Melting Paly's

[cstires]

My LFS uses only 20K XM bulbs. I've recently purchased a frag of RPE, and some other Paly's. I placed them on the very bottom of my tank which is lit by 2 250w 10K's MH's. They looked great for a few days, but then started to melt away.

Could the light be the culprit? The other zoo's I bought during the same time weren't affected at all, only the paly's which have now all disappeared...

Any suggestions/comments are welcome.

Thanks!

[edwing206]

Isn't 10k more intense than 20k? It could be the light.

[Canarygirl]

I had the same problem with my paly colony (melting). It started in a tank with 190 watts of PC, continued unabated after I moved it under 2 MH 175 watt, 15K....no other corals were affected.

[ct_vol]

You might try moving it under an overhang or in a shady area... If lighting is the culprit, that should remedy your situation...

I know my LFS runs 250w 20K bulbs, but they're moguls... I run 250w 14k double end bulbs and they're a LOT more intense than are the LFS bulbs... You should either shade them with a screen on top, or make use of a shady area, if placing them on the bottom is insufficient...

[geoxman]

how many watt's is your LFS running on their tank? Some run 400 and 1000 if that is the case then I doubt your 250 10k would be the problem. good luck

[cstires]

There running 250w XM's.

If lighting isn't the problem, then what else could be that would only affect the Paly's?

[Stinkyfish1]

I would guess the light would be the problem. That is a drastic difference "brightness." My palys seem to do better under 20k and near the bottom of the tank. You could look into what their general native enviorment is.

Are they deep water or shallow? Moving them from 20k to 10k is like taking the Palys from deeper water then moving them to right near the surface, minus the KH difference.

[650-IS350]

Have you compared water quality with your tank and the LFS ?

maybe they run a different Salinity and ph than yours.. which your zoos might not like.... some run at 1.023- 1.025 and some run 1.025-1.027 and so on...

[cristhiam]

It happened to me too a few years ago, I was able to safe them by fragging the rocks and put the good heads shaded some more flow around to keep them clean from the jelly like stuff on them (I don't have intense lights VHO 6500K) but I placed mine around the middle of the tank at that time, I still have them now 3 years later they should adjust to intense lighting but takes time.