Kiiyo
Active Member
I'm still new to acros and what causes them distress so I'm looking for advice on how to deal with what looks like bleaching to me.
Parameters:
Alk ~8
Calc ~ 490
Mag ~ 1300
NO3 ~ 0
Po4 ~ .1
Temp ~ 78F
Salinity ~ 34-35ppt/1.025sg
Par for this particular coral is around 175 and it does get adequate flow that causes the polpys to visibly shift continually throughout the day.
I noticed these white areas developing in the middle/lower half of 2 frags of the same coral that are in 2 different locations in my tank. This led me to believe it's a parameter issue, and just from looking at my parameters, I'm thinking it's a nitrate issue.
I noticed a white spot like the one in the photos maybe a month ago on one of the frags. While it did heal completely, it's appeared again recently.
All other acros look normal, so I'm thinking this may be my canary in the coal mine coral.
I'm also feeding heavily twice a day with pellets and frozen food to my 7 fish and I spot feed the acros twice a week at night.
Now I'm considering dosing sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate to try and bump up my nitrate, but wanted to see if there might be something I'm missing and this isn't a nutrient related issue. I've also decided to cut down on filter sock replacement and lowered my refugium photoperiod significantly from 12 to 3 hours.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
This is the other frags of the same coral located under higher light. On the right frag's base, there is also a similar white area showing that you can faintly see in the picture. Same deal, single whiteish area, doesn't look like bleaching I've seen the past.
Parameters:
Alk ~8
Calc ~ 490
Mag ~ 1300
NO3 ~ 0
Po4 ~ .1
Temp ~ 78F
Salinity ~ 34-35ppt/1.025sg
Par for this particular coral is around 175 and it does get adequate flow that causes the polpys to visibly shift continually throughout the day.
I noticed these white areas developing in the middle/lower half of 2 frags of the same coral that are in 2 different locations in my tank. This led me to believe it's a parameter issue, and just from looking at my parameters, I'm thinking it's a nitrate issue.
I noticed a white spot like the one in the photos maybe a month ago on one of the frags. While it did heal completely, it's appeared again recently.
All other acros look normal, so I'm thinking this may be my canary in the coal mine coral.
I'm also feeding heavily twice a day with pellets and frozen food to my 7 fish and I spot feed the acros twice a week at night.
Now I'm considering dosing sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate to try and bump up my nitrate, but wanted to see if there might be something I'm missing and this isn't a nutrient related issue. I've also decided to cut down on filter sock replacement and lowered my refugium photoperiod significantly from 12 to 3 hours.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
This is the other frags of the same coral located under higher light. On the right frag's base, there is also a similar white area showing that you can faintly see in the picture. Same deal, single whiteish area, doesn't look like bleaching I've seen the past.
