Acropora bleaching help!!! - is there any come back?!

[csantanavaz]

Just had a big order of acropora in. All are absolutely fine except for my red colony. 2 days ago they were fine under the lights. Went away for one night and have come back to this. Is there any saving of this?! I can't believe how quick it's happened.

2 radions. 70% intensity and acclimatising over 5 weeks starting at 30% so I can't believe they've bleached?!?

0 nitrate 0 phosphate 1.026 9 dkh 475 calcium and 1400 mg. so I can't understand why?! Especially when no others are remotely de coloured?!

Before

After

Do I need to get it out?! Or can I leave it in there?

Thanks a lot!

 

[domvert]

have a green acropora in my tank that totally bleached but months later I actually saw the base growing and now it is 90% covered back the skeleton that was bleached- After I saw this I told myself not to discard bleached corals so quickly

 

[csantanavaz]

have a green acropora in my tank that totally bleached but months later I actually saw the base growing and now it is 90% covered back the skeleton that was bleached- After I saw this I told myself not to discard bleached corals so quickly

So you reckon I should leave it there? Or shall I chuck it in my sump and hope for the best...? So frustrated as it's the only one remotely bleached! Lights down to 15% and max intensity of 40% now!

 

[Logzor]

Bad news, but based on the picture I'm looking at, that coral isn't bleached, it's dead and all the flesh has peeled off and all the polyps have evacuated the skeleton. I would remove it from the system, unless you still see live polyps in the coral.

Unfortunately this happens to SPS corals from time to time. It can be incredibly frustrating.

Often the cause is too much light, too high or low alkalinity, or something nearby has stung/infected/irritated the coral.

 

[csantanavaz]

Bad news, but based on the picture I'm looking at, that coral isn't bleached, it's dead and all the flesh has peeled off and all the polyps have evacuated the skeleton. I would remove it from the system, unless you still see live polyps in the coral.

Unfortunately this happens to SPS corals from time to time. It can be incredibly frustrating.

Often the cause is too much light, too high or low alkalinity, or something nearby has stung/infected/irritated the coral.

Can't see anything in the coral at all tbh. I think I might give it until Sunday to make a miraculous comeback. There are tiny bits of red still left at the very back of it. So annoying as I made such an effort planning with the lights. Clearly I didn't turn them down enough live and learn I guess.

Got them down to tiny amounts now so hopefully won't happen again!

Thanks for the advice. Thing I can't believe is how 35% light would have killed it off this quick. It's crazy!

 

[Logzor]

Sometimes it is also just bad luck.

 

[reefmutt]

Bad news, but based on the picture I'm looking at, that coral isn't bleached, it's dead and all the flesh has peeled off and all the polyps have evacuated the skeleton. I would remove it from the system, unless you still see live polyps in the coral.

Unfortunately this happens to SPS corals from time to time. It can be incredibly frustrating.

Often the cause is too much light, too high or low alkalinity, or something nearby has stung/infected/irritated the coral.

Sometimes it is also just bad luck.

Couldn't have said it better myself.
Some may say that your alk is on the high side for a tank with 0 n and p....

 

[Icefire]

couldn't have said it better myself.
Some may say that your alk is on the high side for a tank with 0 n and p....

+1

 

[csantanavaz]

Acropora bleaching help!!! - is there any come back?!

Fair enough. If I see any change in the others I'll look into reducing that. Main reason I'd thought no issues on the whole on my front was cause everything else (apart from an unextended torch coral) is absolutely fine!
Thanks again all!

 

[reefmutt]

Acros seem to live in their own world. When it comes to acros, you can only compare apples to apples.
Not even other sps like montis or stylos can really be used as a barometer for acro health..
They are a very particular creature, I find..

 

[twon8]

It's a goner but not due to light

 

[macdaddynick1]

Ok this is easy. Let me solve your problem. This coral is dead it RTNd. There is a reason acros die. The reason your acro died because it starved. Here's how I know that ... , your torch is also starving it will dies very slowly. You want to fix the issue. 2 steps , turn off your skimmer if you have one . Go to the store and buy a bottle of coral restore its aminoacids,(most people won't benefit from this but your tank is starving so you'll see the difference in a few days) and dose your tank . Don't overdose it , but don't be shy, you'll see the algae on your glass . It's not a big deal just clean it If you have frozen misys * shrimp feed twice as much as you normally do, every 3rd day , until you see some nitrates.

 

[malira]

You definitely need nitrates. I've been where you are. Feeding, feeding and feeding some more getting my nitrates up to 3/4 ppm has done wonders for my tank.

 

[oscarreef]

So basically what he have here is a 2 clean of a tank? How exactly do we know this is would like to prevent this issue. Incase it happens and would like to know the signs of this.

 

[macdaddynick1]

This happens to me because I wash my fish food and I carbon dose + I don't feed too much. I then feed my corals with aminos, zooplankton. But other people just feed the fish properly, and get the same results.

 

[csantanavaz]

Ok this is easy. Let me solve your problem. This coral is dead it RTNd. There is a reason acros die. The reason your acro died because it starved. Here's how I know that ... , your torch is also starving it will dies very slowly. You want to fix the issue. 2 steps , turn off your skimmer if you have one . Go to the store and buy a bottle of coral restore its aminoacids,(most people won't benefit from this but your tank is starving so you'll see the difference in a few days) and dose your tank . Don't overdose it , but don't be shy, you'll see the algae on your glass . It's not a big deal just clean it If you have frozen misys * shrimp feed twice as much as you normally do, every 3rd day , until you see some nitrates.

Thank you! I currently dose 5ml of acro power (amino acids) every 2 days and also target feed each coral with 10 drops of reef nutrition phytofeast mixed in with a cube of either lobster eggs or frozen Rotifers.

For the fish I feed crushed flakes and a cube of either mysis krill or brineshrimp.

I had only had the coral for 1 day which is why I thought it was the lighting. Starving - it was shipped to me so perhaps that's when it starved?

A bit nervous about raising nitrates as I've always aimed for 0 there.... I run biopellets skimmer.. You reckon to turn these off?! Or just feed outrageous amounts into the tank? Also how will I control these when they get to 3?!

I have a feeling when I turn my skimmer and pellets back on they'll go straight away to 0 again!

I never thought I'd have a problem of too good water quality....

 

[csantanavaz]

For what it's worth. I contacted the company I bought all the corals from, and they mentioned that acros are very fussy and gave me a full refund on the basis that it couldn't have been lighting this quickly as all of you said.. Good of them! Was a £25 frag too!

 

[macdaddynick1]

Yup then that could be the fragging issue, but it could've also been a shock from shipment or it came from high nitrates tank into 0 . I also carbon dose and 0 nitrates is not a good number especially for the wild colonies. I've lost so many before I realized that acros need to eat, now I can actually see them grow daily.