Light and corals

[Marie7]

Hello everyone, hope I’m not posting on the wrong place but i have a question regarding light.
I have a 92 gallons reef tank that i feel proud about because i been able to mantain my fishes, however, i can not say the same about all my corals, i have seen that this corals does not grow or expand as it use to be before when i had different lights, my acros has almost disapear on the rock it seens like they don't open or stand up alone on their own as it use to be, also my red mushrooms has been detaching from a rock i had almost full of them, my other corals i believe are leathers feels hard they don't have the softness of the corals no longer neither i can feel the slime they use to have. I also been dozing some calcium and alkalinity equal amounts and making sure ph is good, water temp is at 80 accordingly to the temp sticker in the tank, I been checking the water and parameters seems to be normal and witting the range except the nitrates and i also been changing water very often.

I can not point into what’s going on except the light as some of my corals die after been in the tank for few months or matter of 3 weeks , the lights i have are wireless light works with my home router 2 black square that i have not been able to setup to go automatic on off and change on the timer alone.
Theres pictures attach to my post, can some one help, also i was having some algae and start dozing the nopox and start to see problem worse so I stop but again not sure whats going on , i change the lights between day to blue at night and then only the moon light i do it mAnually, is theres any one here in tampa that knows how to set up this lights if its worth them if not i would like input on what lights to get in order to make my corals grow and multiply.

 

[HudsonReefer]

Hello! The black box LEDs can definitely grow coral but its important to remember the light they admit is very focused and intense directly below them. Sometimes you need to let your corals acclimate to them by running them at a lower intensity for a day or two then ramp them up slowly over a few days. if you know anyone with a PAR reader that can help greatly in deciding where to set your corals so they get the best lighting they need to grow. Im actually more concerned your photo period isn't stable enough if you adjusting everything by hand. How long are your lights on for?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Lighting effect seems adequate. NoPox can go against you as you don't want to erase PO and NO completely. I would do 1/2 of what you are dosing with NoPox

 

[Marie7]

Hello! The black box LEDs can definitely grow coral but its important to remember the light they admit is very focused and intense directly below them. Sometimes you need to let your corals acclimate to them by running them at a lower intensity for a day or two then ramp them up slowly over a few days. if you know anyone with a PAR reader that can help greatly in deciding where to set your corals so they get the best lighting they need to grow. Im actually more concerned your photo period isn't stable enough if you adjusting everything by hand. How long are your lights on for?

Hello, I have this lights for over a year already, it's not a new light that i bought recently, I don't know if i have the lights on for to long I get up in the morning and turn the lights on around 8 or 9 am and run then on the bright side with white and red and green after about 3 pm i lover the lights to the blue only and towards the evening i put the moonlight only meaning only the blue center one alone and turn the lights off around 2 am.

 

[Marie7]

Lighting effect seems adequate. NoPox can go against you as you don't want to erase PO and NO completely. I would do 1/2 of what you are dosing with NoPox

I stop it completely because start to see that my corals was reducing on size and some start to die. So at this moment I'm no using it at all

 

[HudsonReefer]

I would reduce the intensity of the light if your running them on high whites and blues. Cut it back by 25% for a week and see what happens. If the light is to intens the corals should show signs of improvement. If not you shouldn't have any I'll effects. This will help reduce algae growth as well. I think a PAR reading of your lights might be the the most definitive answer to if they are causing the issue.

Are you testing your calcium, magnesium and alkalinity before and after dosing? If so what are you reading before and after water changes? Salinity and temperature fluctuations can also cause stress for coral, is it possible either of these maybe off or unstable? I typically use 3 different thermometers to ensure my temperature is accurate as most will give different readings. I personally wouldnt rely on the sticker type on aquariums because they can be thrown off my different external factors. Have you had your refractometer calibration checked of accuracy? Most LFS should be able to calibrate it for you if you haven't done it recently.

 

[Marie7]

I would reduce the intensity of the light if your running them on high whites and blues. Cut it back by 25% for a week and see what happens. If the light is to intens the corals should show signs of improvement. If not you shouldn't have any I'll effects. This will help reduce algae growth as well. I think a PAR reading of your lights might be the the most definitive answer to if they are causing the issue.

Are you testing your calcium, magnesium and alkalinity before and after dosing? If so what are you reading before and after water changes? Salinity and temperature fluctuations can also cause stress for coral, is it possible either of these maybe off or unstable? I typically use 3 different thermometers to ensure my temperature is accurate as most will give different readings. I personally wouldnt rely on the sticker type on aquariums because they can be thrown off my different external factors. Have you had your refractometer calibration checked of accuracy? Most LFS should be able to calibrate it for you if you haven't done it recently.

