Do anything special to save these acro?

[gus6464]

Just got a CAD 8g and it was supposed to be a desktop tank with softies but then a local LFS had some issues with lighting on one of their frag tanks so all the Acros lost color. They were selling them for $2 a piece so figure why not and turned the 8g into a frag tank.

 

I am running an IM desktop reactor with GFO/Carbon and that's it. This is what the corals look like now. Lighting is a nanobox mini with v2 pucks.

 

 

All the acros have polyp extension in the tank so they are definitely not dead. Should I be dosing anything special other than 2x water changes a week to help them recover faster?

[Thomas898]

As long as the lighting and water quality are sufficient, you'll just need to monitor your Alk, CA and Mag especially to make sure that two water changes can keep up with how much they use. I suspect that many acros in 8G will require some additional dosing.

[markalot]

You want to keep your KH rock solid, as solid as you can, and make sure there are at least some nutrients in the tank so they don't starve. Monitor KH before and after water change and make sure it doesn't swing by more than .25. If all those frags are healthy and start growing you will probably want to start 2 part dosing.

 

KH should be stable

 

Calcium should stay in range but not really anything to worry about if you use a quality 2 part.

 

Occasionally test for Magnesium to make sure it stays >= 1300. Most 2 parts have magnesium with the calcium. I like C-Balance but there are plenty of others just as good.

[jestep]

Personally, I'd say the chances are slim unless these are heirloom frags. If they're maricultured, or worse yet, wild acros, I'd say the odds are very low even in a perfect tank.

 

Going to need pretty much perfectly stable alk, temp, and salinity. Start with low lighting and very slowly increase as they regain color.

[gus6464]

I am using NSW so the parameters are as follows:

 

Alk 7

pH 8.5

Ca 370

Mg 1360

Temp 78F

 

Lighting they are getting ~150 PAR right now. Going to up it little by little as I see more color to ~200 PAR max.

 

As for 2 part I use Continuum on my main tank and have lots of it. I also dose Mg and Potassium from Continuum on my display too.