Did Light Change Affect Soft Corals?

Joey.S · May 14, 2021

Hey everyone,

So for a couple months I ran only one 165W Viparspectra LED on my 90 gallon softie system. I had the settings at 70% blue 30% white. At the time I only had a few corals in there. I decided after a couple months to upgrade to the 300W version. Which is double the length of the first light. I put that light at the same settings, 70% blue 30% white. A couple weeks after the upgrade my corals (specifically the leathers) started closing. Even though the same leathers had been open everyday before the upgrade. Mind you some corals have been not phased during this whole process, like my zoas and gorge. Did the upgrade negatively affect them? Its been a few months and I haven't seen an improvement. So I assume its not an acclimation issue?

Thank you all very much, I appreciate the help

Joey S.

Zach B · May 15, 2021

Not sure it would be the light if its been a few months but i suppose its possible. What are your water parameters? That will better help us to solve this issue. Best of luck

WVNed · May 15, 2021

Do you do any kind of acclimation to the new light?

I would turn it down to 50%/10% for a few days and see if it makes a difference. If it does, increase 3-4% every few days until you find the new sweet spot.

Joey.S · May 15, 2021

Z&KFarmsWI said:
Not sure it would be the light if its been a few months but i suppose its possible. What are your water parameters? That will better help us to solve this issue. Best of luck

Temp : 79
Salinity : 1.025
Alk : 10
Cal : 450
Mag : 1400
Nitrate : 10 ish
PO4 : 0.25

Joey.S · May 15, 2021

WVNed said:
Do you do any kind of acclimation to the new light?

I would turn it down to 50%/10% for a few days and see if it makes a difference. If it does, increase 3-4% every few days until you find the new sweet spot.

I’ve done exactly that, started even lower and worked my way up weekly. Thinking of getting a par meter or maybe a Seneye.