Thanks for ur answer i been lowering the intensity of the lights using more blue than white and not as strong, i do see my mushrooms open more and i do see also that the new corals i put in few days ago are doing great, i also stop dosing, salinity its been steady as i always buy the water at the same place and check also, few weeks ago salinity was very hi i bought fresh water instead of the salt to lower salinity somewhat, i also been checking the alk and calcium which are in normal range, i check ph as well, i seeing the algae refuce a little bit as well even i don’t have a bad case of it. I will buy a different thermometer to check the water. Thanks again for ur repply and advised.

 

[Marie7]

Ufff i stop co

Lighting effect seems adequate. NoPox can go against you as you don't want to erase PO and NO completely. I would do 1/2 of what you are dosing with NoPox

Uffff i stop completely somehow i feel this dosing has something to do with the problem

 

[flchamp89]

Great advice given as always from vetteguy. Overall tank looks good. Sounds like you just need stability.

 

[Marie7]

Great advice given as always from vetteguy. Overall tank looks good. Sounds like you just need stability.

Believe me I'm trying hard, I love my tank and my hobby I really enjoy it very much and take a great pride on it...

 

[Sarah24!]

Ufff i stop co


Uffff i stop completely somehow i feel this dosing has something to do with the problem

Hello,

I would lower your lights and the reason your corals are probably dying is you stopped the nopox right away. It’s extremely addictive to corals and even on Page 6 it clearly says do not stop or corals can die or starve.
It says to use bare min once you reach your nitrate level and do it once a day or once every other day. I have dosed nopox for a while and you also have to add trace elements along with it. I had to change my dosage and some corals do better (literally have the same coral in a couple of different spots), and same water parameters but one stays perfect and one does not. It’s very weird but I used it because I had a lack of options. If you have completely stopped, you do risk a withdrawal from your corals.

Options since you stopped some may pull through others may not. You can stay off of it if the remaining corals can make it through. Option 2 would be to measure your nitrate and phosphate and make sure nitrate is 2-5, and phosphates under .25 and then fine your total water volume and dose that once every other day. If your running a very low nutrient tank you don’t want a high cal and alk. They do better around 7 and 420, if nutrients are 2-5 .25 then 8 and 440 work pretty well for me but all tanks are different.

I also feel your pain and frustration because some corals do amazing in my tank or had been then suddenly gone. Yet I have learned to frag them and have more than one just in case. Again same water the aka forest fire digi is going great on the right and the mid to center was great and now it’s starting to die. Yet other sps and lps are fine it’s very weird and frustrating to me.

 

[Marie7]

Hello,

I would lower your lights and the reason your corals are probably dying is you stopped the nopox right away. It’s extremely addictive to corals and even on Page 6 it clearly says do not stop or corals can die or starve.
It says to use bare min once you reach your nitrate level and do it once a day or once every other day. I have dosed nopox for a while and you also have to add trace elements along with it. I had to change my dosage and some corals do better (literally have the same coral in a couple of different spots), and same water parameters but one stays perfect and one does not. It’s very weird but I used it because I had a lack of options. If you have completely stopped, you do risk a withdrawal from your corals.

Options since you stopped some may pull through others may not. You can stay off of it if the remaining corals can make it through. Option 2 would be to measure your nitrate and phosphate and make sure nitrate is 2-5, and phosphates under .25 and then fine your total water volume and dose that once every other day. If your running a very low nutrient tank you don’t want a high cal and alk. They do better around 7 and 420, if nutrients are 2-5 .25 then 8 and 440 work pretty well for me but all tanks are different.

I also feel your pain and frustration because some corals do amazing in my tank or had been then suddenly gone. Yet I have learned to frag them and have more than one just in case. Again same water the aka forest fire digi is going great on the right and the mid to center was great and now it’s starting to die. Yet other sps and lps are fine it’s very weird and frustrating to me.

Thanks a lot fir that info, few people go directly to the point and clear as you have, i stop the dosing because i notice changes when i start the NoPox but the tank is high nutrients. I will look into few things today, thanks again

 

[Dana Riddle]

What sort of pumps are you using for water motion? Long story, but poor water motion can break a tank even when lighting is sufficient.

 

[Marie7]

I have 2 double wavemaker

 

[Jon Fishman]

Ufff i stop co


Uffff i stop completely somehow i feel this dosing has something to do with the problem

I turn my lights on/off manually (still setting up my system!) and my corals do great. I am using black-box lights.

I dose nothing.... never have, and may in the future, but for right now, I dose nothing.

 

[Marie7]

I turn my lights on/off manually (still setting up my system!) and my corals do great. I am using black-box lights.

I dose nothing.... never have, and may in the future, but for right now, I dose nothing.

That’s exactly what I'm doing, I'm just working on the lights to lower it and see how they do, one thing i did notice is the ph is reading low lately, i check last night and it was low I’m dosing PH because i have to there’s no other way to raise this