sps losing color

[10gnano]

Over the last month or a few of my sps corals have began to lose color. Other than color everything else seems to be normal, polyp are extending and i've noticed some growth. The weird thing is that another SPS coral in the tank is regaining color from it's loss months ago ( went on vaction and left my roommate in charge of my tank, we can say she didn't do a good job). These two things lead me to believe that it is not due to water quality. Any suggestions? I'm stuck here. here are some pics of the corals with loss of color.

 

[yoshii]

They are bleached, move them into the shade, also, have you had any high temps lately?

[Squared]

wat light

[javisaman]

They look bleached to me. But also maybe be lack of nitrates. Did your friend forget to feed fish and such?

[Rabidgerbil38]

If your getting good extension from the polyps and there bleaching out you probably have to much light on them.

[Asureef]

What is your ALK. and is it stable? Lighting?

[10gnano]

They look bleached to me. But also maybe be lack of nitrates. Did your friend forget to feed fish and such?

 

That was about 8 months ago. She didn't feed fish, didn't top off, my tank was a disaster and my fish mad a go for the carpet. I was pointing out that my other corals that had bleached from that mishap are now gaining color while others are losing color.

 

lighting is a 2 24w t5 bulbs (aquablue special and blue +), lights are on for ten hours a day. It may be bleaching from the lights but these were under mh (150/250) before I put them under t5's. They were also doing fine until I moved my tank. I noticed some discoloration, did water changes every couple days to stabilize water params and corals continued losing color. My bulbs are pushing 8 months not sure if that's an issue. Will corals bleach if they don't have enough light or is this when they brown?

[Euphyllia]

They look bleached to me. But also maybe be lack of nitrates. Did your friend forget to feed fish and such?

 

Lack of nitrates? SPS need nitrates?

 

Or did you mean the nitrates dropped to quickly?

[ColaAddict]

SPS brown due to excess nutrients (high nitrates or phosphates), or not enough light (browning due to extra production of zooxanthellae to try to get more light).

Bleaching is caused by too much light.

[1fishmonger]

SPS brown due to excess nutrients (high nitrates or phosphates), or not enough light (browning due to extra production of zooxanthellae to try to get more light).

Bleaching is caused by too much light.

 

 

 

bleaching can be caused by factors other than just light.

[ColaAddict]

bleaching can be caused by factors other than just light.

I agree. The OP really need to post all his parameters.

[Euphyllia]

SPS brown due to excess nutrients (high nitrates or phosphates), or not enough light (browning due to extra production of zooxanthellae to try to get more light).

Bleaching is caused by too much light.

 

Not true.

 

If a coral isn't getting enough light, the zooxanthellae in it will start to die, which makes the zooxanthellae's host appear to loose it's color.

[10gnano]

I just raised my light up a few inches so hopefully this will help. If corals are bleached because of to much light how should I go about acclimating them to my new led fixture? I recently ordered the AI sol blue, overkill for this tank but it will be eventually going on a 30 cube when I transfer things over.

[1fishmonger]

I just raised my light up a few inches so hopefully this will help. If corals are bleached because of to much light how should I go about acclimating them to my new led fixture? I recently ordered the AI sol blue, overkill for this tank but it will be eventually going on a 30 cube when I transfer things over.

 

 

I'd suggest placing the corals low in the tank and then moving them higher over the course of the next 6-8 weeks instead of moving the entire fixture itself. Also, the acclimation period and speed at which you can move the corals higher in the tank will depend on their previous lighting conditions.

[10gnano]

I will post params once I get everything tested, ran out of some test supplies.

 

this is what I can tell you

 

specific gravity- 1.025

PH-7.9-8.0

Calcium- 480

ALK-?

Temp-78-80.4

 

 

before introduced into my take the corals where under MH (150w/250w), which makes it hard to believe that the bleaching is due to to much light. Can a coral bleach from going under a 150/25w MH bulb to 48w of t5's?

[Asureef]

I will post params once I get everything tested, ran out of some test supplies.

