water temperature remained within normal parameters. If you would like to see some colorful SPS corals in a 58-gal tank with 2200 watts of MH lighting plus 130 watts of VHO actinics, just follow this link: http://ghchhilojack.homestead.com/Acropora.html

I don't believe it is possible to cause SPS to bleach with 400w metal halides unless your water temperature rose into the upper 80's or lower 90's. If you were using 1000 watt metal halides and positioned them too close to the water you could cause bleaching, but I seriously doubt you could do it with 400's. You shouldn't even be able to achieve photoinhibition levels in most SPS with 400's.

Sorry to hear about your loss but I suspect it was something more than just the lights.

[mrok12]

The temp was riding a little high when I think about it. I think I will do better though with the new set up. This will also keep the temp down I think.

MROK

[kevinpo]

IME elevated temperatures cause tissue loss not loss of color. I have experienced loss of color from placing some acros too close to a 400W 10,000K Ushio bulb. The coral reaction is much the same as too little light they slowly fade to a very light color. Some of the other acros right next to them turned an awesome color although it was a bit lighter than the parent colony under the same bulb but further away. I have a piece of egg crate mounted at 8" from the water surface in my 90 gal growout tank. There is an small area (7-8" x 4-5") directly under the bulb that seems to have the most impact on the corals. This bleaching process happens over a 1-2 month period. I have moved a few of them to the outside edges of the tank and they slowly return to their original color.

FWIW,
Kevin

[mrok12]

Mine was a pretty fast event..no more than a week I think. I no the tank would approach 84.0. Something must have happened when I was away with the ambient room temp? Or maybe I had overkill on the lighting. It is so hard to say. The PH was low now that I review the data from that week. I had a ca reactor going and from the beginning it depressed the ph. I dont know. This time I am taking a conservative approach to things.


MROK

[Wayne's World]

I don't know if my experience relates, due to the fact that all I have are softies, but here goes. About a month ago my button polyps, colt coral and coraline algae started to bleach. I found my calcium and magnesium levels where way to low, even with using Tropic Marin salt and calcium suppliment and kalkwasser makeup water. I switched to Kent turbo to boost calcium and Kent magnesium supplement, to boost magnesium. I also dosed Iron suspecting that photosynthesis requires it. Everything came back like gang busters, in fact I haven't had coraline grow this fast before, mind you the button polyps are still not fully back. Anyway's is it a possibility that you have low levels??

[mrok12]

My CA was at 380 withthe two reactor running and the alk was 12-13 dkh. I never checked the mag levels but the ca would not be maintained if the mag was low (I think) Anyway I also use Iodine supplements as well. It is so hard to say!! I have now started water changes of 3 gallons daily in the morning. I also have the kalk reactor up and going. I think that frequent water changes will improve overall health and alleviate problems. The lighting is beign changed and I will go slow and see what happens.

MROK