Pale Corals: What's the problem?

[chefzif]

Your last coral is rtn not bleached!

 

[reeftanker3295]

Is there anything I can do about that? I'm starting to research it now

Frag off the remaining pieces with flesh on them before it all RTN's.

 

[Dustin1300]

I'd frag that asap. It'll move up fast! Others don't look just pale but rather bleached IMO.

 

[DaytonaJoe]

I'd frag that asap. It'll move up fast! Others don't look just pale but rather bleached IMO.

Okay, fragged the coral tonight. It seems like RTN/STN can be caused by just about anything stressing the coral? Is there a most common cause? I have a small tank... maybe my parameters aren't as stable as they need to be.

Also, is there a difference between pale and bleached? I figured it meant the same thing when I chose that word. What causes bleaching, light intensity, right?

 

[keith sprague]

6 months old is doable.but IMO its not a completely mature tank for SPS.

 

[twelvejewelz]

Okay, fragged the coral tonight. It seems like RTN/STN can be caused by just about anything stressing the coral? Is there a most common cause? I have a small tank... maybe my parameters aren't as stable as they need to be.

There is a difference from pale and bleached. many things can cause them. If you have a ULNS your corals can sometimes be considered "pale" or pastel colors. Bleaching can be cause by a number of things such as lighting to intense or corals not properly acclimated , Alk to high or Not stable same with PH. Non stable salinity and other parameters can cause bleaching as well. rtn/stn can come from nothing at all or from these above stressors. Do you have an ATO? How often do you top off your tank? Do you use kalk in yout top off water? How often do you do water changes? reef crystals is know to have a high alk and when you do a water change in a small tank it can give you a decent alk swing.High alk and carbon dosing is a no no usually causing bleaching in sps. You can possibly try a different salt brand thats closer to the parameters your trying to match? Ive said this in a few threads already but i used RC salt for about 3.5 years and recently switched to seachem reef salt because the RC salt alk was mixing at 13 which is way to high for me and my vodka dosing. Everyone has their preference and eveyone has a different tank and doses different things. Every tank is different and the out come that people are going for is different. You need to pick the products that are specific for your tank and what your going for as the end result.

 

[djkms]

hmmm, guess I am going to go the opposite here of everyone.

Im sure I will get bashed for this but my tank is only 3 months old. I have had SPS in my tank for about a month now. My SPS are doing fantastic under LED. I do run them at about 50% though and the fixtures are about 16" from the waterline. I don't think the LED's are the issue.

IMO you really need to raise your MAG. I keep it consistent at 1350, CA around 450 KH 9. I will also go the opposite and say you really really need to test your phosphate. I do believe that a phosphate level of .03 inhibits coral growth, not sure how it effects color but I would venture to guess a high phosphate level will stress your corals. You say that your macro and rocks take care of the levels, I beg to differ. Macro takes in way more parts Nitrate to Phosphate and I can almost guarantee you have a phosphate buildup in your tank if your not using something besides macro to remove it. I know this from experience, before I ran GFO I was at about .10. Now with the GFO its undetectable and everything is happy.

I have gotten a lot of frags from a buddy who has had his 30 gallon setup forever. 24 hours after being in my system I get at least double the PE then when they are in his tank. He also took the same approach as you with not testing phosphate and just using chaeto. I highly suggested to him to pick up some GFO which he did and I was at his house tonight and his corals look much better! Sure my tank may only be setup for 3 months but I am anal when it comes to husbandry and test all the time and make sure my system is as stable as possible. Phosphate testing is a must.

Also, what method are you using to maintain stable CA, MG and KH? With that amount of corals in such a small system im willing to bet you have some serious KH swings which will also upset your corals.

Also, the new batches of reef crystals are no longer high in KH.

 

[DaytonaJoe]

There is a difference from pale and bleached. many things can cause them. If you have a ULNS your corals can sometimes be considered "pale" or pastel colors. Bleaching can be cause by a number of things such as lighting to intense or corals not properly acclimated , Alk to high or Not stable same with PH. Non stable salinity and other parameters can cause bleaching as well. rtn/stn can come from nothing at all or from these above stressors. Do you have an ATO? How often do you top off your tank? Do you use kalk in yout top off water? How often do you do water changes? reef crystals is know to have a high alk and when you do a water change in a small tank it can give you a decent alk swing.High alk and carbon dosing is a no no usually causing bleaching in sps. You can possibly try a different salt brand thats closer to the parameters your trying to match? Ive said this in a few threads already but i used RC salt for about 3.5 years and recently switched to seachem reef salt because the RC salt alk was mixing at 13 which is way to high for me and my vodka dosing. Everyone has their preference and eveyone has a different tank and doses different things. Every tank is different and the out come that people are going for is different. You need to pick the products that are specific for your tank and what your going for as the end result.

I do have an auto topoff, and salinity seems to be very stable. I do not use kalk, and I'm glad you asked because this brings up the point that I do not dose anything. In the beginning I used a 2 part system, but I stopped for a week and noticed that none of the parameters even changed. I decided that my corals weren't using up the ca/alkalinity quickly enough to warrant dosing.

I'm going to have to test the alkalinity of a fresh batch of water, haven't done that before. But the alkalinity in my tank has very consistantly been around 8.

 

[DaytonaJoe]

hmmm, guess I am going to go the opposite here of everyone.

Im sure I will get bashed for this but my tank is only 3 months old. I have had SPS in my tank for about a month now. My SPS are doing fantastic under LED. I do run them at about 50% though and the fixtures are about 16" from the waterline. I don't think the LED's are the issue.

IMO you really need to raise your MAG. I keep it consistent at 1350, CA around 450 KH 9. I will also go the opposite and say you really really need to test your phosphate. I do believe that a phosphate level of .03 inhibits coral growth, not sure how it effects color but I would venture to guess a high phosphate level will stress your corals. You say that your macro and rocks take care of the levels, I beg to differ. Macro takes in way more parts Nitrate to Phosphate and I can almost guarantee you have a phosphate buildup in your tank if your not using something besides macro to remove it. I know this from experience, before I ran GFO I was at about .10. Now with the GFO its undetectable and everything is happy.

I have gotten a lot of frags from a buddy who has had his 30 gallon setup forever. 24 hours after being in my system I get at least double the PE then when they are in his tank. He also took the same approach as you with not testing phosphate and just using chaeto. I highly suggested to him to pick up some GFO which he did and I was at his house tonight and his corals look much better! Sure my tank may only be setup for 3 months but I am anal when it comes to husbandry and test all the time and make sure my system is as stable as possible. Phosphate testing is a must.

Also, what method are you using to maintain stable CA, MG and KH? With that amount of corals in such a small system im willing to bet you have some serious KH swings which will also upset your corals.

Also, the new batches of reef crystals are no longer high in KH.

You make some good points here, phosphate could still be an issue. I think you misunderstood what I was saying, though. I have no macroalgae... I've always heard that microalgae absorbs phosphate, so I was just saying that the small amount of algae in my tank may skew the test results. I'm going to look into GFO, as I have no way of removing phosphates except for water changes currently.

Like I just told the last guy, I'm not currently dosing anything (other than the recent magnesium supplements). I just do water changes every two weeks (two 5g water changes spread apart about 24 hours).

I am trying to raise magnesium as you recommend, I'll keep the thread updated as I continue to dose it.

 

[DaytonaJoe]

Sorry for the triple post, but what do you guys think of this? I've been dosing Brightwell Magnesion-P for magnesium, maximum dose each day, for 3 days. I tested each day... at first mg went up to 1250 or so, but then dropped back down to 1200. I don't see any visible precipitation anywhere. Any ideas?