Too much light for bubble coral?

[Andy Black]

Hi All,

I have a green bubble coral that doesn't seem to be doing well and I
can't figure out why. I've had it for a couple of months now and it
rarely is fully expanded. It also looks more brown/tan than when I first
got it.

So, I've tried different areas of the tank with regards to high/low flow
and that didn't make a difference. What did seem to make a change was
putting it very low in the tank. This caused it to lose some of the brown
coloration and become more green and it expanded slightly more than usual.

I have two 175 watt 10,000K metal halides and 1 96watt actinic
powercompact over a 75 gallon reef tank.

I find it hard to believe this could be too much light but it seems this
might be the case. Any other suggestions/ideas?

Thanks,

Andy

[Mort]

"Andy Black" > wrote in message
.com...
> Hi All,
>
> I have a green bubble coral that doesn't seem to be doing well and I
> can't figure out why. I've had it for a couple of months now and it
> rarely is fully expanded. It also looks more brown/tan than when I first
> got it.
>
> So, I've tried different areas of the tank with regards to high/low flow
> and that didn't make a difference. What did seem to make a change was
> putting it very low in the tank. This caused it to lose some of the brown
> coloration and become more green and it expanded slightly more than usual.
>
> I have two 175 watt 10,000K metal halides and 1 96watt actinic
> powercompact over a 75 gallon reef tank.
>
> I find it hard to believe this could be too much light but it seems this
> might be the case. Any other suggestions/ideas?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Andy


Andy, all I can offer is that I have been doing GOBS of reading on MH lights
with reguard to having "too much light" and for all intesive purposes, there
is no such thing.
Also, assuming it's a standard 75g you are right there as far as Mfg's
recommendations are concerned.

Ideas....

How old are your bulbs? Maybe it's time to replace them? While your at it,
you could convert you PC to a VHO.

HTH

~Mort

[Andy Black]

Thanks for the reply. I agree. Don't think it is too much light. Just
kind of seems odd that it retracts when the halides come on. The bulbs
are about 9 months old.

Water chemistry is OK. Maybe I need to try a different test kit to
confirm it is OK. But, everything else I have (mostly soft corals) looks
fine.



Mort > wrote:

> "Andy Black" > wrote in message
> .com...
> > Hi All,
> >
> > I have a green bubble coral that doesn't seem to be doing well and I
> > can't figure out why. I've had it for a couple of months now and it
> > rarely is fully expanded. It also looks more brown/tan than when I first
> > got it.
> >
> > So, I've tried different areas of the tank with regards to high/low flow
> > and that didn't make a difference. What did seem to make a change was
> > putting it very low in the tank. This caused it to lose some of the brown
> > coloration and become more green and it expanded slightly more than usual.
> >
> > I have two 175 watt 10,000K metal halides and 1 96watt actinic
> > powercompact over a 75 gallon reef tank.
> >
> > I find it hard to believe this could be too much light but it seems this
> > might be the case. Any other suggestions/ideas?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Andy


> Andy, all I can offer is that I have been doing GOBS of reading on MH lights
> with reguard to having "too much light" and for all intesive purposes, there
> is no such thing.
> Also, assuming it's a standard 75g you are right there as far as Mfg's
> recommendations are concerned.

> Ideas....

> How old are your bulbs? Maybe it's time to replace them? While your at it,
> you could convert you PC to a VHO.

> HTH

> ~Mort

[Marc Levenson]

Andy, I visited a reefer about a month ago, and after his lights went out, the
bubble coral got larger. Maybe you are seeing the same.

Marc


Andy Black wrote:

> Thanks for the reply. I agree. Don't think it is too much light. Just
> kind of seems odd that it retracts when the halides come on. The bulbs
> are about 9 months old.
>
> Water chemistry is OK. Maybe I need to try a different test kit to
> confirm it is OK. But, everything else I have (mostly soft corals) looks
> fine.
>
> Mort > wrote:
>
> > "Andy Black" > wrote in message
> > .com...
> > > Hi All,
> > >
> > > I have a green bubble coral that doesn't seem to be doing well and I
> > > can't figure out why. I've had it for a couple of months now and it
> > > rarely is fully expanded. It also looks more brown/tan than when I first
> > > got it.
> > >
> > > So, I've tried different areas of the tank with regards to high/low flow
> > > and that didn't make a difference. What did seem to make a change was
> > > putting it very low in the tank. This caused it to lose some of the brown
> > > coloration and become more green and it expanded slightly more than usual.
> > >
> > > I have two 175 watt 10,000K metal halides and 1 96watt actinic
> > > powercompact over a 75 gallon reef tank.
> > >
> > > I find it hard to believe this could be too much light but it seems this
> > > might be the case. Any other suggestions/ideas?
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Andy
>
> > Andy, all I can offer is that I have been doing GOBS of reading on MH lights
> > with reguard to having "too much light" and for all intesive purposes, there
> > is no such thing.
> > Also, assuming it's a standard 75g you are right there as far as Mfg's
> > recommendations are concerned.
>
> > Ideas....
>
> > How old are your bulbs? Maybe it's time to replace them? While your at it,
> > you could convert you PC to a VHO.
>
> > HTH
>
> > ~Mort

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[David Young]

I bought a green bubble about a month ago. I have it on the bottom of my 65g
tank. (24" deep) I have 1-175W 10K MH, and 2-Fluoro (1 daylight/1 actinic)
and 1 13W CF on each end. I have the MH on for 9 hours and the rest for 13.
The bubble opens up some when the first bank of lights come on. Opens up
further when the MH comes on then starts to close down in the evening. After
the MH turns off he open up a little more again until lights out. I am going
to try cutting my time on the MH 1/2 hour to see if he stays open longer.
The LFS told me to make sure I supplement with iodine because low iodine
caused the bubble serious problems.
David Young

"Andy Black" > wrote in message
.com...
> Hi All,
>
> I have a green bubble coral that doesn't seem to be doing well and I
> can't figure out why. I've had it for a couple of months now and it
> rarely is fully expanded. It also looks more brown/tan than when I first
> got it.
>
> So, I've tried different areas of the tank with regards to high/low flow
> and that didn't make a difference. What did seem to make a change was
> putting it very low in the tank. This caused it to lose some of the brown
> coloration and become more green and it expanded slightly more than usual.
>
> I have two 175 watt 10,000K metal halides and 1 96watt actinic
> powercompact over a 75 gallon reef tank.
>
> I find it hard to believe this could be too much light but it seems this
> might be the case. Any other suggestions/ideas?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Andy