Some help pls pics

I finally got my refugium plumbed and running 10g diy. Well, my tank is pissed at me for some reason. Everything seemed to be doin really well until now. My corals have retracted, and not happy lookin, and Im not sure why. Only thing different is the refugium which has been running for a couple of days now, and I changed to t5 quad lighting a week ago. All my fish and critters seem to be fine. Also, im not sure what the corals are so if you guys wouldnt mind identifying some of them, that would be great. Thanks in advance.

Water param. are
No3=0
amon=0
calc=390ish
ph=8.2

... im a little confused?


my refug

my tank

closed


usually fully extended


about 1/3 extensionhttp://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac321/thirtypac[IMG]

completely closed [IMG]http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac321/thirtypack/602.jpg

about 1/4 extensionhttp://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac321/thirtypack/606.jpg[/IMG]k/607.jpg[/IMG]

 

First pic is of polyps,just brown polyps, third is green stripped mushrooms.

What type of light was on the tank before? they could be reacting to the aboundence of light seeing as these corals dont demand high light.

 

I was using a 150w Mh before I got the new lights.

 

you where using just one 150 watt bulb? is that a 75 gallon tank?

 

No, sorry for lack of info. This tank was inherited from a friend goin thru divorce. He had
a 60g. hex. I took everything he had, and setup a 29g. long I had lyin around. I had to give him his light back once I bought my own. And yes, it was just one 150w Mh.

 

150W MH seems like an over kill for a 29gal. A general rule of thumb is to use between 2 and 4 watts per gallon.
what is the wattage on your quad T5's?
Could you possibly give other readings such as Specific Gravity and Temperature?
Because for those brown polyps and mushroom polyps to be closing up, something has to be wrong in the equation.
T5's could produce some degree of heat, so knowing your temp is very important.

 

Agreed, I thought the Mh was overkill too, and I had to give it back anyway. So now I have them under a brand new t5 quad ho 4x39w.
water temp= 80
sg=1.022

 

Frankly, your new T5's are more of an overkill than the MH but only by 6watts. The advantage here is that the light is more evenly dispersed along the tank rather than in one spot.
How high is your tank?
This works out to be around 5w / gal. Which is good for SPS and Clams but certainly not brown polyps and mushrooms. They both don't like much lighting. But this also depends on the height of your tank. for example, if your tank is 18-24" high then it shouldn't be a problem but if you can, place the shrooms and polyps on the sand bed in a shaded area, they'd do much better IME. Over a period of time under intense lighting, your corals may begin to bleach. Could your new fixture be suspended from the ceiling? If it can, I suggest that you do so. aprox 12 inches above the water surface.
80F temp is good as long as it is kept stable by means of a thermostat. Your SG is fine as well, some may argue that it be bumped up to 1.025 since this is the SG level on the ocean's coral reefs.
HTH

 

I believe the tank dimensions are 36l x 16h x 12w? It is a standard 29g long. Maybe I should change the lighting schedule? It is currently... 3pm to 1am 2-39w actinic, 4pm to 12am 2-39w 12,000k, 1am to 8am moonlights and refugium light, 8am to 3pm, completely dark. I really do appreciate the responses.

 

So, do you guys think its too much light, or the change of lighting? Things were flourishing under the Mh before, and im not positive, but I dont think the T5 is much brighter...is it?