How to acclimate new corals with established corals

[jasonrusso]

I have a RSM C-130 with a Steve's LED upgrade. I currently have the blue channel at 60% and the white at about 25-30%. I've had the tank up and running since November. I've had great success so far, everything is growing and healthy.

Recently I got a trachyphyllia, it looked great for about a week. Then I noticed that it wasn't inflating as big and started to bleach. The consensus is that it was getting too much light. last night I moved it under an overhang so I will monitor it to see if it recovers.

I'm not disputing that, but how are you supposed to introduce new corals? The trachy was on the bottom in the center, so I would say it was moderate light. Am I supposed to dim the entire tank whenever I add something new? Won't this affect the existing coral that is doing well? The trachy was on the bottom, so I can't really put it any lower.

This is not so much a trachy question as much as a "how do I introduce future corals?" Everything I have bought so far I have just put in place and no issues (my yellow trumpet has not grown yet, but isn't dead).

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

IMO , honestly it’s a crap shoot.
Best case , you know the par of the tank the corals came from.
Then set the coral in a spot that has lower par, as some lights have more of specific Nm of Light(mh led) so you don’t overdose them on the full spectral range of your light or a specific frequency.

Some folks just drop em in , some folks just glue it right to the the Rock no matter where it is. High or low.

One reason to have a par or lux meter is so we know the range of par in our own tanks.

A fwiw, many of the old timers tell of getting acros from overseas and dropping them in tanks with high high light from MH. And they loved it. And is almost certain that that was a lot more Light than they would have in the wild (500 2000 par most likely )

 

[jasonrusso]

Some folks just drop em in , some folks just glue it right to the the Rock no matter where it is. High or low.

This is what I have been doing, temp acclimating them, (dip if needed, my main guy usually dips them), then mount them where I want. I have had very good success so far until Mr. Trachy. I don't think I should change because of one issue, but be a bit more conscious of more sensitive species.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

This is what I have been doing, temp acclimating them, (dip if needed, my main guy usually dips them), then mount them where I want. I have had very good success so far until Mr. Trachy. I don't think I should change because of one issue, but be a bit more conscious of more sensitive species.

I agree. I don’t change everything for one thing. You really never know what the issue is for the most part

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I've only rarely acclimated corals to light in an existing reef (usually I just try to basically match what they were getting before), and when I have, acclimation was done by placing the new coral in low light and gradually adjusting as necessary. I have never reduced the lighting on the whole reef for a new coral.

 

[[Cameron]]

Depends on the coral. Most SPS are surprisingly short term tolerant to lighting changes. What they don't seem to like is constant mid-to-long term changes or water column issues. Partial bleaching isn't a death sentence. If you run a nice clean water column with good parameters, most SPS will adapt quickly to all but the brightest of lights. Now LPS and other softies are a different story... those suckers can bake quickly under strong lighting.