Raise your lightbulb to about twelve to sixteen inches. Some of these corals take months to get use to lights. All my new
sps corals get put about 20-25 inches below the halides. Slowly over months I move them up. Some start out under 400 watt 20k radiums then I move them under the megachromes. They will adjust. I would have to say that most of my sps corals sit a foot or more under the surface and my pendants are about a foot above the water. Most of our systems are lit for 8-9 hours also. They also have a light spread of about three feet where I can grow any sps in the shop under.
I also have a few corals sitting 38" below a 250 hqi in my blasto tank. But they are lps corals and ricordia mushrooms. And they are doing awesome.
We use a mixture of 250 hqi, 400 hqi, 150 hqi and 250 standard as well as T-5 systems. I will say the 10k-13k 250 hqi's are very intense and are not for every tank. In my opinion a tank of 20" or less can be lit with 150 hqi's very effectivly. I have them on a 180 and on a 125 gallon acro tank with no problems. But the 250 hqi's are my favorite. Give it some more time.
These are only my opinions as every tank is different.
