Bleaching From Base Up

[billybloo]

Hello Fellow Reefers,

Recently I have begun adding a few SPS colonies to my tank. This tank is only a 50 gallon cube. It has an 18 inch Acan LED ficture above it. The colonies I have added are: Pink Stylopora, a Pink Serri (or Birdnest), and a yellow Acropora Efflo. The tank also has about 70Lbs of Live Rock with a Reef Octopus Skimmer, a 15 watt Aqua UV. Recently the bases of all three corals have begun to lose color, so im guessing its my water. I do weekly water changes taking about 5 gallons out. I have a pair of percs, an argi angel, and a venustus angel in there, as well.

My water is as follows:
Ca: 475 (I know this is high)
Mg: 1300
Kh: 7 (I Know this is low)
Salinity: 1.021
NO3: 5

I also feed 4ml of Red Sea Reef Energy A, and 4ml or Red Sea Reef Energy B each day. As well as 0.1ml of Vodka each day to keep No3 and Phosphate low.

The colonies are not dying compltetly as the top of the stylo is growing well. However my acropora efflo has not been opening

My question to you is: Could the bleaching be as a result of a low KH and a high calcium?
Any suggestions, would be welcomed.

Thanks in Advance,
Billybloo

 

[reefereef]

your salinity looks low, i would fix that first. alk of 7 isnt all that low, i run around 8.5
i have a poccilopora that is doing the same thing, i just dimmed my white leds by 15% to see if that helps as once the white lights starts their ramp down i get good PE from the pocci.

 

[neoalchemist74]

what kind of flow do you have?

 

[Spek]

wondering whats up with this as well I have a birdsnest doing the same

 

[reefereef]

i run 4 hydor magnum 8's in my 200g tank.

 

[Nami_Dori]

Ca is fine
Mag is fine
Alk is a bit low, but if it doesn't drop below that, it's ok.
Specific gravity is a bit low, slowly bump it up to about 1.025. .021 is cool for fish.
NO3 is eh, I don't test it.
What's your temp?

As for your Acan light, that thing is crazy. How high up do you have it hanging? What percentage is it set for? I wouldn't run it over 35% That thing puts out crazy PAR.

 

[Bigcefa]

i know this probly isnt the problem but do you have issues with those angels nipping at the corals? also make sure you inspect the corals for redbugs aefw just to be safe when adding sps

 

[Melchior]

If it was really a light issue wouldn't they be bleaching from the top down instead of from the bottom up? That's been my experience, anyway.

 

[mos90]

u really dont need to be feeding your corals reef energy with your no3 at 5ppm. redsea recommends no3 at .25 and phos at .02. bleaching from the base up can be a sign of underfeeding but i dont think thats the case with your system. my types of stress can cause this.

i would definately raise your salt to 1.025 slowly.
instead of vodka dosing why not try the redsea n03/po4/x much easier to use.
8dkh usually works out well for a ulns. u can go higher if your looking for better growth.

 

[jc-reef]

I have a similar issue with my Pocci colony....bleaching from bottom up. I also think it has to do with lack of flow....and maybe even lack of light as the colony grows and the lower branches/base are blocked by the new growth from the lights. My corals have grown really large over the past 8 months or so an it seems there are more dead spots. I think I will be investing in some vortecs so I can help with that issue.

 

[mos90]

too much light can cause bleaching at the tips and fading from my experience. not enough flow can cause many issues. from what ive read it seems flow is more important then light. as long as minimum par is met of course.

ive seen better results with most of my sps corals with less light and more flow.

 

[chrishayes]

too much light can cause bleaching at the tips and fading from my experience. Not enough flow can cause many issues. From what ive read it seems flow is more important then light. As long as minimum par is met of course.

Ive seen better results with most of my sps corals with less light and more flow.

+1