"Sunburned" corallimorphs

[Aquarimax]

I seem to have "sunburned" some corallimorphs / mushroom corals. I have a very low-tech 10 gallon nano tank. There are about 8-10 lbs. live rock, 1 percula clown, several blue legged hermits, and 5 corallimorphs, some chaetomorpha, grape caulerpa, and plenty of live rock critters. I change 10% of the water once per week. I recently purchased a 40 w actinic/ 10,000 K Satellite fixture to replace my old DIY 45 watt (NO flourescents, 1 actinic, 1 10,000 K, 1 6700 K) with tired bulbs. The corallimophs started to pale and shrink down, so I moved them closer to the substrate. They seem to be recovering. Anything I can do to help? I am currently dosing with Seachem reef iodide according to instructions on the container...which I was already doing prior to the sunburning incident.

Thanks!

Aquarimax

[Skurvey Dog]

Hello Aquarimax and welcome to our little corner of the reef! Sorry to hear about your coral bleaching. I think that happens a lot more than people mention. You have done the first thing that I would of done and that is move them lower down in the tank. I would also acclimate my system to the new lighting. Only run it a few hours a day and slowly work up the exposure time. I have also heard of people using eggcrate as it cuts down on some of the light passing through. Give us a while for others to come on and they can advise you more so than me. Just wanted to welcome you!

PS- Also want to caution extreme care with dosing your system for things that you don't test for. :-)

[rayme07]

Hi Aquarimax http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-basic/welcome.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org) to TR. I agree with above. :)

[Aquarimax]

Thanks for the replies and the welcome!
They all seem to be doing better in the dimmer area, and I reduced the photoperiod to about 6 hours. I'll gradually increase it. :)

[CarmieJo]

You can also use layers of window screen to acclimate critters in your tank to the light. The layers can be removed one at a time until the new coral is up to full strength light.

[Aquarimax]

THat's a good idea, too. Thanks!