Quote:
Originally posted by redFishblue
Proper acclimation to lighting definitely is prudent advise.
Do you think it is 10k lighting in particular that is harmful (a 175w 10k lighting is worse than a 400w 20k for example) or just bright light in general? I had thought of it being lighting also but I have seen elegances melt under very blue vhos at a good LFS, and a friend has an indo one that is growing under his 400w 10k with actinics.
Either way, it was very interesting.
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This is the problem. Finding the correct lighting. I believe that there is a limit to the depth at witch an elegance can live. I also believe we are harvisting them very near this maximum depth. There seems to be a very slim margin for error when decreasing light. The slightest drop in light will cause them to bleach. This is why I have 2 bleached corals. You have a little more wiggle room when increasing light from this point. The aquarium my corals are in now has light that looks slightly blueish. Not the crisp white light of the 10K and lower bulbs. I am running a 250W 14000K MH and actinic lighting. This seems to be working best. I believe that to muck light of any kind can be bad for these corals. If your lfs was running these vho's close the these corals they would glow like neon signs and look cool, but I don't believe this is the natural lighting they come from so I would not be shocked that they melted. I think the key is to try and mimic the light that they came from. Not an easy job I know. The indo elegance may have been collected in shallower water. I kept a shallow water elegance under 250w 5500K MH and it out grew a standard 55gl aquarium. I have heard that the Australian Elegances don't have the problem like the rest seem to. They don't need to dive to great depths to find them there.
Thanks for taking the time to read it and I'm glad you found it interesting.