coral losing photopigment

[ashidiq]

i am running my tank of 2 feet deep of PL lights... erm intensity of light i think shoulg be 6000k or less... what are that possible factors that the coloured photo pigments of my coral faded ? (brain coral )

[DragonGoby]

Kelvins (K) is not a measure of intensity, it's a reference to the output colour. Wattage can be used as a surrogate measure, or PAR is even better. How many watts of PL are you giving the brain?

[ashidiq]

i tink thzt pl is rated 34w

[blueheaven]

If you are using 6500k lights, the colours are most likely to be washed out as the fluorescent protein will be most "active" in the 450nm wavelength

In short, the more of that wavelength you provide, the more they fluorence.

[ashidiq]

so it means that my light wave length is too low ?

[DragonGoby]

It would help if you could post a pic. Is the loss of pigment making the coral turn whitish? Or is it becoming brown instead? If it's the former bleaching sort of depigmentation, then you might need more light. Try placing the brain higher up on the rockwork.