Too much light, too much flow

Surfandturf · Jul 5, 2016

So I have read a few books, read information on sites like this and have been in the hobby for about 6 years, maybe longer. Often times I see people jump to the conclusion that a coral is not doing well due to too much light, too little light, too much flow, or too little flow.
In the books that I have read soft corals can adjust to just about any condition above. The same can be said about the majority of sps. This is not just me saying this, it is what I have read.
I guess my question for a lot of people on this site is why people are automatically told that these are the issues? Honestly I feel as though improper acclimation technique is one of the major causes of immediate coral loss that we see on this site. There are a few that have posted questions about their corals dying almost immediately after it was introduced to their reef tank.
This is not me trying to flame or start an argument, just trying to start a discussion.

Kershaw · Jul 5, 2016

I agree. That acclimation is probably a big issue. But it can be said that it is because of too much flow or too much light. A lfs near me has there coral under leds that the run at 50%. But what lighting where they under before shipment? So if I buy a sps coral and acclimate for an hour. Water chemistry should b good. But now my coral is stressed becuSe my lighting is brighter then the ones at store or flow is too strong. I could place it up too high or too low. There are allot of factors. I don't know the answer. But I like a high flow tanks. I have never lost a coral that I believed to be associated with my flow

Diesel · Jul 5, 2016

Great point.
Now of course we know that lighting or flow is the least cause of dying corals.
In most cases it's the parameters in the tank that can upset a coral.

Surfandturf · Jul 5, 2016

Kershaw said:
I agree. That acclimation is probably a big issue. But it can be said that it is because of too much flow or too much light. A lfs near me has there coral under leds that the run at 50%. But what lighting where they under before shipment? So if I buy a sps coral and acclimate for an hour. Water chemistry should b good. But now my coral is stressed becuSe my lighting is brighter then the ones at store or flow is too strong. I could place it up too high or too low. There are allot of factors. I don't know the answer. But I like a high flow tanks. I have never lost a coral that I believed to be associated with my flow

Surfandturf · Jul 5, 2016

I think that acclimation for an hour is causing more stress depending on what you mean by acclimation. All I do is float the coral for 10 minutes and then check specific gravity. If it is within .002 of what I run, I place it. I have never lost a coral due to acclimation.

Kershaw · Jul 5, 2016

Surfandturf said:
I think that acclimation for an hour is causing more stress depending on what you mean by acclimation. All I do is float the coral for 10 minutes and then check specific gravity. If it is within .002 of what I run, I place it. I have never lost a coral due to acclimation.

I don't acclimate for an hour either. I was just trying to make a point, that even if you acclimate perfectly what ever that is. That other things can cause stress. I place coral in a round container with fish store water Ina 5 gallon bucket and drip acclimate for about 15-20 min. water over flows into 5 gallon bucket. Then I remove and place in tank. Some times I dont acclimate corals. I rarely lose coral right away. It's normally a slow decline do to nutrients