Reefs.org Forums

[toddah]

Hello All,
First the tank specs
33 gallon oceanic drilled with external overflow.
40 gallon sump/refugium/skimmer in basement
Iwaki 40 pumping 800 -900 GPH thru Ocean Motion 2 way for distribution of return water
2 SEIO 620's in tank running full time
4" to 5" southdown DSB in Sump and Show tank
Aqua Controller 3
1/5 HP JBJ Chiller
300 Watt SS Heater
Turbofloater 1000 skimmer modded to not recirculate (1 cup of dark green scum a week)
75 Lbs Figi Live Rock 50 in tank 25 in sump
4 softball sized Chato balls in sumpTank is almost 1 year old

Temp 77.8 +- 1
Sal - 1.025
PH - 8.3
Calc - 420
Alk - 9.7
Mag - 1380
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0
Ammon - 0
Phos - 0.05 or less
All makeup is RO/DI
Dosing 48 ML of each part of Randys 2 part, constant introduction over 24 hours with Reef dosing pump.

Bright Green Birds Nest Coral
Purple / blue tip Acropora
Orange Cap 4"

Baseball sized Mint green Candy Cane
Golf Ball sized Orange Zoo
2 Gorgonians about 4" to 5" tall

2 Captive bred OCR Clowns about 1" each
1 Bi color Blenny about 2"
1 Court Jester Goby about 1.5"
1 peppermint shrimp about 2"
10 assorted snails

Everything has been going fine with this tank using a 150 Watt DE 10K MH with 2 24 Watt A03 T5 but I was looking to upgrade the tank so I bought a new light system in anticipation of the upgrade.

I assembled a Luminarc III Stealth with a 250 Watt DE 20K Bulb on a electronic ballist.
When I installed the light the 10K system was about 6" off fthe water and I swapped the new system in I raised it to about 15" off the water and then lowered it about 1 to 1.5" each week.

Now 2 months later I have a Orange Cap that is 70% bleached, my Green Birds Nest is gone and my Purple/Blue Acro is very faded and is now showing algae growth on a few tips. I could not move these guys as they were heavly encrusted on my live rock.

Frags of the cap lying on the sand are still nice orange color with polyp extension. both the Acro and the Birds nest stopped showing polyp extension.

So my assumption was the 250 in the luminarc was to bright and caused the bleaching.

The LPS and Zoo's are doing fine. as is the Gorgonians.

My question after all of this is
How long will these corals take to readjust to the new lighting system?

I cannot figure out what else can be wrong and my assumption is the lighting was to much but I thought they would adjust.

There is new growth on a Blue Staghorn that was kind of blue green but new growth is electric blue. this is the highest coral in the tank just a few inches below the surface center of the tank.

I am totally confused and don't know how to proceed.

[tike]

You are correct in that the chage in lighting has caused the stress/bleaching. With the monti you will have to lower it in the tank for awhile. I have also done this when changing lights and i went thru the same thing! Increase the flow if you can on the acro and birdsnest it will help keep the algae at bay. The acro will take about a month to show signs of recovery and the birdnest 9from wht you stated0 could be a goner. Try fragging a small piece and place it lower in the tank.

Good Luck!
willie

[tike]

You are correct in that the change in lighting has caused the stress/bleaching. With the monti you will have to lower it in the tank for awhile. I have also done this when changing lights and i went thru the same thing! Increase the flow if you can on the acro and birdsnest it will help keep the algae at bay. The acro will take about a month to show signs of recovery and the birdnest (from what you stated) could be a goner. Try fragging a small piece and place it lower in the tank.
Everything else in your tank looks great.

Good Luck!
willie