How do you care for bleached sps

[superdragon]

This is a more advanced topic I haven't found anywhere, so I'll be a dummny and ask to start the discussion. I know these are very general questions since there are so many varieties of sps.

What are the ideal conditions for bleached sps?
Is there a PAR range idea for recovery? Do they need more flow or food?
How long does it take for them to recover?
There are ideal water parameters?

I know these are very general questions since there are so many varieties of sps.

 

[Wazzel]

I put them in a lower light section of the tank or do a multi month acclimations. Other than that noting special. I had several shaded and bleached corals in my 60 just before the move. I am doing a 40% two month acclimation in the 120 and have been getting positive responses. I suspect the recovery will take a few months. That has been my experience with other bleached or shaded corals I have nursed back to health.

Time and patience.

 

[nmotz]

Several things cause bleaching/paling IME: high light, zero nutrients, alk swings.

The most common cause for me has been high light. When I switched to LEDs, all my corals bleached pretty bad and I had to bring the intensity way down. Not sure about ideal PAR range, but we all know where the highest PAR is: center and high. Conversely, to the left or right and low is where you'll find lower PAR so if you want to move the corals, that's where they need to go. Otherwise, dial down intensity and bring it up very slowly (no more than 3% per week IME).

-Took my corals about a month to fully recover from a bad bleaching episode but that all depends on how you deal with it and what your situation is to begin with.

-IMO and IME, there are NO ideal water parameters, just general guidelines. People have all kinds of success with high alk/high cal tanks (say, 10dkh/500ppm) as well as lower alk/lower cal tanks (7.5dkh/380ppm). I've seen so many successful examples of each that I've concluded there is no objective, ideal water parameter rule. Stability, however, IS very important. If you want to run high numbers, keep them high. Or, keep them low, but don't vacillate.

 

[fishkeeprian]

I thought sps required highlighting. I have a neon green stylophora and the end of the heads are starting to go white not the polyps thay are great but the actual skelenton. It sits on my sand bed and is around 16" from the light. I run a oceanrevive t247 is it getting enough light should i move it up?

 

[nmotz]

I thought sps required highlighting. I have a neon green stylophora and the end of the heads are starting to go white not the polyps thay are great but the actual skelenton. It sits on my sand bed and is around 16" from the light. I run a oceanrevive t247 is it getting enough light should i move it up?

SPS do need high light, but can suffer shock from very intense LEDs or MHs.

A common example: you go to your LFS and buy a coral that is sitting about 2 feet below T5 lighting and place it high and central beneath LEDs in your tank. The coral will likely get bleached out in this case. To avoid this, I let them sit on the sandbed for at least a few days until I see full PE. Once I know they're ok with that, I move them into the rockwork a bit. If the polyps come out again, I move them higher until eventually they are in the position that I want to keep them.

If you've just switched lighting to LEDs from T5s, you'll probably want to bring the intensity up slowly.

If the ends of the coral are white, you are seeing "growth tips." The rim of montipora corals will also turn white, denoting growth. Bleaching is when the body or "skin" of the coral begins to pale and polyps might even begin to diminish.