Red Open Brain Bleaching

[Dcash88]

Hello I thought my red open brain (trachyphyllia) got stung by an anemone but it turns out it is bleaching, presumably from the light.

Parameters; 80 degrees, 8.3ph, 1.026 sg, 0ppm nitrates, 0.04ppm phosphates, 420mg/L calcium, 10dKH, 1300 magnesium.

I have 2 x 150 watt 14000k metal halide on my 40 gallon breeder.

The coral started on the sandbed in the middle of the tank in direct light, it started to bleach so I put it partially under a ledge. It continued to bleach so I put it completely under a ledge. It continued to bleach so I put it in a cave. Then I read that it is not good to have it in absolutely no light so I now have it in the very front corner of the tank with 2 window screens over it.

It started with a little white around one edge and has moved to the entire red area starting to turn white. The center stays green and does not appear to be bleaching. At night I still get a feeding response and it seems to eat whatever I give it.

Nothing seems to make it better, what can I do?

How often can I give it a iodine dip as it always looks the best right after one?

Thanks in advance for any help

[Dcash88]

still getting worse, considering moving to a tank with T5 lighting

[chrisfont23]

My vote would be (way too much) light. I had my open brain under LEDs and they torched it. LPS don't need a ton of light in general.

[Dcash88]

I called the LFS I got it from and they said they had that tank under a Kessil A350. After hanging up I realized that doesn't really help much because they are dimmable.

Last night I moved it to my T5 tank, fed it, and put the 2 window screens over it. This morning it looks all puffed up and bubbly as if it were sun burnt. My T5 tank still has a good amount of light but maybe it will prefer it over MH. This tank has 4x39w (2 ATI Aquanlue & 2 ATI Blue Plus) , with a IceCap 660 ballast.

How often can you Iodine dip a coral? Daily?

How long would it take to start coloring up if I move it to an appropriate amount of light?

How much lighting would you recommend for a 40 gallon breeder that I intend to be mainly LPS?

Thank you

[Dcash88]

I called the LFS I got it from and they said they had that tank under a Kessil A350. After hanging up I realized that doesn't really help much because they are dimmable.

Last night I moved it to my T5 tank, fed it, and put the 2 window screens over it. This morning it looks all puffed up and bubbly as if it were sun burnt. My T5 tank still has a good amount of light but maybe it will prefer it over MH. This tank has 4x39w (2 ATI Aquanlue & 2 ATI Blue Plus) , with a IceCap 660 ballast.

How often can you Iodine dip a coral? Daily?

How long would it take to start coloring up if I move it to an appropriate amount of light?

How much lighting would you recommend for a 40 gallon breeder that I intend to be mainly LPS?

Thank you

[Dcash88]

Update: I ended up putting the coral in my other tank with the T5 setup. It immediately stopped getting worse, I had it in the corner and under 2 window screens and the lights were only on for 4 hours a day. I have slowly gotten to 8 hours a day and no window screens but it is still in the corner and not under direct light.

Once it stopped turning white and started turning red again I noticed it was getting really dull which I understand is from too little light. So it got better and better the more light I gave it and now it is starting to get brighter again.

I dont really get it because this tank is only a 20 gallon long and it is under 4 x 39 watt T5HO and it is powered by a icecap 660 so it is a good amount of light for such a small tank similar to the tank it came from. The main difference is just T5 vs metal halide.

So anybody that is having this problem with bleaching be careful because even though you think you have it in the shade it may still be getting too much light some how, I dont get how but I dont see what else could have been the problem.

Here is a recent pick on its road to recovery.