pretty much lost all my sps

[jfuka78]

No clue what is happening, all my parameters check out. Most of all my sps have started bleaching or are bleached out. Softies and lps are great. Starting at base and working up.

 

[rmendis]

Is this the same issue as discussed in this thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=21710267#post21710267

Did you get your alk down?

 

[jfuka78]

Yep, same issue. I am slowly bringing it down

 

[Jamey1010]

Looking at your other thread did you do the 80 gallon water change and than experience this?

If so than theres' your stress too much chemistry change with all the new water

 

[jfuka78]

This was all before the change, I did the change in case something may have got in the tank.

 

[kevin kaplan]

This has happened to me as well, so I am learning from this thread and the linked thread. My alk spiked to 11.9!

 

[ostrow]

All I can say is, don't make the mistake of pulling out the corals. Stabilize the water. And wait. You will be surprised at what comes back. Maybe months down the road.

 

[kevin kaplan]

Even if they bleach white and start growing brown or other algae? I've heard of and seen some comebacks, but usually not after the entire bleaching. Your post gives me hope, though.:reading:

 

[ostrow]

I have a large Bali Tricolor and Ponape Birdsnest that went white, then black, algae all over, that are now large thriving colonies again. Only takes one polyp.

Same for Oregon Blue, teal colored acro and others.

In my experience, the biggest mistake people make is over-reacting. Even if you buy a replacement frag, cement it to a side of the "dead" one. At worst it will encrust over. At best you will end up with an interesting pair.

Sometimes it can be a while. My Bali showed color 8 months later. Leave it in. They won't all come back but many if not most will. Well, depending. If you nuked the tank with insecticide or some type of poison that is different. But the "why did this happen" situation, most of mine - as in all but a few - have come back.

 

[Helter Skilter]

This has happened to me as well, so I am learning from this thread and the linked thread. My alk spiked to 11.9!

Why are you worried about 11.9? I used to run my tank at 10-12 all the time. In the few instances I went above 14, I just turned the CO2 to my reactor off for a few days and it'd go back down without issue. SPS will handle high Alk much better than they will low Alk.

 

[badsmitty]

Helter Skilter that's very true, unless your carbon dosing

 

[Scotty1772]

@ostrow....thanks for sharing the positive outlook from your corals...question...if the sps bleached and then turned brown, I'm all in favor of leaving it in hopes the colors turn. Where should you leave them? Low in the sandbed to higher in the light? thoughts as to where to leave them in hopes of recovery

 

[ostrow]

I never move them. Leave them where they were on the reef. Either they recover or something else grows over them, after long enough if clear nothing recovering (a year), I will mount something in the dead branches, or on top of the colony, etc...

But if you removed them it's probably moot.

 

[lexiz1]

J,

Im running into the exact same situation with my tank. I am at a complete loss! It is frustrating.

 

[lolgranny]

I never move them. Leave them where they were on the reef. Either they recover or something else grows over them, after long enough if clear nothing recovering (a year), I will mount something in the dead branches, or on top of the colony, etc...

But if you removed them it's probably moot.

I second this, unless you have another tank up and running lol.

I had ~15g of alk dump into my 40g spiking my alk massively... a year later almost everything has survived, small, but its better then completely losing them. Even if just 1 polyp makes it, they can come back.