Bleaching..

I think my lights are bleaching the coral i'm putting in. I've put in a few frags and such and within probably the first week they start to lose color despite perfect water conditions and even a 4 hour acclimation... I have the 250w over the 40 breeder and it is about i'd say... 16" off the top of the water with a glass( i know, i know...) cover on the tank with about 4" at the back of the tank with open water... the frags are being put relatively low in the tank.. i'd say 4-8" off the bottom... Think this is the case?

 

are you doing the acclimation with the lights off?

 

Well they acclimate outside the tank in the bag with a drip line going into the bag at a very slow rate. Maybe doubles the water every 1.5 hours. Once i add them the lights go out until the next day.
Evan.

 

Could be a heat issue with M/H light bulbs and any covering at all. Also what type corals are you having a problem with ?

 

Well my kenya tree is more of a pinky-white color instead of the more pink color it was when i added it.. since i added the rock, some corals died, but the acro and bird's nest i added didn't do so great, but the frags didn't look that great to begin with.. if i bought a full coral instead of frags would i have more success?

 

i think you should light-acclimate your corals as well, they are probably not used to being under such strong lighting.

 

+1 you should acclimate them to the light as well as the water. start them off on bottom of tank

 

you don't have a extremely high amount of lighting 5wpg. i wouldn't think about getting a different set up. just try reprosition your corals in the tank.

 

whoops! i thought he said 2 250's. oh well ;D

 

How long is your photo period? Also, you said since you added the rock some corals have died, is this tank cycled and the rock fully cured? Is your kenya tree the standard brown/peach instead of a dyed hot pink?
You also didn't cover the temperature question.