+Jakedoza Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Here is a little about my setup. Tank: 135 reef Lighting: 10 4ft T-5 54w 5 of which are blue wave and the other 5 are sun wave. Replaced in September. Flow: Main return Mag-12, 3 K3s in tank.. recently unplugged one Calcium reactor has been on tank for 3 months now kH is at 11 1/4 hp chiller set at 78 has been on tank for 1 week recently pulled phosphate reactor.. Water tested at RCA with 0 phosphates All other water parameters test perfect.. My tests and RCA.. Been dosing Kent Lugols every week for the past 4 months or more Recently started dosing phytoplankton Recently started dosing Kent Essential Elements Problem.. My Fish are doing great, they are fat and healthy.. My coral is growing.. but have no color and some have shriveled.. Here is a photo of one pally.. Oct and Jake at RCA thought that my water may be too clean... also temperature.. (I now have a chiller) Any other ideas are greatly appreciated... Thanks. Before... Now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 What other corals are affected and how? What temps were you running before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Jakedoza Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 Temps were swinging anywhere from 76-82.. but occasionally went as high as 84 on the rare occasion I forgot to put the fan back in the canopy.. Now that I have the chiller, temps are not a problem. constant 78.. As far as color, all coral has been affected. As far as shriveling, all softies (xenia, gsp) My gsp is growing and my zoas are multiplying though very slowly.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgoodwill Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Seems to mean whenever colors fade it has to do with nutrition and the blue spectrum of lights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Did you get those Paly's from AAF? I have a bunch of those and they all changed to different colors after a few months. Most are mint green now, but none remotely resemble what they were when they were taken home. Not that it helps the rest of the situation, but those particular ones may be an exception. Do you have any SPS in there? If it's too clean, those are normally thriving while the softies and LPS are hurting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Jakedoza Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 I got the Palys at the frag swap from JamesL All the SPS I had died from the bottom up.. I have a Galaxia that is doing great.. but then again the color is not there and the polyp extension is only about .5 inch. I have a superman monti that is doing ok.. but color again is crap.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 That happened to my palys too. I added a fan to the hood and everything is starting to recover. The chiller should help a ton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 If the coral was added recently and they were under MH or LED's and changed to your lights it can definatly effect color too. And if the lights were replaced in Sept it might be that the coral was used to the weak bulb and are reacting to the new bulbs but I would think it would have happened sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Jakedoza Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 This is happening to ALL the coral in my tank.. not just these.. This was just a photo example.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 As far as phosphate I've never tried keeping it below .045 mg/l P (.14 mg/l PO4) so I'm not familiar with how corals will look that low but they do need some phosphate for thier zooxanthellea or they will start bleaching (seawater tests at .003 mg/l P04), do you know which test was used? Were the corals looking ok before you changed the lights and started fading within a week or so of changing the bulbs. Or did they start fading after you changed the lights and after one of the heat spikes to 84? Or did they start fading 3 to 6 weeks after changing the lights? If it was my tank and I saw a sudden change (bleaching or a loss of brown zooxanthellae) with a week or so of changing the lights or a heat spike (84 doesn't seem much of a spike to me but it depends on what your corals are used to and a change in lighting at the same time could exacerbate it) I wouldn't change anything and just wait for the corals to adjust which may take months. My reasoning is the damage has already been done and making any changes at this point is just adding additional stress to already stressed animals. If the loss of color has taken weeks to occur and it's a loss of the vibrant or fluorescing pigments and an increase in the brown coloration then I would think the corals have increased the zooxanthellae because of increased light levels and would slowly be making changes to the lighting levels waiting a few weeks to see how they react. Additionally, if I'm seeing a of lot of different corals reacting I wouldn't assume it's all the same problem, not always but different animals typically react differently to changes. For example my experience with Xenia is it's notoriously unpredictable and I've never had any luck using lugals when it starts to decline and never needed lugals for it to do well and I wouldn't always include it's behaviour in trying to figure out a problem. This is speculation not being familiar with your tank but you might be seeing some animals reacting to the lighting and some reacting to the (potential) lack of phosphates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Jakedoza Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 cool.. yeah I think you probably