Too Much Lighting?

[Fielder0024]

Hi all,

Ive had my JBJ 24 gallon nanocube up and running for about 13 months. About 5 months ago, I switched from the standard pc lighting to the Nova Extreme Pro T-5 setup with the 6 18 watt bulbs. I am running 2 daylight bulbs, 3 blue (460 nm) actinic and 1 purple (420 nm) actinic. One thing ive noticed is that I have no luck keeping acans. I know they require low lighting but I keep them in the sandbed and they still get bleached out and die. I currently have a Crocea clam and 2 duncans in my sandbed which are doing very well, which leads to to believe that the problem isnt lack of lighting but possibly too much of it. Has anyone experienced anything similar to this?

also, I know it'll come up eventually so my tank parameters are as follows:
Salinity-1.025
Ph-8.4
Ammonia- 0
Nitrate- .2
Nitrite- 0
Calcium- 450 (used api testing kit so not sure how accurate this is. I dose liquid calcium about every 2-3 days depending on how the clam and lps look)

Here's a pic of the clam. Hope it keeps up like this

Also, here's a link to a video i made of the tank since it was first started last April. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJQOkxU1NBY

 

[Donewiththisplace]

Yep same problem here....not with acans but zoas.
Upgraded to the NEP 6x18w and most of my coral took a c**p.

I cut the light cycle back a few hours and they are slowly starting to come back to life. They bleached out but are getting their color back. How much are you running the lights for? How much were you running the stock lighting for?

 

[Fielder0024]

Yep same problem here....not with acans but zoas.
Upgraded to the NEP 6x18w and most of my coral took a c**p.

I cut the light cycle back a few hours and they are slowly starting to come back to life. They bleached out but are getting their color back. How much are you running the lights for? How much were you running the stock lighting for?

Im running the lights the same amount of time as when i was using pc's but i added the extra 2 hour dawn and 3 hour dusk effects with the moonlights. Light schedule is as follows: 7-9 actinics, 9-7 daylights and actinics, and 7-10 Actinics. Could this be too much light? Acans are really the only things im having problems with. My friend and I compare our tanks often and one thing i notice is he has much faster growth with his duncans but my zoas are much more colorful and quicker to spread than his. I dont know if this has to do with lighting or maybe his water parameters.

 

[Fielder0024]

bump

 

[dherrera83]

Try running the daylight and actinics for 5hours. Sounds like you run ur lights too long. I start mine at 5pm with actinics the at 6 the daylights come on till 11pm then just the actinics till 12. And finally my lunar lights come one for one hour... That's it.... Sounds like ur running urs from 7am to 10pm....

 

[Fielder0024]

Try running the daylight and actinics for 5hours. Sounds like you run ur lights too long. I start mine at 5pm with actinics the at 6 the daylights come on till 11pm then just the actinics till 12. And finally my lunar lights come one for one hour... That's it.... Sounds like ur running urs from 7am to 10pm....

I did not know that corals could suffer from excessive photoperiods. I thought it only promotes algae growth. Im gonna try to cut the hours down slowly to try and avoid shocking the system

 

[dherrera83]

Ur prob getting alot of heat issues too... But yes too much light isn't good.

 

[Fielder0024]

Ur prob getting alot of heat issues too... But yes too much light isn't good.

Ive actually been able to keep the tank temp between 75-80. Im shocked especially since its summer lol

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

75-80 is a big swing it should def NOT be getting as low as 75. It's should be no lower than 78. That large temp swing is also effecting your corals.

 

[kalapnath]

Maybe you can try tucking the acans into one of the coves so it doesn't get the direct lighting that it's getting right now and cut down your daylight to 7 to 8 hrs. The lowest your tank should get is 78 to 79 degrees...........................

 

[FaviaFreak]

I have 24g nano with 4x 24 watt tek fixture and I just run two bulbs, I don't bother running all 4 because it's too much light

 

[Fielder0024]

Maybe you can try tucking the acans into one of the coves so it doesn't get the direct lighting that it's getting right now and cut down your daylight to 7 to 8 hrs. The lowest your tank should get is 78 to 79 degrees...........................

I just moved them to the back of the tank under a slight overhang. Im hoping for the best. Also, Temp has been constant at 78 for a week so far. Im going to monitor it and make sure it doesnt spike