Corals browning out, Hamilitons to blame?

liquidfunk · 08-03-2005, 09:42 AM

Im getting some brown out on all my green corals. My oranage and blue still look great, but slimer, monti cap, milli, danae etc that are green are all browning out.

Are my 14/15 (forget) hamiltons to blame? they are 400w....

I guess Im BACK on the bulb hunt, still thinking Ill never be happy with the color of most.

I love the color of the hamilitons, and thought I was set with a perfect bulb, but now Im wondering. I dont know if its because they are a few months old now not brand new or what, but things have only been changing in the last month or so.

Any recommendations for NON yellow halides?

rude944 · 08-03-2005, 10:11 AM

James, didn't you experience something similar with your Hammies?

liquidfunk · 08-03-2005, 10:16 AM

ive heard 250w's cause brown out, but I havent heard it being an issue with 400s I think james had his issue with 250's.

Sounds like maybe its both.....

Illusion · 08-03-2005, 10:40 AM

Yeah I had an Issue with the 250w hamiltons... Not with the 400s.. I have never heard of the 400s causing issues...

If browning I would tend to look at water quality... Excess Nutrients, Excess po4, such like that... It could be the light as well... But honestly all this light changing probably isnt helping much either...

Anything recently change? Running Ozone? The increased clarity has been said by numerous people to brown corals... Look at what has happened in the last month or 2 and see if any of these things have affected the water any.. Remember corals dont like change..

James

Ps if your looking for the best 14k ish bulb the only thing your going to find is Aquaconnect at about 150.00 per bulb... Again Travis runs 14k Hamiltons on his tank with no issues so I would really look away from the bulb... Also if your bulbs are Magnetic changing the Capacitors in them Really helps... I had a yellow ushio bulb and it was due to a bad Cap... Everything is as white as white can be pics to prove LOL..

liquidfunk · 08-03-2005, 12:40 PM

Only thing that has changed is recently I have actually been keeping the PH above 8.0 during the night. The only change in chemistry is the PH issues. My alk was too low and I have brought it back up to 8-10dKH and now PH is holding more steady.

Ill double check PO4, but I did check it about 2 weeks ago and it was undetectable. I am running phosban, maybe Ill replace it.

I havent changed anything on the lights since I bought the hamiltons like 4-5 months ago, so Im not sure why you say all the light changes.

I have not yet replaced the ozone unit. so it hasnt been running at all.

Which tank does travis run 14k hammies?

liquidfunk · 08-03-2005, 12:44 PM

I did replace the whole ballast and capacitor about a year ago, It was only one side not both, I cant see a difference between the two sides now, so I doubt that is the issue....

Ill retest water tomorrow, and take some photos to see if anyone has any insight.

Illusion · 08-03-2005, 12:45 PM

Travis runs 400w Hamiltons 14ks on both tanks however the Cube has a few 20k Radiums mixed in with it.... I believe the 224g tank is 4 hamilton 14ks on it...

I could be the slight change in chemistry.. As for the Phosban I am Anti-phosban/rowa now... Its killed too many corals in my tank... They could also be Adjusting to the light as well... Are your ballasts Standard magnetic ballasts? It could be the Caps going bad if they are pretty old...

James

liquidfunk · 08-03-2005, 01:31 PM

ya its standard magnetic, like I said one of the capacitors is only like a year old, what are you calling "old"?

I know your anti phosban, but I added very little at a time, thus not to strip everything quickly. Im running the full amount now, but did it in 1/3 dose increments.

I did put in some of that chem clear or something like that stuff after my intercepter treatment a few weeks back. Its that stuff you have talked about in the past that absorbs lots of stuff. Cant think of the name....

Illusion · 08-03-2005, 01:34 PM

probably older than that lol... Its more than likely not something with the bulbs but something to do with the water... You can give hamilton a call and see that they think... Hamilton is great people... If they think the bulbs are bad they will likely prorate them and replace emm... But who knows... I personally dont think its the bulbs.. Is the brown happening under the XM side? that would be the one I would be Sceptical about since the XM is a new bulb to the market..

James

liquidfunk · 08-03-2005, 02:00 PM

I took the XM bulb out after about a month. Im running hammies on both sides now. I could put it back in, but I wouldnt be suprised if they were the same manufacture

Loverotties · 08-03-2005, 04:40 PM

How old are the bulbs?And how far away from the water?

reefcam · 08-03-2005, 05:21 PM

Joel,

What is a few months? 6 months? I ran the 14000K hammies on my prop tank and had good results for the first 6 months then started to see my corals color changing. I did run the 14000K on 430W ballast, so I can see that happening.

Also, many bulb manufacturers who are reef savvy will say to change the bulbs out every 6 months. Yes, I have read all the reports saying the bulbs are good for a year before the spectrum changes. I'll probably be switching my bulbs every 9 months now to keep the color of my corals.

rude944 · 08-03-2005, 05:50 PM

Actually now that I think about it, I got a little brown in the acroporas after my temp surged to around 90 degrees for a few hours while I was at work. I have a chiller now...

liquidfunk · 08-03-2005, 06:16 PM

ya my chiller is consistant,,, Jim, Ill have to check my email for the date of purchase,,, I dont remember an am bad about keeping records.....

Ill take some photos tomorrow, maybe somebody will have more insight after looking at some images.

Thanks for the help guys, its pretty frustrating...

ron popeil · 08-03-2005, 06:16 PM

i have the hamilton 20k 400w. within the last month or so ive noticed a spectrum change. ive been running these bulbs since december i believe. theyre not alot less blue and much more....yellowish. and id like to blame some sudden coral RTNs on the change as well. but as of now, im not too satisfied with the hamiltons.