how quickly should coral recover from light shock

[scubacane]

I have monti cap that is fairly high up in my nanotank, about 6 inches from surface. It has been doing well there growing 8 x its original size and up the glass of the tank. Recently I adjusted my powerheads as they were causing alot of surface agitation and salt creep to form on my overhead lighting- that wasnt a good idea as apparently the shimmer that the powerheads was causing on the surface was enough to decrease my MH intensity so that my monti adjusted nicely.In short order without the shimmer my monti faded diffusely. It still has color throughout and I still see tiny polyps. The areas that were more shaded have better color . Since then I have lowered my MH photoperiod from 7 to 4.5 hours and adjusted my powerheads back. I am hopeful it can make it. I cant move the coral- It's to big. Any thoughts on whether it can recover and in what kind of time frame? enclosed are a pic of coral taken about one month ago ( monti is in L upper corner) and a closeup taken this past weekend

 

[little_fish]

I have no suggestions, but your tank looks awesome.

But i also see no reason why it shouldnt recover.

 

[dcantucson]

That tank looks great. I don't have any suggestions either, except to say to get a bigger tank! You need some room to spread out!

 

[Brian_G]

I dont see why it wouldnt recover.
check your alkalinity. that has an effect on monti color especially when it gets high

 

[BryanS]

Wow your tank looks good. Sorry I have no suggestions either, but I like how it is growing up you glass. I hope it recovers

 

[Hiker4twenty]

To me it looks like it will recover just fine. It still has tons of active growth tissue except for a few spots. Keep the levels stable an should be ok. Great job on the tank as well.

 

[scubacane]

thanks for all the positive comments- I am starting a 14 gallon biocube with LED lighting to take some of the load off my current tank

 

[scubacane]

update on my fading coral- by changing the flow of my outflow pumps to provide more surface shimmer and decreasing my MH photo period from 7 to 5.5 hours my monti cap has colored up very orange again. It always amazes me how resilant corals are

 

[sen5241b]

Corals generally recover slowly but they grow fast when you feed them a lot.

 

[BL1]

Most corals even SPS can be pretty hardy. In the wild, lots of corals can spend several hours exposed to air and sunlight during the low tides and yet they thrive in those areas.