+Lamont Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 I upgraded my lights from PC's to a 250w Metal Halide(14000k Phoenix bulbs). Ever since adding them i have had problems with this white stringy stuff(at least 4in long) in my tank and water being cloudy.(not micro-bubbles) It doesn't grow on the rock just around the rim of the tank, powerheads and on the bottom of the skimmer where my sponge is. I took pride in not having a coral death, but thats over. My Duncans have died and my finger leather will not show its polyps anymore. i also added a pink Anthias and two green Chromis last Friday. I did a 20% water change on Sunday and cleaned all the stuff that had the stringy stuff on it. When i got home from work on Monday that stuff was back in full force. My nitrates are 0ppm and my PH is at 8.2. Salinity was at 1.027.( I know it was high but now its .024)I dont have the test kits for the other parameters, but will take some water to a LFS for testing. I know Aquadome test water for $1 but do any of the north side stores) I have not had a problem with any thing except Cyano and hair algae before adding the Metal Halide. The Cyano and hair algae are completely gone now. I tried to post a video but my phone video format is not supported. Thanks for any help! i will try to post a video again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 I think RCA still checks tank water. Did you check phosphates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 did you acclimate everything to the new lights or did you just put the new ones on and run them full bore? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 How long ago did you switch over your lights? Whenever you do a light change, it is best to cut your lighting schedule in half, and then gradually increase it each week. This could possibly explain the coral deaths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lamont Posted May 4, 2010 Author Share Posted May 4, 2010 did you acclimate everything to the new lights or did you just put the new ones on and run them full bore? I rearranged most of the corals in my tank except some of my Acros and the duncans. the duncans were not directly under the Light. I put the other corals on my sand bed to the sides of the Metal Halide. nothing sits under the light diectly except a green monti cap and my Green BTA.(it moved itself there) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lamont Posted May 4, 2010 Author Share Posted May 4, 2010 How long ago did you switch over your lights? Whenever you do a light change, it is best to cut your lighting schedule in half, and then gradually increase it each week. This could possibly explain the coral deaths. I got the lights on April 18th. I did not change my lighting schedule.(Darn it!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lamont Posted May 4, 2010 Author Share Posted May 4, 2010 I think RCA still checks tank water. Did you check phosphates? I will have to go there and have them check everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 sounds like the corals with a large hit of intense light that they couldn't handle, hence the deaths. the stringy stuff is probably a bit of slime from the corals trying to protect themselves from the intense light. Check your water parameters, back off your lighting schedule (if you turned your big lights off for a day or two it wouldn't hurt, then increase by 30 min increments each week) and keep up with your water changes as needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbender04 Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 i used to have a little hitchiker that acted like a fisherman. he would send out a long almost spiderweb like white string and catch food with it then slowly bring it back in. if he got his fill before he got it all the way in though he would cut the line and it would float away in the tank. it may be something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 sounds like the corals with a large hit of intense light that they couldn't handle, hence the deaths. the stringy stuff is probably a bit of slime from the corals trying to protect themselves from the intense light. Check your water parameters, back off your lighting schedule (if you turned your big lights off for a day or two it wouldn't hurt, then increase by 30 min increments each week) and keep up with your water changes as needed. +1 I'm curious how many PC bulbs your old fixture had and if your new fixture uses HQI bulbs? If you went from 4 96W PC to 250W HQI MH you probably more than doubled the light output on your tank and I would think that's what the primary problem is. You deffinitely want to be doing water changes to help deal with die off and algae problems present and future. You may already be past the initial problems with the steps you've taken but your tank is going to be experiencing a fluctuating equillibirium for I would think several months. Not to say your current problems are going to persist for that long but you but you probably will see unexpected changes that you hadn't seen when you were running the PCs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 IMO if u did alot of moving of corals.....then that is the deal. They are playing CHEMICAL warfare.... Just take a turkey baster and keep them blown off. As well run CARBON to cleanse the water....JMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I did not change my lighting schedule.(Darn it!) Ok that makes more sense. Acclimation to light will also need to be done when you replace your bulbs too. Still curious about you PO4 reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lamont Posted May 5, 2010 Author Share Posted May 5, 2010 I will be taking some water to RCA to get it checked tomorrow! i will keep you updated. I had 4 96w PC's. 3 actinics and 1 10,000k. i also will turn down my light schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lamont Posted May 5, 2010 Author Share Posted May 5, 2010 I went to RCA today and here are my test results. Ammonia - 0 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 0 PH. - 8.0 KH - 9 Calcium - 440 Salinity - 1.026 I know i need to get my PH up. When i got home yesterday everything seemed happy, but i stilled changed my lighting schedule. its now set to come on for just 4 hours with the actinics on for 8. i will try this out for about a week and add 1 hour of MH's each week after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I wouldn't worry about your pH that much. 8.0 isn't horrible and there are plenty of reefers that run 7.8 pH with no issues. Low pH wouldn't cause the white stringy stuff. You could run your actinics for 12 hrs no problem so you could enjoy seeing your tank lit up. Nothing is worse than having a dark tank in your house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derekreefer Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I think 8.0 PH is ok too. If you grabbed the water in the morning then it would be lower anyway. As long as your PH is btw 7.9 - 8.4 I say its all good....IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I'm wondering if they tested for PO4. Not that it would cause the problem. It has been surmised that the problem was with the photo period. I'm just curious. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lamont Posted May 6, 2010 Author Share Posted May 6, 2010 He did not test for PO4. i am at home now and everything seems to be okay. i think the problem was the sponge in my skimmer box was clog with something. i removed it Monday night, cleaned up all the string stuff and today its fine. no new build up of anything. i will still ask if they can check my phosphates tomorrow. right now im in the process of converting both of my 40g tanks into a 75 gallon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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