Are my lights to strong

[Keith Russell]

My corals are losing color my stylos and other corals are turning brown. I thought it was phosphates but my phosphates are in order. I was looking at the manual for my black box LEDs and it says with the lights being 12” above the water surface about 6 “ inches below the water surface, the par would be 500. My stylos are there. They used to be purple. Now they are almost white. And other corals are turning brown. Could this be a light issue. All my other chemistry is perfect.

 

[geddavis]

Yes it could be light. I would recommend you watch Dana rifles macna talk on turbo charging photosimphisis on YouTube. It goes in depth on the effects of par on corals and proper par for photosynthesis. Also the coral turning white is probebly bleaching or the release of its photosynthetic algae due to stress most probebly from to high par.

 

[Jason mack]

My corals are losing color my stylos and other corals are turning brown. I thought it was phosphates but my phosphates are in order. I was looking at the manual for my black box LEDs and it says with the lights being 12” above the water surface about 6 “ inches below the water surface, the par would be 500. My stylos are there. They used to be purple. Now they are almost white. And other corals are turning brown. Could this be a light issue. All my other chemistry is perfect.

Hi Keith
What are you running your blues and whites at ....I ran my blues 10 hrs a day at 100% and my whites at 20-30 % for 5.5 hrs a day had my lights 15 cm above water my stylo was 10 cm under water line ...
Can you list your tank params ....
Did you acclimate the corals too your lights ...ie build up slowly ..?
Can you post a full tank photo
If you want too see my tank check link in my signature..!

 

[Flippers4pups]

Following along.

 

[Jason mack]

Chinese black boxes are very strong lights...that being said they do tend too have a hot spot ..directly under the light ..around the sides it tends too fall off quickly ...I did paar readings on mine using a senye reef ...with blues and whites 100 % I got a reading of 800 paar at water line ...when dialed back too the settings i mentioned above I was getting 450 par at water line and a hotspot on the sand bed of 150 -200 par ( was difficult with my rock scape)

 

[Keith Russell]

I moved from a tall 45 to a standard 75. It’s been been since the end of October since the change. In the last month I have noticed the changing. My ammonia is 0 nitrates 0 SG 1.026 cal 540 alk 10 phosphates .03. The old 45 way tall and my lights were in the top of a custom canopy about 12 inches university the surface. Now the coral is 6 inches below the surface and the lights 6 inches from the surface.

 

[Jason mack]

I moved from a tall 45 to a standard 75. It’s been been since the end of October since the change. In the last month I have noticed the changing. My ammonia is 0 nitrates 0 SG 1.026 cal 540 alk 10 phosphates .03. The old 45 way tall and my lights were in the top of a custom canopy about 12 inches university the surface. Now the coral is 6 inches below the surface and the lights 6 inches from the surface.

Nothing wrong with that setup Keith.!!!! But like I said these lights have a hot spot in the middle( so place corals appropriately)...is your cbb with wifi ...what is your lighting shedule..??
What settings are your blues and whites at ..??
You also said your nitrates are 0 ...i would advise too raise this too detectable levels ..5ppm ...
What is your Magnesium at ??
Have you done or do you do icp tests ..??

 

[Keith Russell]

So looking at the top image you can see the stylos. Where do you think I could place it where it would get enough light but not too much. Any help would be great. I would hate to lose that coral

 

[Jason mack]

It should be fine where it is ...

 

[AbnormalReefer]

It’s always an interesting case when corals are both bleaching and growing at the same time in one’s tank....

Is the bottom bleaching and the top browning? Could be RTN or STN or a sign of alkalinity swing. If reverse, it’s possible too much light on the top shadowing the bottom since black boxes are known for hotspots. However, it just seems to me like the black boxes you have just have a nasty hotspot problem.

All in all I’d check your alkalinity and other parameters again. If they come out good I’d probably 1. Turn down the black boxes to reduce hotspots and 2. If you can, maybe buy more black boxes and run them at a lower percent to reduce shadowing/hotspots or 3. Try to raise the lights even higher.

PS - If you can’t figure it out, try to rent a par meter. They offer rentals on BRS for par meters. 40-50$ for 14 days I believe.

 

[roberthu526]

SPS turning brown usually means not enough light or too much nitrate in my experience. Did you test your water?

 

[Keith Russell]

I check my chemistry Monday. Everything was great ... Amm 0 Nitrites 0 Ph 8.4 Cal 540 akl 10 Nitrates - my test said 0, but I don't believe it though. One thing I keep forgetting is it has only been 3 months since I moved out of my 45 gall into a 75 gal and a new sump. Could all this be because my tank is maturing again?
I used almost all the water from my 45 and threw the filter pads from my canister in the sump for a month. I just don't know. I lowered the intensity of the lights and the duration so I can see if that makes any difference.

 

[jda]

It could be quality. I doubt that this is a quantity issue... I can have stylos under 750+ PAR and they just get deeper colors. This is why LEDs need to be kept lower to keep from burning and killing corals where the same PPFD/PAR/Output from a MH or T5 will not burn corals at all.

If you are going to get big-time into SPS, get those numbers down closer to NSW levels... 425-440 calcium and 7-8 alk... it will help. I am a lower N and P guy, but not everybody agrees with me.... .01 P and below 1 N is where I am nearly always at.

All of this being said, I would not rule out some instability from a move. All of this could

 

[Keith Russell]

Pardon my ignorance but what is NSW Levels mean?

 

[jda]

Natural SeaWater.

 

[Keith Russell]

Duh makes sense. Thanks a lot for you time. I appreciate it a lot.

 

[Keith Russell]

How would you lower the calcium. I don’t really dose consistently. I change 15 gallons of water a week. Is that to much? It is almost the whole tank each month. What are your thoughts?