Bleaching or STN or both

[Zimmy71]

Why are acros so bleeping hard to keep? The past couple of months I have been upgrading equipment so I would be able to keep acros. I upgraded the lighting from a 4 bulb t5 fixture to kessil (2) 360w, apex controller, dosing pumps, and added another tunze. I have added three acros since the frag swap last month and the the past couple of days I have noticed the tips turning white almost burnt. The polyps are still extended where the tips are showing white. I have been keeping a log of salinity/calc/all for the past two weeks and they have been pretty consistent.

Alk - 9.6 to 10.2
Calc - was 500 now over the last week lowered to 430
Salinity - 1.026
Temp - 77-80

Kessil we're running at 70% but lowered yesterday to 50% thinking maybe I'm cooking the corals. The flow I adjusted but it's not direct more of a hit the corals from all angles type. The only thing I can think of is a leather coral I moved from one side of the tank to the other. So are my corals getting fried or could they be this way due to the leather (which I removed yesterday)? Thanks.

 

[Sagz70]

If it's just the tips, I believe I have read that it's actually a sign of them growing out. I may be wrong, maybe one of the more experienced reefers can chime in.

 

[rovster]

A picture would help. Burnt tips look like well, burnt tips. The flesh will look ragged and you'll eventually see some algae on there. Growth tips are just a lighter color. With bleaching the whole coral will go pale.

Any idea what your nitrates and phosphate is? How high are the corals placed? LEDs can be deceptively powerful. You cand judge by what the look like.

Another question is what is the time frame for these events?

SPS are not overly difficult, but they can be tempermental. Keepin them requires a keen eye and a good grasp of what you are doing and trying to do. Good luck.

 

[Zimmy71]

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://s1283.photobucket.com/user/bbovingdon/embed/slideshow/"></iframe>

 

[9r39]

Im wondering if you aclimated the corals to the leds? start with lower light and work your way up to where you want your peak light intensity or lower the corals in tank and slowly move them up to where you like them watching acros to see how they are reacting .

 

[rovster]

That's tissue necrosis, you have some at the base as well. Could be from lights, but more likely from water issues.

 

[Zimmy71]

That's tissue necrosis, you have some at the base as well. Could be from lights, but more likely from water issues.

Is there anything that can be done? Do you think it could be from the leather? Should I leave them alone and will they come back or is it over?

 

[ERivera65]

I've been going through the same, two of my acros started to stn and it was my fault, i noticed my alkalinity was higher. Acros are sensitive to swings whether temp or alkalinity. Keeping stable parameters will help aid in success.

 

[rovster]

Is there anything that can be done? Do you think it could be from the leather? Should I leave them alone and will they come back or is it over?

All you can do is provide clean stable water and wait it out. They can recover, it just depends on why they started to necrose in the first place, how bad the damage is, and if the cause was addressed. Every now and then I have a little recession, usually after an Alk or temp spike, and most of the time they recover. That said, sometimes they don't. Fortunately I've only lost 2 frags in the last year. Not really sure what happened, lol. Good luck.

 

[Zimmy71]

I've been going through the same, two of my acros started to stn and it was my fault, i noticed my alkalinity was higher. Acros are sensitive to swings whether temp or alkalinity. Keeping stable parameters will help aid in success.

Is 9.6 - 10.2 Alk too high for sps? And would a 4 degree temp swing be to much as well?