Replaced led, should I expect bleaching?

[Guinness]

I just put SB 16" basic with lenses removed on my biocube. I measured lux at surface with an app at 15500 with the stock light. I set the new light to the same. How long should I expect any bleaching to take and how much and often should I raise the intensity?
Thanks,
Guinness

 

[Crabs McJones]

I just put SB 16" basic with lenses removed on my biocube. I measured lux at surface with an app at 15500 with the stock light. I set the new light to the same. How long should I expect any bleaching to take and how much and often should I raise the intensity?
Thanks,
Guinness

If you start out low and work your intensity up u shouldn't get any bleaching. Make small increases weekly

 

[Mr.Rocc]

Its easier to help a browning coral who isn't getting enough light then to try to save a bleaching coral who is getting to much. Start at like 20% blue and white and work up.

From your picture it looks like your SPS have already bleached out.

 

[mcarroll]

I measured lux at surface with an app at 15500 with the stock light. I set the new light to the same. How long should I expect any bleaching to take and how much and often should I raise the intensity?

If you matched lights at least as close as lux can tell you, I wouldn't expect any bleaching at all. If you really do, then maybe turn town UV or violet LED's if you can. If you have decent nutrient levels ("plenty" not "none") that will also help...especially PO4...in fact, I don't think I'd worry at all in that case.

I would not make any intensity changes unless you have a specific reason in mind. Your corals appear to be happy!

FYI, I've been running one of my SPS tanks at about 15,000 lux for a lo-o-ong time now, so there's nothing wrong with that light level – don't fall into the "more is better" trap.

If you do have a specific reason in mind for increasing power/intensity, then do it in <2500 lux "chunks" and space the changes out by at least a couple of weeks...more (like 4) would be ideal.

2¢

 

[Guinness]

Thanks. There are 2 birds nest on top that are bleached. I think I didn't have enough light for them. Alk never changes more than .7 in 24 hours and I don't think the stock biocube 32 light would be too strong to bleach anything. My only other guess would be lack of nitrate. It reads 0 on api test, and phosphate is .07 on seachem. But both birds nest grew for a few months and then bleached and stn. They bleached from the bottom up if that makes a difference. All other corals are doing well.

 

[mcarroll]

How long should I expect any bleaching to take

So did you mean here that bleaching had already happened and you wanted to know how long it would take to heal?

Or is the bleaching/STN that you just mentioned something that happened since the first post?

 

[Guinness]

The bleaching and stn happened before I switched the light .

 

[mcarroll]

I doubt your old lights were the issue....birdsnests can be surprisingly sensitive sometimes.

How long did you have them?

How big were they at the start?

Did they ever get moved or did you ever change the flow in the tank?

 

[Waters]

Unless it is the white lighting for the pic, everything looks pale or bleached? Definitely get some nutrients in there if you do in fact have 0 nitrates and close to 0 phosphates. Lighting aside, that alone will give you problems keeping SPS.

 

[Mr.Rocc]

I think its the nutrient issue that has to deal with the bleaching. I would still set up an photo acclimation period with your lights and start them low and eventually ramp them up to where you need them to be.