[rlcline76]

I think my UV sterilizer has caused one of my corals to bleach. Fart. Hopefully I can bring it back with a little TLC and hope that nothing too stupid happens while I am on vacation. The sterilizer is turned off. Anyone with experience with these sort of things????

[glampka]

Becky, Don't think the UV sterilizer would cause the coral to bleach unless exposed directly to the light. It sterilizes by zapping everything with high intensity light. I was reading on another forum where a guy burned the back of his retina by looking at the bulb for about 15 seconds. Might want to dig a bit further into the cause of the bleaching.

Gary

[rlcline76]

I thought I responded to this, maybe not...maybe I need more coffee. I lost a post somewhere!
I am guessing that it is a lighting problem. It was doing well before I had to chase down my sick firefish. Messed up my perfect rock formation and the shade it was providing. This coral is not a big fan of light.

[wreckdiver]

It is entirely possible to have a coral bleach after adding a UV Sterilizer. It is not the sterilizer that really causes this, it is more that the corals are getting blasted with the light now. The UV polishes the water, and therefore, even though it may not look different to you and me, the light is able to penetrate the water much easier and the corals get blasted with an amount of light that they did not have before. I lost 2 colonies when I added my 40W UV on my 90 Gal mostly SPS reef tank, and my xenia took about a week before they would start opening up fully again. No several months later everything is loving life. You can see the latest pictures of my setup here: ninemonths

[emccullough1]

Michael You need to put your tank in the tank of the month. It is fantastic. Hands down the best I have seen.