Coral Turning White

[pmcpherson4284]

Hi Guys, been running a new saltwater tank for the last 4 months now.

I added in a SPS hard coral, its been in my tank for about 2 weeks now. However it has started turning white. All my levels are normal, i did some researching that suggests that i should add calcium, i went to the LFS and bought a calcium test and my calcium is in normal limits.

2 54w T5 Bulbs.
Fish store guy said to move my power heads so there pointing right at the hard coral which i did today.

Any thoughts on what can be causing this?
Everything else in my tank is doing Great !

Two pics attached, the Before Pic with an arrow showing the healthy coral, and then how it looks now.

 

[SwampyBill]

No pix came thru w/ post...Try again.

 

[idisc]

I don't see any pictures, but there is a chance it might be getting bleached if it is not correctly light acclimated. Is there anything eating at it? Was it dipped before being added to your tank?

 

[pmcpherson4284]

Attached Pics

 

[SwampyBill]

+1 on light acclimation & being dipped before adding to DT.

 

[Fishmommy]

what's your alk at vs. what the store keeps theirs at?

 

[pmcpherson4284]

LFS said to keep it close to the light as i could, should i move it to the bottom? and slowly move it up?

 

[SwampyBill]

Yea, put it on sandbed for awhile, then slowly move it up.

 

[acabgd]

You should really get hold of your parameters, we're just shooting i the dark here without knowing your numbers, especially the "big three" - kH, Ca and Mg.
Test all of these and report numbers here. While you're at it you can also test ammonia and nitrates.

 

[ca1ore]

Hard to tell from the photo, but it doesn't look bleached to me, it looks dead! If you can see coral tissue/polyps, but they are pale or white, then the coral has bleached. If, as it appears to me, you can actually see the white calcium skeleton and the corralite holes, then it is likely dead. I'm sorry to say that in most cases I have seen when somebody refers to their coral as 'bleaching', it is actually RTN (aka, dead).

 

[hogfanreefer]

Hard to tell from the photo, but it doesn't look bleached to me, it looks dead! If you can see coral tissue/polyps, but they are pale or white, then the coral has bleached. If, as it appears to me, you can actually see the white calcium skeleton and the corralite holes, then it is likely dead. I'm sorry to say that in most cases I have seen when somebody refers to their coral as 'bleaching', it is actually RTN (aka, dead).

I think ca1ore is right. In the second photo on the far right side you can see some algae growing on the coral skeleton.

 

[gone fishin]

I must agree from the photo it appears dead. I realize you said you have had it 2 weeks, how quick was the transition from the first picture to the second?

 

[pmcpherson4284]

Its been in my tank for 2 weeks. The first Picture was Right when i put it in. The White picture was 2 weeks later

I moved it to the bottom of my tank, I'll see if it does any better. If it comes back i'll post some pics of it !

Thanks for all the Tips and Advice ! I'll definitely start doing the Reef Light Acclimation on my Next Coral!

 

[thegrun]

When you move to SPS coral stability is the probably the most single important thing to strive for. SPS corals will actually survive a fairly wide range of calcium, magnesium and alkalinity levels, but they do not fair well with constantly fluctuating water chemistry. You need close to zero nitrates and phosphates, good lighting and stable water parameters to keep most SPS coral.

 

[pmcpherson4284]

Update

Update

I thought i would give an update, I moved the Coral to the Bottom of my Sand Bed. I also bought some Coral "FUEL" from Aqua Vitro.

Since doing that, the Coral has Turned Back to its normal Color from the Bleach White color it was at.
:bounce2:

Thanks again for everyones Advice !