 

this is what I can tell you

 

specific gravity- 1.025

PH-7.9-8.0

Calcium- 480

ALK-?

Temp-78-80.4

 

 

before introduced into my take the corals where under MH (150w/250w), which makes it hard to believe that the bleaching is due to to much light. Can a coral bleach from going under a 150/25w MH bulb to 48w of t5's?

 

 

My guess is your Alk isn't stable, a swing in alk can cause bleaching.

[Chris George]

I'm not an sps expert by any means, but your pH is low (8.3 is ideal). Also, I couldn't imagine you're bleaching your sps corals by having too much light with only two 8-month old t5 bulbs. The corals would have to be sitting literally a few centimeters from the bulbs for it to be too much light, and even then I'd guess they could take it. I'd actually be more inclined to agree with Euphyllia: You have too little light and the zooxanthellae is dying, which could cause loss of color. I would definitely lean towards too little light if it was a slow process of color loss. Bleaching from too much light can be rather sudden, where the zooxanthellae is literally expelled from the coral in a short period of time. Not sure on the time lengths exactly, but I've heard some people complain of coral bleaching from changing light sources (frequently to bright LEDs) and the bleaching event occurs over a matter of days to a week. I've heard of even more sudden events, but it's usually due to something other than lighting such as huge salinity or ph swings.

 

First thing I would do is slowly get your pH to 8.3. All this lighting talk may be moot.

[Euphyllia]

Alk is more important than calcium. What is your mag?

[10gnano]

loss of color was over a period of time, two months probably. As for ph my tank has always been around 7.9-8.1 and has thrived under these conditions, so i'm not sure if its ph. I have also known other reefers that have kept tanks at these levels with no issues. I'm leaning towards alk which i'm unable to test for as i don't have the testing supplies for that or low light levels.

[Bill Nye]

loss of color was over a period of time, two months probably. As for ph my tank has always been around 7.9-8.1 and has thrived under these conditions, so i'm not sure if its ph. I have also known other reefers that have kept tanks at these levels with no issues. I'm leaning towards alk which i'm unable to test for as i don't have the testing supplies for that or low light levels.

 

 

Low pH is often a symptom of low alk. I would get the alk checked ASAP and fix that problem. It is never wise IMO to directly try to change your pH with buffers or other methods. If your pH is low its either low alk or mag or there is too much CO2 in the room and you should open a window more or vent your skimmer. As long as pH is stable and not too low or too high its not really a problem.

[10gnano]

Low pH is often a symptom of low alk. I would get the alk checked ASAP and fix that problem. It is never wise IMO to directly try to change your pH with buffers or other methods. If your pH is low its either low alk or mag or there is too much CO2 in the room and you should open a window more or vent your skimmer. As long as pH is stable and not too low or too high its not really a problem.

 

 

I agree, i don't want to use any type of buffer or additives to raise or lower params. I would like to keep things as natural as possible. Once you start adding stuff that's when things can go wrong.

[Asureef]

Don't go chasing Ph, I don't even test for ph anymore. If these 3 (alk, cal, mag) are in line, your Ph should be good.

[Euphyllia]

EDIT: OMG wrong thread

[bryanreefer101]

SPS do need nitrates and phosphates, but in an acceptable range... I've seen many ULNS that have their sps very pale and it is just that there is not enough nutrients for the zooxanthellae..

[jservedio]

Okay for a 30g tank, 2x T5 bulbs is simply not enough light to keep acros, let alone much else. If it was light bleaching, only the tops of the branches would bleach (the bottoms would still be dark) and you would see a color gradient based on how much light each portion of the coral got. Those acros are going to be dead really soon unless you put them on a frag rack literally a couple inches below the water line with the light as close to the surface as possible.

 

Besides the fact that they are in too little light, it looks like you had some Alk swings because there appears to be recession (though its hard to tell from the terrible pictures).

 

You need to get your parameters under control (test Alk daily until you have it stable then test twice a week for the next couple months) and get more light immediately. Unless that is addressed, they are going to die (they are going to likely die anyway...) and it will probably take 6+ months for them to recover.