Is my frog spawn and chalice getting bleached?

[JC_k]

Hello guys! Recently upgraded to a bigger tank that has 2 Ai prime hd’s over it and everything’s been great, but I noticed two of the corals seem to be beaching. It’s my frogspawn and chalice. I have other lps/corals at this level and they’re fine so it’s just these two, it’s also very subtle right now now if they are bleaching. I will include a picture of my light spectrum and the %they run at. Tank is about 20 inches deep and corals that are possibly bleaching are on the sand bed. For the frogspawn only the top branches are bleaching, and for the chalice only the middle is loosing color. Does bleaching usually happen from too much or too little light? Not sure if I should lower or raise the power of my lights. Any info is appreciated!

Salinity - 1.025
Ph -8
Alkalinity - 9
Nitrate 0-5ppm
Nitrite - 0
Ammonia 0

 

[Shirak]

Were you using the AI Primes previously? I don't spose you have any par numbers from your previous system to this one? Sure looks like it's too much light since it is the tops of the frogspawn and the highest point on the chalice. If everything else looks good maybe just relocate the chalice? I wouldn't worry too much about the frogspawn yet.. maybe try target feeding it a little. You could also try a 2-3week acclimation period with the AI settings

 

[JC_k]

I had an AI prime on my old tank but it was only 10in tall and this one is double that, so I kinda have just been messing around with the power. Trying to rent a par meter from my local reef club but not sure if it’ll be available in these times lol.

 

[Shirak]

I had an AI prime on my old tank but it was only 10in tall and this one is double that, so I kinda have just been messing around with the power. Trying to rent a par meter from my local reef club but not sure if it’ll be available in these times lol.

oh gotcha. Same distance off the water between this setup and the previous? How much did you increase the % on each channel?

 

[JC_k]

oh gotcha. Same distance off the water between this setup and the previous? How much did you increase the % on each channel?

Yeah, it’s about 10 inches off the water line. I increased the blue/uv/violet channels about 15%. Most of corals from the old tank are sitting on sand bed though, have sps and lps on most levels of the tank too but it’s only these two corals that are showing signs of bleaching. I might just try an acclimation period but don’t wanna mess with the other corals too much lol

 

[Shirak]

how long since you made the change to the new tank?

 

[JC_k]

how long since you made the change to the new tank?

2.5-3 months, it had a small cycle but everything’s been doing great. I lowered the light by 6% for now and will keep lowering them a bit every few days!

 

[Shirak]

hmm interesting it's been almost 3 months. How have nutrient levels been compared to past? With the increased light maybe the zooxanthellae are needing a bit more nutrients?

 

[JC_k]

hmm interesting it's been almost 3 months. How have nutrient levels been compared to past? With the increased light maybe the zooxanthellae are needing a bit more nutrients?

They’ve been ok, I usually don’t test for mag/calc since I have a smaller amount of sps and do smaller water changes each week. I might’ve had a ph/alkalinity swing a few weeks ago but it wasn’t enough that a water change couldn’t fix. I have started feeding a bit more with coral and fish food as I usually don’t keep fish but this setup came with a few. The corals also seem to enjoy the feedings. I will test more tonight tho but everything’s pretty consistent except again maybe the ph/alk.