My corals are bleaching

[reefcrazy00246]

Hi, like i said in the heading, my corals seem to be getting really lightly colored these days. my xenia is getting lighter in color, as is my galaxea, green hammer, etc. Now, I have an idea as to what may be happening. I have 55W power compacts, there are 8 of them over my 90 gallon tank. I'm thinking that the bulbs are well over 6 months old, some maybe even 8 months for all i can remember, could these old lights be causing the corals to lose their color like this?? or not. I was just curious, as to if this could be the problem, or if i need to be doing something differently in another aspect. I am ordering new bulbs right now and will hopefully have them by the end of next week. Oh, the bulbs are all 10,000k, except for 2 of them, which are ultra actinic.(if that helps)

Thanks

[Aaron1100us]

It could be old bulbs. What are your water parameters? Have you done anything different or added anything lately?

[HOC]

Didn't use a diff salt brand by chance did you?

[lllosingit]

I think the problem is you just don't have the right type of lighting for the depth of the tank.
If your 90 is like mine then it's 30" deep?
55 watt power compacts even if you had 20 of them are just not enough, they just don't have the intensity needed for the depth of the tank.

[reefcrazy00246]

Yes, I now know that 55W bulbs are not as powerful as what I should have for a 90. But, when I set it up I was told that those were what I needed. So, now i got about $400 worth of 55W PC equipment. I have been thinking about going with MH, but not sure yet. I have had this tank going for a little over a year now, and have just now started to have this problem. Could it be a combination of unefficient power, AND age of the bulbs that is my problem?? Basically, I am wanting to know if this is a possibility to my prob. I will most likely wait to get my new bulbs and then if nothing improves, then I will look to other solutions.

BTW, lllosingit, what do you have for lights on your 90 gal.??


Thanks for your help
Jason

[lllosingit]

My 90 gallon is actually used as a sump/refuge/prop tank

On the side that I use as a prop tank I have a single 175 watt pendant the other side is used for macro algae so it only needs minimal light I use. 4x40watt NO's.

I have a 125 that has 3x175 watt halides with 2x95 watt VHO actinics on it and it does a fair job, not great, but good enough for what I keep.
If I had it to do all over again I would have went with 3x250's.

Power compacts should be good for a year or more before needing replaced but may lose a little intensity over time and that could possibly cause what your experiencing.
How long do you keep the lights on? You might try keeping them on a little longer and see if that helps.

[Reefgeek911]

Have you checked iodine levels? This can cause such reactions...certain corals can lose coloration and even wither (xenia) due to lack of or and extreme amount of iodine....

hth

[reefcrazy00246]

Well, yeah I noticed in the last few days, and tonight i was looking back on old pictures, and i think my xenia colony is prolly half the size of what it used to be, and I didn't cut anything off either. I do dose iodine, not regularly though. Maybe I overdosed one time or another in the last month. I have a tester, but its a big time pain in the rear, so i don't use it as much as i do my other tests. I'll check on that.

Thanks for the ideas!