bleaching

Eh.. blue light is so much more important than white light. I run 6 Actinics and 2 daylights and I can grow even SPS corals in my crappy 29G with only a HOB filter, no skimmer, no media reactors.. IMO getting the right type of light is so important and so misunderstood by so many. I see so many SPS people doing such crazy things like ZeoVit to get their corals to look good and here I am doing nothing and my corals look so much better than the people that have to dose every day. Why is it when I put in a 14k bulb that has less PAR than a 20k bulb give me 2x the growth on my SPS corals? Because the 14k actually puts out MORE of the blue spectrum than the 20k, which is exactly the spectrum the corals need to grow.

I put in 6 10k lights in my 29G I get dead corals, I put in 2 actinic/4 daylights I get very ugly slow growing corals, I put in 4 Actinics and 2 daylights I get very colorful corals that grow pretty fast.

I beg people to run their own tests with different bulbs and report the results. I have done so many tests on bulbs myself that I think I have a very firm understanding on what light corals like best. Always good to listen to others advice, but even better to try it out for yourself. ;)
 
Ace25 said:
Eh.. blue light is so much more important than white light. I run 6 Actinics and 2 daylights and I can grow even SPS corals in my crappy 29G with only a HOB filter, no skimmer, no media reactors.. IMO getting the right type of light is so important and so misunderstood by so many. I see so many SPS people doing such crazy things like ZeoVit to get their corals to look good and here I am doing nothing and my corals look so much better than the people that have to dose every day. Why is it when I put in a 14k bulb that has less PAR than a 20k bulb give me 2x the growth on my SPS corals? Because the 14k actually puts out MORE of the blue spectrum than the 20k, which is exactly the spectrum the corals need to grow.

I put in 6 10k lights in my 29G I get dead corals, I put in 2 actinic/4 daylights I get very ugly slow growing corals, I put in 4 Actinics and 2 daylights I get very colorful corals that grow pretty fast.
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I don't know why but under 20ks growth was slow but colors stood out. Under 12k growth is too fast lately... another tank from a local here has 10ks only ...x3 400w.. his sps grow like mad.

Did you see where the poster said he gets his water from shore at high tide?..... polluted water run off comes to mind when i read that.
 
Ya, I just think his lighting is ok being more blue bulbs than white. Ya, the NSW would also be my bet on the problems now that I know that part of the equation.

As you said, K=Kelvin and only means how it looks to our eyes. It tells you nothing about the actual light spectrum the bulb puts out, only how the spectrums combined will look to you... but obviously not an exact science. Why is my 14k bulb REALLY bluer than my Radium 20k?

Radium 20k
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Phoenix 14k
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I get 2x the growth from the 14k and I have several people who have witnessed it in person. ;)
 
When we change spectrums ie. 20k to 10k we run the risk of burning the corals. Zooantheli adapts to certain spectrums of light and when there is a drastic change to this the Zooantheli can not adapt quickly to this. I have a montipora (green) that loves 10K mh, I put new 18K bulbs in to bring out the color more and **** near lost all of it. The only thing that saved it was going back to 10K - I guess it didnt like the spectrum. And most sps's grow best at a k range below 10k. I grow all frags out at 10k so they will show colors.
 
It all comes down to PUR (Photosynthetic Usable Radiation). The reason my 14k gives me double the growth of the 20k is the 14k puts out much more PUR than the 20k. Also, the 20k puts out much more PUR than my XM 10k even though the XM 10k has DOUBLE the PAR. It is the fact the 20k has so much MORE of the light the corals need than the 10k did that corals will brown out or bleach out from the drastic change. Again, comes down to the difference in PUR, not PAR, not Kelvin.

I ran an XM 10k for 9 months. At 6 months I replaced it with a Radium20k and my corals freaked out so I had to put another 10k XM back in until I learned why that happened, so I went on a year long research project into Reef lighting.. My corals were getting 2x the "coral" light, or PUR, with the 20K than they were getting from the 10K even though the 10k was way brighter and had 2x the PAR reading, it just wan't even close to the correct type of light spectrum corals need for growth.
 
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well guys I would love to have an RO plant.but it just isnt cool here to have something that wastes so much water.4gals waste for 1gal clean,noway...I live in bermuda .if youve been here you would understand.you know the old saying,if its yellow let it mellow,if its brown flush it down..Ive come to an understanding about where to collect my water.and its clean,yes I filter the water before it goes into the tank.I use a canister filter with a UV on it to kill anything thats in itIts illegal to bring in anything alive for a saltwater aquarium.so no cheato for me.Ive set up an alge scrubber for nitrate and phosphates,works well.I do run a skimmer aswell.with the evaporation im dealing with I do use RO water for top offs as I have a little unit for drinking water.Im trying my best to get things sorted but sometimes its hard when Im the only person I know that has a saltwter system.I could go to the aquarium and zoo here to ask questions but their system is fed by the ocean,totally different tank setup.besides they dont have time for the small man.this is why Im here asking about bleaching...this has never happened to me before.I do think its the light though.but Im willing to do what ever you guys think would be best for the aquarium and its inhabitants .the white actinics are the 75-25 they have a pink look to them.thanks for your input guys
 
duneenworywifit said:
well guys I would love to have an RO plant.but it just isnt cool here to have something that wastes so much water.4gals waste for 1gal clean,noway...I live in bermuda .if youve been here you would understand.you know the old saying,if its yellow let it mellow,if its brown flush it down..Ive come to an understanding about where to collect my water.and its clean,yes I filter the water before it goes into the tank.I use a canister filter with a UV on it to kill anything thats in itIts illegal to bring in anything alive for a saltwater aquarium.so no cheato for me.Ive set up an alge scrubber for nitrate and phosphates,works well.I do run a skimmer aswell.with the evaporation im dealing with I do use RO water for top offs as I have a little unit for drinking water.Im trying my best to get things sorted but sometimes its hard when Im the only person I know that has a saltwter system.I could go to the aquarium and zoo here to ask questions but their system is fed by the ocean,totally different tank setup.besides they dont have time for the small man.this is why Im here asking about bleaching...this has never happened to me before.I do think its the light though.but Im willing to do what ever you guys think would be best for the aquarium and its inhabitants .the white actinics are the 75-25 they have a pink look to them.thanks for your input guys
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Getting back on track here:::

So the zoos in the tank that are bleaching.... How long have you had them in there... are they new placements? Have they been there a while and just suddenly went south?

That would be a way to help you figure it out...I've found zoos to be very tough and put up with a lot of stuff. I dont even care for mine. Roll them under rocks...trap them under new aquascaping...they still live months later even under the rocks not in the light.

So if your zoos are high up on the rocks...try placing them lower in the tank and offset from the lights vs directly below...see if they recover.

reason I suggest it is my Acans were bleaching ...i moved them deeper into my tank and away from my lights more...the orange is bouncing back now. I guess the new bulbs are a bit much on them.

Reeflux 12k 250w x2 ...had the hamilton 14ks prior....
 
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