the story of bulb replacement

[zhenya]

I thought the same thing on quickly bleaching a coral. Eric explained that corals take time to ramp up to fully using the light. It takes place over a 4-hour period. So if after 4 hours you shut down the light, not enough time has passed for the coral to expel any of its zoox. Anyway I've had great success with that method, so thought I would throw it out.



Yeah the lamps put out some nice color.

Joe,

I'll make sure to give this method a try and I thank you for sharing this.I have used screens and elevated the fixture/canopy but I'm afraid that the screens were put on after the damage were done already and had no effect(or rather I simply chickened out and just aborted the acclimation procedure...,now I have to do it all over again).
I think I need to just let the acclimation take its course and don't panic if I see a lightening/color change of the corals...this simply could be that they are acclimating to the light and regulating zooxanthellae population?

I had exellent results with Ushios for over two years now and growth and coloration were really nice(or what I expected at least) but the price of CV bulbs is really low compared to Ushios and I figured for two tanks I can save me a bit of money I am definately trying them again.

[MtnDewMan]

Joe

That's a great idea for acclimating coral to new lighting. Thanks for the info ...

[Poseidon]

Sounds like an easy way to do it too... Just a couple of flicks on the timers and presto 4 on 1 off 4 on.....

How long should that be kept up? A week or so?

[almostdiva]

Gene,

Getting caught up on this thread post-holiday....

How is everything looking now??

I'm glad that (so far...) I only keep "simple" stuff! I would have been a total wreck if all those SPS were in my house.

My experience in this hobby is that trying to save money almost always comes back to nip you on the tush. Sounds like you caught everything before major, major damage occured though -- and that everything is getting back to the way you want it to look!

Rebecca

[zhenya]

Gene,

Getting caught up on this thread post-holiday....

How is everything looking now??

I'm glad that (so far...) I only keep "simple" stuff! I would have been a total wreck if all those SPS were in my house.

My experience in this hobby is that trying to save money almost always comes back to nip you on the tush. Sounds like you caught everything before major, major damage occured though -- and that everything is getting back to the way you want it to look!

Rebecca

Hi Rebecca,

I really don't think the bulbs themselves had anything to do with this but rather my own negligence to be cautious and prepare in advance for anything that might happen.I failed to take in consideration that new bulbs may produce more PAR or perhaps different spectrum with my ballasts and the rest is history But, I have learned my lesson well,believe me,this won't happen twice as I'm about to restart those bulbs after New Year. ;)

Speaking of which,I like to wish you a Happy and Healthy and Safe New Year!

[Papa Doug]

I had some severe bleaching when I switched from 400w Iwasaki,s to 400w Radiums, but only pulse start driven. That to me shows how much a different spectrum comes into play, as the Iwaski,s were still new and perhaps 30% more intense than the Radiums.

[almostdiva]

Speaking of which,I like to wish you a Happy and Healthy and Safe New Year!

Thank you! Hopefully you and your family had a great one, too! I hung out with my father and we went to see the "Return of the King", which has nothing to do with reef aquaria, but is fabulous none the less

[zhenya]

Hi everyone,

I figured that I'd post an update with some pictures.
First,though, I agree with you Doug, 100% to be exact. I strongly believe now that spectrum that those bulbs were producing with my standard PFO ballast were probably responsibile for the reaction I was seeng from corals that were the closest to the bulbs.
Secondly, I think that all the corals that were involved are recovered and I see some growth again and the polyp extention that was before the incident.

Now for some pics Please note that those are just couple of the corals that were affected,there are more but I have not taken pics of them as yet(my battery had expired and I need to recharge it )I'll post some more later tonight.

[zhenya]

As promissed, here are some other pics involving corals that had damage and that recovered.

[MtnDewMan]

Nice !!!! Too bad you don't live in our neck of the woods here

[zhenya]

And here's couple more unrelated pics but I like to post them just becouse I took them today

[zhenya]

Nice !!!! Too bad you don't live in our neck of the woods here

Thanks,Chuck If I lived closer to you..you would have to chase me away with a stick as I would be looking to raid yours and Kevins tanks all the time

On a serious note, I'm amaized at the regenerative powers of this creatures.
Some pieces had some tissue loss but now you can't even tell as it seem to regrown completely. I'm really floored how quickly it happened as well.

[Poseidon]

SO Gene, are you back to the Coral Vues or are these still the old bulbs?

I'm up next month for Bulb replacement and I'm leaning towards the Coral Vue 15K from 10K AB's Any opinions?

[zhenya]

SO Gene, are you back to the Coral Vues or are these still the old bulbs?

I'm up next month for Bulb replacement and I'm leaning towards the Coral Vue 15K from 10K AB's Any opinions?

Hi Mike,

This pics are taken with the old Ushios on but I'm turning the CV bulbs back on over the weekend,after I elevate the fixture about 18" to start with and then start lowering it about an inch every three days or so.

I really like the 15k bulb and they are on my wish list,I'll have to email Justin and see if he has stock of them. I think you might like the coloration of the bulb better then 10K but every person I know sees things differently then I
What type of ballast are you runing ?

[SueT]

Gene, this is absolutely amazing. I'm glad for you. I would think you had such a great resolution to the situation due to some happy, healthy corals to start with. The sps corals were growing good for you before and the fact you happened to catch to situation before it got much worse can only mean the corals were stressed but not stressed to the point of sloughing tissue or RTN'ing or anything like that.

I think thats great and I will watch for the move to the new lights and see what happens.

[Poseidon]

I'm using Icecap electronic 250Watt HQI type

[zhenya]

I'm using Icecap electronic 250Watt HQI type

Mike,

I think you'll be fine with this type of ballast. Don't forget to post when and what type of bulb you'll get and,of course,some pics what your tank looks like with them.

[Poseidon]

It would take a Stampede to keep me from POSTING PICTURES!