Coral bleach

[pgsasi]

This coral has been like this for almost a year. Started when I switched from metal halide to LED. Any idea why. And will this return to normal. Will post a pic of how it used to look soon.

Thanks / Sashi

[pgsasi]

this is how it used to look before.

Sashi

[kevinpo]

Hello,
I would guess too much light and the wrong spectrum or too much of the wrong spectrum. Try moving it to a lower or more shaded location. Sarcophyton corals will do just fine in low light environments.

Cheers,
Kevin

[chrisfont23]

I am having a similar problem with my LEDs. Too much light. I would suggest putting the coral to a lower less lit area, as Kevin suggested, or looking into a dimmable option.

[pgsasi]

Thanks guys... Will move it down..

[ShooterRick]

Just a question as I am learning. Could you choose to cut down on the photo period the lights are on?

[Reefing Madness]

Thats how you acclimate them to the new LED's Shooter. But after acclimation you should be able to return to normal lighting periods.

[kevinpo]

Most corals are quite adaptable to a wide range of lighting conditions but it takes on average 7-14 days. As we are learning more about the effects of LED lighting on corals is seems a much longer period is needed for them to adapt. I'm guessing it is either the narrow spectrum range produced by the LED's or the high intensity or a combination of the two. I haven't tested them myself on corals yet just what I have heard from others that are using them. I have tested a few fixtures with a meter (I have a Apogee quantum meter) and they are testing about the same as a high quality HQI 250 halide bulb at 15".

One other note, there are some corals that will never look normal under too high light conditions. This is not to say that they will die just that they will not appear the way the average specimen looks under lower light conditions. I think many would be surprised how low PAR some corals will do very well at (50-100 PAR).

Cheers,
Kevin