What’s going on??

[Reefer911]

On three separate occasions, I’ve added acros to my aquarium and the next day they’re all white. I’m currently on the third attempt. I’ll list my parameters off the top of my head as of last testing but I don’t think any are the issue.

Temp 77°
1.024 salinity
Ca 420
Alk 8.2
Mg 1300
pH 8.4
PO4 .03
NO3 8.6

I have two Kessil a360x lights on a 36” tank and I started to suspect my PAR was too high. Just checked and it’s very low, in the 100 ish area at the top! I don’t get it.
I had an ICP test come back with a few trace elements low, including iron and iodide, but I’m not sure that would cause an immediate reaction like that.
Flow is good I’m pretty sure. 2-MP 40s turned down just to where they don’t kick sand up. I do have a Millepora that seems to be doing fine and I can see it’s polyps waving quite well.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Reefer Matt]

How old is the tank?

 

[nothing_fancy]

I have the same light, 8” above water set to 50INT produces 350-400 par from water level to around 6” deep. You would want to setup like that for sps imo but start them lower first and bring them up to the top slowly. If they only bleached and didn’t RTN then I’d say its definitely something you can fix

 

[Reefer911]

10 months

 

[Reefer911]

I have the same light, 8” above water set to 50INT produces 350-400 par from water level to around 6” deep. You would want to setup like that for sps imo but start them lower first and bring them up to the top slowly. If they only bleached and didn’t RTN then I’d say its definitely something you can fix

Just checked and mine are at 11”. Also 50% INT. My height explains the low PAR, which I had not though about before but would the corals bleach like that due to low PAR?

 

[Yellowsound]

Are you using RODI water?

(As a side note, you probably want to bump up your salinity to 1.025-26. I don’t think salinity is responsible for your issues, though.)

 

[nothing_fancy]

Just checked and mine are at 11”. Also 50% INT. My height explains the low PAR, which I had not though about before but would the corals bleach like that due to low PAR?

I believe a sudden change in lighting can cause problems for acropora yes. You could try to get your po4 up a bit but it seems like your chemistry is fine. I’d set the fixtures at 8” check par at peak to get around this 300 levels then do an acclimation starting at 80% for a week with the effected corals somewhere in the middle of your tank to start

 

[Reefer911]

Are you using RODI water?

(As a side note, you probably want to bump up your salinity to 1.025-26. I don’t think salinity is responsible for your issues, though.)

Oh, yes I make my own RODI and just changed filters/media. TDS=0

 

[Reefer911]

I believe a sudden change in lighting can cause problems for acropora yes. You could try to get your po4 up a bit but it seems like your chemistry is fine. I’d set the fixtures at 8” check par at peak to get around this 300 levels then do an acclimation starting at 80% for a week with the effected corals somewhere in the middle of your tank to start

Do you think the sudden increase in PAR will have negative effects on my other corals? Got several LPS on the bottom

 

[nothing_fancy]

Do you think the sudden increase in PAR will have negative effects on my other corals? Got several LPS on the bottom

Set the par up to where you eventually need it and check that par at the sand bed and do an acclimation mode percentage to slowly bring it up. I like around 80-100 At the bottom personally. You can start at 50% if you want to be extra careful and acclimate up at least 1 week maybe 2. Softies should be forgiving. I had one acro bleach on me like yours are. This was back in June, now it looks better than the day I got it. Took several months

 

[Reefer911]

So set the new acros about half way up the tank, and dial back my lights to 50% after setting the PAR. Once they’re acclimated, should I place the acros in their permanent spot and then start ramping up the lights? How quickly would you ramp up the lights?

 

[nothing_fancy]

I suggested using the acclimation mode because you said you’ve only been getting 100 at the top which I would think you’ve gotta be near zero at the bottom. Normally I think it’s good practice to slowly bring sps up to higher par over the course of a few weeks however your also doing this while changing your lighting scheme in general so it’s tricky. For example if I have around 100 par toward the bottom of my tank I’d set my sps there first and bring them up an inch or two at the end of a weeks time. Observe, then repeat. If you can start the acclimation mode so that mid tank your at around 80 par where the mode is set to start at 50%, set the sps there and then let it acclimate up using Kessil acclimation mode for a couple weeks I think that’s what I would do. I would eventually want to see around 160 pat toward the top of the first 1/3 of my tank, top of the middle 1/3 around 200, and push for 350-400+ at the top. Peak periods ofc

 

[Reefer911]

Ok thanks. That sounds like a solid plan. Greatly appreciated

 

[nothing_fancy]

Ok thanks. That sounds like a solid plan. Greatly appreciated

Let me know how it works out, one last thought, if you haven’t already, look into the narrow reflectors, your tank is about the same dims as mine, I also have (2) 360x. I think Kessil should include those with the purchase, to me it’s really an essential piece and with your dims you’ll get an very even spread and much more punch down to your sand bed. I was blown away by the difference before and after as far as par measured

 

[Reefer911]

Yeah I’m thinking about getting them just to control the light leak in the room.
But I’m still baffled as to why my acros bleached out under such low light. I have a leptospirosis at the bottom of my tank that doesn’t look good. I think PARs down there are in the 50-70 range. I just don’t get it, and wonder if it’s something else

 

[ReefAddict16]

Definitely not the lights if it’s happening next day. They’re either unhealthy/ wild corals or the phosphates are non existent. Are you getting these corals shipped?
I’d still recommend raising the par though.

 

[DIYreefer]

I'd lean more toward the frags being unhealthy when introduced to the tank than the tanknitself being the problem. I don't see any sort of parameter (or flow and lighting) issues that would cause rtn, especially with multiple frags.

Are these locally sourced, or have they been shipped? Healthy frags tend to ship very well, but even frags that are so-so can decline rapidly due to the stress of shipping.

 

[Reefer911]

I’ve had corals from my LFS, and shipped do this. I really don’t think the corals I’m being sent are unhealthy.

 

[ninjamyst]

Nothing to do with light or flow. STN is usually caused by water issue. 10 months old tank. Can you show us some photos of the tank. Did you start with dry rock? Are you feeding your corals?

 

[Reefer911]

I here’s a pic I took the other day. I do feed Reef Energy AB+