Acropora Diying?

[Totis1865]

Hi guys,

 

I got this Acropora coral about 3 weeks ago, 2 days ago I got a leather coral a green star and a candy cane.

 

I just saw it and it was starting to bleach to green.

How can a I save it or do in need to remove it ????? what about the little crab????

 

My tank:

24dx viper K-2-150 (150WATT HQI/14,000k)

cal-500

alk-11

sal-1.025

temp-80

nitrate 0

nitrite 2

ammonia-0

ph-8.0

 

Acropora photo

[Travis]

Dosn't look good. Unlike fleshy corals, SPS won't spike your params if it dies, so I wouldn't remove it. If it wants to live, it will come bakc, if not then just leave it untill it is all gone, it may stop dieing.

[travisurfer]

just speculation with no experience whatsoever, but since its on the sand could it be lack of light?

[pookstreet]

How long did it take for the tissue loss so far? You either have STN or RTN depending on the rate of tissue loss. There are many reasons for this, much of it unknown. Your water parameters look fine, so there has to be another explanation. It's possible as travisurfer said that there isn't enough light. Another reason could be chemical warfare from the leather, it's known for that, especially in a small tank. Your best bet is to frag off the remaining pieces that are still good and toss the base that's already dead. Make sure you cut above where the necrosis has already occurred. Good luck.

[andykee]

i have never seen anything bleach to green. usually goes BRIGHT white. then, eventually algae will start growing on the skeleton and it will turn green.

[JF2381]

I agree with pookstreet. Cut of the good pieces, move them up closer to the light and get some flow on them.

 

Edit: One more think. How old is your tank, your nitrite should be at zero?

[cyenna]

ok ok, really old thread but I was just reading up on acropora and found this. From the photo, it looks to me that the acropora is coloring up? unless it's supposed to be a brown? does "rtn" or "stn" (will have to look up later) cause the coral to become green?

[Withers]

RTN and STN are abbreviations for tissue necrosis. RTN is very quick, STN is slow. What happens is that the coral will lose its flesh, turning the effected areas white. Some people mistake this for bleaching, but whereas a bleached coral has just lost all its color, a coral affected by RTN/STN will not have polyps in the effected area, as there is no flesh left.

 

After a period of time the bare skeleton will turn green as algae begins to grow on it, as seen in the pictured acro.