nailed it on the head.. It was a slow change over a few months. I bought those palys at the annual frag swap, so you know how long it has been for them to look the way they do. I purchased new lights in Sept and went from 6 t-5s to 10 over a period of 4 weeks. The phosphate test that RCA used was the expensive one.. not sure of the brand but they are something like $200 if I were to buy it. Thanks for your input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Yipes! I never knew those palys could look like that. And TimFish went the path I would have suggested too... lighting. While mine never had done that drastic of a color change, as my MH get older, the palys and zoas slow their growth considerably. Hopefully things turn around in your tank as the corals adjust to the new lights. If the ones you got from me don't recover, I would be happy to supply some more for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Jakedoza Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 Thanks James.. They are still multiplying.. Here to hoping that they color back up.. along with everything else in the aquarium.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Do you have any Leather Coral or mushrooms? Both contribute to chemical warfare, the best defense is a good offense. I always use carbon in my reef tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 I think he nailed with the culprit being new lights. I have seen the skirts on my zoas disappear when I change bulbs and not reduce the light cycle enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Jakedoza Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 I got the palys in Aug... replaced light in Sept.. and here it is Dec.. Anyone have a Par meter I can borrow or that can come use it on my tank.. I'm curious now about my lighting.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 I keep meaning to get a PAR meter but since I'm prone to ruining my lux meters with saltwater and they are MUCH cheaper to replace I keep getting lux meters. (It's so annoying when I forget which hand is holding the meter and which is holding the waterproof sensor ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Jakedoza Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 That is no bueno.. I think I may have access to one. Thanks though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Jakedoza Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 Here is a video of the tank for those that are interested... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Enjoyed the video. The "Blue Danube" in the background was nice. You are right about the fish being fat and sassy. With all the softies that you have, you might want to consider a refugium with a mud filter and a vegatable filter to feed your corals. http://www.dtplankton.com/articles/refugiums.html This article by Dr. Ron praises the use of deep sand beds in refugiums to feed the reef. There are some links to growing phytoplankton on the home page. I have the bible on growing phytoplankton, Plankton Culture Manual by Frank Hoff, Instead of phytoplankton cultures, I use the vegatable filter in the refugium to grow epiphytes which is a type of zooplankton that grows on the macroalgae surface. I feed my reef tank fish heavily, no protein skimming, the display tank feeds the refugium which in turn feeds the diswwplay tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Jakedoza Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 lol.. thanks. The music is from a show my son watches.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/2/review This is a list of articles written by Dana Riddle. In my opinion, he is the most practical and knowleable authority on reef lighting. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/aafeature1 This article deals with color intensity ofr corals compared to spectra of light frequencies. I find Dana Riddle more easy to digest than Dr Sanja. Jake, I suggest you run a small amount of carbon continuously and turn off your protein skimmer. Always remember, "Patience is a Virtue". Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Jakedoza Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 I was able to borrow a PAR meter and I was quite surprised at my results. I am running 10 t-5 48" 54w bulbs. I purchased these bulbs in September. At the top center of my tank above the water I am reading 400.. At the bottom of my tank I am reading 118 in the center and 100 on the sides... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 Why are you surprised by those numbers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Jakedoza Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 I guess I was expecting higher numbers since I went in thinking I had too much light.. After some research, it looks like those numbers are ok... So, now that I know my PAR readings I can scratch the too much light idea.. Last night and nights before I would always spy on my tank with a light after a couple of hours of darkness.. I've seen 15-20 pods running around in the main tank. At any time during the day I see tons of them in the refugium.. I'm pulling my sock filter and unplugging the skimmer and starting to filter carbon in a TLF150 from the area in my sump from the tank to the area in my sump where water is returned to the tank. Basically I skipped over the refugium.. I also trimmed my chaeto as there was a lot in there. I am also starting to kill the lights in my refugium in the mornings and turn it on when I feed at night. Hopefully I will start to see changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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