T5 and SPS corals

Discussion in 'Coral Health' started by 71sbeetle, May 31, 2009.

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  1. 71sbeetle

    71sbeetle Fire Shrimp

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2009
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    316
    Location:
    Wellington, Florida
    Hi guys and gals !
    I added a few SPS corals a few weeks ago (ORA Marshall Island Blue Bottlebrush, ORA Blue Voodoo Staghorn, ORA Hawkins Blue Echinata, ORA Green Digitata and ORA Roscoe's Blue - got a real good deal for all those from my buddy at www.cultivatedcoral.com) and I noticed that the higher the coral is placed, the more white (bleached ?) it is looking now compared to when I first got it. in order from highest to lowest are the blue voodoo, hawkins blue, Roscoe's blue, Green digitata and Blue bottlebrush)
    My lighting is "stock" from the Red Sea Max 250:
    6 x 39w T5 linear, 3 of them (117w) are 10,000k, 3 of them (117w) are Actinic, total of 234w for 65 gallons.
    Blue Voodoo (highest) is about 5"-6" from the top, while the bottlebrush is sitting at the bottom (about 22"-23" from the light)

    Is the T5 not enough for those corals, or could it be too strong ?

    Water Parameters are all "normal" (nitrite, ammonia, phosphate are 0, nitrate 15, pH 8.2, sg 1.024, temp 79-81, alk 8.5, calcium 380, mag 1360)
     
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  3. Russter

    Russter Flamingo Tongue

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2009
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    Location:
    Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
    I was just going to ask this exact same question. My Monti cap was placed fairly high and is looking bleached out on the top. Stock t5's as well.
     
  4. Av8Bluewater

    Av8Bluewater Giant Squid

    Joined:
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    To both of you. Is it just white on the tips?
    I really doubt it's too much light. They turn white on the tips when they grow.. still they should be acclimated. Usually these are grown under halides so It should not be an issue though.
     
  5. jonjonwells

    jonjonwells Great Blue Whale

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    240 Watts should be plenty to grow SPS. AV8 is correct, the tips on most Acros to turn white when they have new growth. However, this is only the tip. If it starts go farther than a 1/4", then there is something else wrong.
     
  6. 71sbeetle

    71sbeetle Fire Shrimp

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Wellington, Florida
    for me it's the whole thing, the blue voodoo was a dark blue, now it's pretty much white, the digitata however, just has the tips that are white (growth I suppose)
    I have some Montipora Capricornis pieces around the same height as the Blue Voodoo and they are starting to attach and look good
     
  7. Av8Bluewater

    Av8Bluewater Giant Squid

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  9. Av8Bluewater

    Av8Bluewater Giant Squid

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    By the way My tank was nearly wiped out recently from a faulty thermometer. I thought it was 79-80 degrees and the first thing I noticed was my Blue Turaki Acro turned white. Temp was actually 88-91 ish degrees.
     
  10. jonjonwells

    jonjonwells Great Blue Whale

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    One of the reasons, I am leaning towards a controller with dual temp probes for my upgrade.
     
  11. 71sbeetle

    71sbeetle Fire Shrimp

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2009
    Messages:
    316
    Location:
    Wellington, Florida
    PARAMETERS
    Temperature:
    79-81
    PH: 8.2
    Ammonia: 0
    Nitrite: 0
    Nitrate: 15
    Salinity: 1.024
    dKH/KH/Alkalinity: 8.5
    Magnesium: 1360
    Calcium: 380
    Phosphate: 0
    Test kits you own: API Reef Master Kit (Phosphate, Nitrate, dKH, Calcium), Nutrafin Calcium, pH and Ammonia, Tetratest Nitrite pH and Ammonia, and Red Sea Magnesium, Pinpoint pH and salinity monitors
    Liquid or Strips: Liquid
    Are they Expired?: No


    Tank size? 65 gallons
    Estimated total system? 55-60 gallons

    Reef, fish only or, freshwater? reef

    Current inhabitants? What and how many?
    gold stripe maroon clown
    coral beauty
    orange stripe prawn goby
    gold head goby
    eyelash blenny
    powder brown tang
    bubble tip anemone
    frogspawn
    fungia
    favia
    pulsing xenia
    acropora frags
    other misc hitch hiker corals
    and the corals listed above
    Clean up crew?
    12 blue leg hermit crabs

    4 emerald crabs
    3 mexican turbo snails
    2 astrea snails
    5 trochus snails
    How long has your tank been set-up?

    3 months (transfer over from smaller tank)

    Substrate.
    Type? 60lbs reef sand, 20lbs bimini pink sand
    Depth? 2-3" depending on location in tank

    Live rock.
    How much? about 100lbs
    Did you recently add some? no

    Filtration.
    Type? stock Red Sea Max 250
    Protein skimmer? stock Red Sea Max 250
    Do you wet or dry skim? dry
    Maintenance schedule for filtration? clean skimmer every other day or when too much liquid in it, clean mechanical filter sponge once a week.
    Drilled tank/hang on back overflow? stock Red Sea Max 250
    Sump/refugium. What's in it and how much? no

    Lighting.
    Lighting type?

    stock Red Sea Max 250
    3x 39W actinic
    3x 39W 10,000K
    T5 bulbs
    Age of bulbs? 3 months

    Feeding
    What? Pellets, frozen food (reef food and formula #2) chromaplex, freeze dried brine, freeze dried mysis, freeze dried cyclop eeze, garlic additive, coral vital
    How much?

    pellets enough that they eat all of it (or most, may have 5 or so 1mm pellets left)
    frozen 1 cube each
    garlic additive, chromaplex 1 teaspoon
    mysis, brine and cyclop eeze 1/2 teaspoon
    coral vital 3.25ml
    How often? pellets, frozen and coral vital once a day, others every 2 or 3 days

    Water change schedule.
    How much? 10 gallons (a little less than 20%)
    How often? once a month or when nitrate are over 20ppm
    What salt brand? natural sea water
    Water source? LFS

    Additives/supplements used?

    Liquid Reef daily (12.5ml)
    Iodine 1.25ml once a week
    Stontium 5ml once a week
    trace elements 15ml 3 times a week
    Vitamarin-C once a week

    Do you have a ground probe? no, well, not installed yet
    What kind of flow does your tank have?
    stock red sea max 250, one 640gph pump and one 320gph pump
     
  12. 71sbeetle

    71sbeetle Fire Shrimp

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2009
    Messages:
    316
    Location:
    Wellington, Florida
    I actually have 2 temp sensors, one for the cheap coralife and one for my Davis Vantage Pro 2 weather station (not cheap, the water temp sensor alone is almost $170)