New SPS keeper in need of help

B

Blazingreef123

New member
To start off i am a new keeper of SPS coral specifically acropora that i just ordered off of liveaquaria. For christmas me and my girlfriend decided to splurge and buy a limited edition 5 pack (http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+2341+2511+2600&pcatid=2600). When they arrived i acclimated them using the drip method for 3 hours VERY CAREFULLY. I then dipped them all twice for 15 minutes each time. They have now been in my tank since Wednesday morning (Dec 28th) under 165 watt LED lighting. Now here's my issue: Every single one of the acropora frags i got were brown. Not the colors depicted by liveaquaria. I MADE SURE that it was an assortment of colors not just over exaggeration in the pictures i was assured that the frags would be colorful. Again, they all are brown, and continue to be brown in my tank. All of them are alive as they are showing polyp extension, no tissue necrosis, and only 2 of the 5 frags display white tips but look like new growth not decay. So i decided to call liveaquaria. i was told that they are just suffering from "shipment shock" and that their colors will return. I was also told that they needed to be kept in complete darkness for 2-3 days upon arrival to restore colors, but i was reading online that the entire reason for the brown color is a bloom of zooxanthellae caused by the lack of light (idk). Any advice would be appreciated. Also, my tank parameters: Calcium 430 PPM, Temp 79F, dKH 10, Nitrates 0-5ppm, phosphates 0ppm, and of course 0 ammonia and nitrite. For reference: I have a favites brain coral, war coral, and a montipora cap that i purchased about 3 weeks ago and they are doing wonderful in my tank, they are literally growing like weeds with amazing coloration however these were purchased at a fish store about 3 and a half hours from me in person.
 
So i guess to sum up my extremely long paragraph here are my main questions:
1. Do Acropora turn brown in shipping?
2. If so, how long does it take for color to come back?
3. Do you leave them in darkness for 2-3 days when they first arrive?
4. Do you personally think they were shipped knowingly as brown colored Acropora?
5. If they were supposed to be left in the dark how dark was it supposed to be? I had turned off the lights on one side of my tank but they still received indirect light.
 
Some acros will darken for several reasons. I won't worry about that at all. Keep your parameters in line and STABLE! Light acclimation under LEDs is very important also!!! Go slow! Put the acros on the bottom for 7 days then start moving then up from there. If your nutrients are ideal, your colors will return and after they settle in begin to grow but takes time, months.


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It takes time to color back up. Esp for wild caught frags.

Part of the reason I try to buy captive frags, they are already acclimated to tank conditions.

Tank stability is key! As long as your parameter levels are in the general range you'll be fine. Don't go chasing a figure if that means a constantly changing tank. If your alk is stable at 8, leave it at 8 and keep it stable. People have grown sps in all kinds of alk levels. Find 1 that works and STAY there!

I don't acclimate sps anymore if they are captive. Dip then straight on the rock. Wild caught are a different story.


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vhuang168 said:
It takes time to color back up. Esp for wild caught frags.

Part of the reason I try to buy captive frags, they are already acclimated to tank conditions.

Tank stability is key! As long as your parameter levels are in the general range you'll be fine. Don't go chasing a figure if that means a constantly changing tank. If your alk is stable at 8, leave it at 8 and keep it stable. People have grown sps in all kinds of alk levels. Find 1 that works and STAY there!

I don't acclimate sps anymore if they are captive. Dip then straight on the rock. Wild caught are a different story.


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Click to expand...

Well idk if this changes anything for my situation but they are certified captive grown corals from liveaquaria.
 
Mariculture or aquaculture? Both are technically captive. But represent different things


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vhuang168 said:
Mariculture or aquaculture? Both are technically captive. But represent different things


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From the link of the coral i bought directly:
"Unlike most clip and ship coral frags, all of our Certified Captive Grown Corals are fully encrusted onto their plugs and are fully adjusted to artificial lighting and synthetic seawater, propagated and grown in our state-of-the-art facility in Rhinelander, Wisconsin."

So im definitely assuming aquacultured.
 
Then all it takes is time and stability.

Also needs nutrients so 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates is not going to cut it.


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i have a protein skimmer and a algae tank scrubber running, which keeps nitrates and phosphates at 0 at all times even with multiple feedings a day. Should i cut the algae tank scrubber out and monitor nitrates and phosphates for a rise?
 
Acclimation to LED lights is very important with SPS. Like others mentioned, start them off down low and slowly bring them up to where you want to be. I've had acros lose color for so many different reasons. They're just more sensitive than other types of SPS. Color always comes back; you just need patience and stability in parameters.

Are your LEDs dimmable?
 
Nandez13 said:
Acclimation to LED lights is very important with SPS. Like others mentioned, start them off down low and slowly bring them up to where you want to be. I've had acros lose color for so many different reasons. They're just more sensitive than other types of SPS. Color always comes back; you just need patience and stability in parameters.

Are your LEDs dimmable?
Click to expand...

Yes sir, after everyone's recommendations i just turned them down to roughly 50%. What timeframe should i ramp them back up over?
 
Definitely agree with having nutrients in the tank. That is the worst fad the hobby went through for coral health.

There's a lot that goes into coloring up acropora than anyone can write down in a timely matter. There's plenty of threads on what to do but all I can say is the best advice is to keep things stable and wait.

Basically you want superior flow, good light ( led can be tricky with acro's color) and good import/export practices.

If these don't work out I would highly suggest getting some frags from others around you to get the hang of the sps routine before dropping serious coin on mail order frags of most likely sensitive species.

So basically hurry up and wait =)..

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A brown Acropora is an upset Acropora, but it isn't dead. Give them time to acclimate to your system. If it's to their liking they will begin to color up over several weeks to months. I looked at your photographs and they are stressed.

Keep your parameters rock solid stable and they should recover and thrive.
 
One thing i completely forgot about until now (i recorded unboxing the coral and just watched it again) is the fact that when they arrived the bags felt really cold to me, i put my tank thermometer in the bag to see what the temp was and it was 70F in the bag + or - 1F so that could have possibly shocked them to brown as well.
 
Like many have said already, stability is really the key.
How many fish do you have in your system? With 0 n and 0 p- or close to that- the best thing you could do for the corals is add a couple fish and bring nutrients up naturally.
I wouldn't worry about the colour of the frags right out of the bag..
I've never heard the 2-3 days darkness after shipping.. never heard this.. and as long as light isn't too bright, I would never do it..
It's all very stressful, the shipping, changing of water and temp, new conditions in the new tank.. once shipping is over, the best road to recovery is no more changes. But they do need nutrients, so getting some in the water is the one change I think would be acceptable..
Good luck! Keep us posted.
 
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