uhhhh, is this suposed to happen???

[daclozer]

I just put a new pc 192 watt light on my reef and it went nuts.... I was weak on lighting so I bought this new unit to brightn up the place. From the momeny I turned it on, things started happening. I had bristleworms crawling out in the open, the yellow star polyps pointed their tendrils straight up to the light, and bubbles started releasing from the substrate, rock and my sponges. Lots of bubbles, just floating up out of the gravel to the surface where it formed almost a bubble layer (similar to a bubble nest that a betta would make. The surface is thick ith this bubble matt and it is thick like syrup. I have had many reefs, I even owned a shop for years and have never seen this. I do have a couple of types of Caulerpa, is this what happens when they go sexual??? I have some nice pieces in there that I grew from frags, I don't need a crash now. Anybody have any ideas????

 

[steve-s]

What was the light set up previously to the new 192w PC's. In most cases, there is a dramatic change in the tank with a large increase in wattage.

Cheers
Steve

 

[daclozer]

I am embarrassed to tell you that I only had 60 watts of light before.... I have only softies and they have been doing fine, but I want to try some more challenging corals..

 

[steve-s]

Then what you have described for the most part is quite normal for that type of light upgrade. As far as the caulerpa is concerned, the easiest way of preventing problems there is to prune it regularly. It will only be a problem if left to become to thick and it begins to die back.

I would also suggest shortening the "normal" light routine you had in the past to give the tank time to adjust. 3-4 hrs a day would be fine for the first few days and then slowly increase by ½ hr/day until you get back to a normal routine. That will allow the tank to gradually acclimate to the new light with less issues for the soft corals as well as less instances with nuisance algaes.

Cheers
Steve

 

[alrmc4]

Then what you have described for the most part is quite normal for that type of light upgrade. As far as the caulerpa is concerned, the easiest way of preventing problems there is to prune it regularly. It will only be a problem if left to become to thick and it begins to die back.

I would also suggest shortening the "normal" light routine you had in the past to give the tank time to adjust. 3-4 hrs a day would be fine for the first few days and then slowly increase by ½ hr/day until you get back to a normal routine. That will allow the tank to gradually acclimate to the new light with less issues for the soft corals as well as less instances with nuisance algaes.

Cheers
Steve

wish i had read that before i upgraded my lights to the t5s major hair algae outbreak