Acropora growth or STN

[Artzevo]

Hey y’all, this is my first attempt with an acropora. Can someone estimate if this is new coral growth or STN? Parameters are great, soft corals thriving. During the day the polyps extend.

 

[KrisReef]

The coral does not look very happy and if the bare spots continue then it may be slow tissue necrosis, or just getting adjusted to a new system. How long has this been in your tank? The coral appears to have been growing out across the base of the plug, but now I can't tell if it has stopped, or is just how it looks at this moment in time? Some corals (montipora undata) kind of get nubby growth on the edges. Could be something similar. An image from a week or two ago might help, and in a week ot two another picture could be helpful to decide if it is growing or dying. maybe sooner?

 

[Artzevo]

The coral does not look very happy and if the bare spots continue then it may be slow tissue necrosis, or just getting adjusted to a new system. How long has this been in your tank? The coral appears to have been growing out across the base of the plug, but now I can't tell if it has stopped, or is just how it looks at this moment in time? Some corals (montipora undata) kind of get nubby growth on the edges. Could be something similar. An image from a week or two ago might help, and in a week ot two another picture could be helpful to decide if it is growing or dying. maybe sooner?

It’s been in the tank 3 weeks, here’s a picture of it before. And those are his colors under blues.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

@Reefer Matt

 

[Reefer Matt]

Hmmm. Yeah, as @KrisReef said, I’d monitor it closely. Also be sure to check your alkalinity daily to make sure it’s stable by at least 1 dkh (or less). If it starts to spread up the base, then it could be stn and fragging might be necessary. Hopefully it’s just settling in still. Posting your water test numbers will help too in case there’s something off.

 

[Artzevo]

Hmmm. Yeah, as @KrisReef said, I’d monitor it closely. Also be sure to check your alkalinity daily to make sure it’s stable by at least 1 dkh (or less). If it starts to spread up the base, then it could be stn and fragging might be necessary. Hopefully it’s just settling in still. Posting your water test numbers will help too in case there’s something off.

I do test daily at around the same time,

DKH 8-9ppm
Calc 400ppm
Nitrate 15ppm
Phos .07ppm
Mag 1350-1370ppm
Sal 1.025ppm

This stays mostly stable very little variance.

If it’s receding would the white skeleton look porous? Cause this is smooth

 

[KrisReef]

I do test daily at around the same time,

DKH 8-9ppm
Calc 400ppm
Nitrate 15ppm
Phos .07ppm
Mag 1350-1370ppm
Sal 1.025ppm

This stays mostly stable very little variance.

If it’s receding would the white skeleton look porous? Cause this is smooth

Bare skeleton on the body, with pores visible is a bad sign. Smooth looking white bumps and tips is often new growth, and sometimes these two are not obvious especially in pictures.

@Reefer Matt is correctly pointing at alkalinity, as even daily swings between 8 & 9 can stress sticks and will promote "tissue issues." I presume that you are using a color match test kit to obtain what you reported. I got a Hanna meters for Alk and Phosphate to improve the "numbers" from my tests. My eyes are not that great, and I got tired of counting drops and squinting at syringes to get numbers. The read out has allowed me to have a better feeling about the reliability and repeatability of my tests.

Post up another picture in a day or two. I do lean towards growth in the first image, but I would hate to be wrong. Lots of us frag a colony with hope to save a fragment when STN or RTN happens.

 

[Artzevo]

I do test daily at around the same time,

DKH 8-9ppm
Calc 400ppm
Nitrate 15ppm
Phos .07ppm
Mag 1350-1370ppm
Sal 1.025ppm

This stays mostly stable very little variance.

If it’s receding would the white skeleton look porous? Cause this is smooth

Bare skeleton on the body, with pores visible is a bad sign. Smooth looking white bumps and tips is often new growth, and sometimes these two are not obvious especially in pictures.

@Reefer Matt is correctly pointing at alkalinity, as even daily swings between 8 & 9 can stress sticks and will promote "tissue issues." I presume that you are using a color match test kit to obtain what you reported. I got a Hanna meters for Alk and Phosphate to improve the "numbers" from my tests. My eyes are not that great, and I got tired of counting drops and squinting at syringes to get numbers. The read out has allowed me to have a better feeling about the reliability and repeatability of my tests.

Post up another picture in a day or two. I do lean towards growth in the first image, but I would hate to be wrong. Lots of us frag a colony with hope to save a fragment when STN or RTN happens.

Thank you! Yeah I’m using drops for the Kh. By 8-9 I’m just estimating the range but it stays the same shade every test. So it’s steady. Hanna upgrade will be my next purchase. I already use those for nitrate and phos LR.

It is smooth white, it’s not showing empty pores and the coral polyps extend. I’m hoping it’s growth lol

I had a monti die once, so seeing white has me nervous! Tomorrow I’ll post another pic

 

[Artzevo]

@KrisReef @Reefermatt so turns out it was coral acclimation recession. It advanced a little bit around the base edges but it finally stopped! I’ve been holding all parameters stable especially KH. The acro shows polyp extension during the day but none at night. I’ve been running low intensity light, so I may begin increasing soon. Do you advise against it? I have a 145 W reef light running blues probably at 20-25% and white at 4%

 

[KrisReef]

It is nice to see that it has stabilized in your tank. It’s only been a few weeks, which can be a lifetime in reefing but for a coral it’s just a blink of a polyp. These things have been growing slowly for centuries, never moving but adjusting in place to thrive with the environmental conditions present.

I would not change the lighting for another couple of weeks. If it is still hanging around then I would consider increasing the blue light intensity a few percent and then wait for a couple more weeks to see if I am going in the right direction.

If the direction looks good, after adding blue light then I might boost the white leds a small amount and proceed in that fashion, hopefully always seeing healthy improvement as the coral adjusts to its new home environment.

I have watched colonies that suffered near death incidents similar to this one. Sometimes they sit in the dark end of the tank for a year or more before they snap out of their dormant (?) state and get their colors back. Extreme patience is helpful.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

The coral does not look very happy and if the bare spots continue then it may be slow tissue necrosis, or just getting adjusted to a new system. How long has this been in your tank? The coral appears to have been growing out across the base of the plug, but now I can't tell if it has stopped, or is just how it looks at this moment in time? Some corals (montipora undata) kind of get nubby growth on the edges. Could be something similar. An image from a week or two ago might help, and in a week ot two another picture could be helpful to decide if it is growing or dying. maybe sooner?

It looks about as happy as my exwife did the night before she smacked me across the face with papers :)

OH yeah - I just bought 8 new lights to replace my tired 8 XR30s. Guess who I didn’t have to ask for forgiveness :) lol

 

[KrisReef]

One can hope that the coral will thrive beneath the photons and grow into a colony of brightly colored polyps that proudly defies the animosity of those filthy court documents that she hoped would signal your surrender beneath the weight of her undying love and devotion to the relationship between you and her legal team. Only God can forgive us for the toxic environment that we all struggle with as our creator intended us to resist and overcome by clinging to His great commands to love one another.

He knows that I haven't made much progress with any of these things.

To new beginnings, prosperity and providence in the face of corruption.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

One can hope that the coral will thrive beneath the photons and grow into a colony of brightly colored polyps that proudly defies the animosity of those filthy court documents that she hoped would signal your surrender beneath the weight of her undying love and devotion to the relationship between you and her legal team. Only God can forgive us for the toxic environment that we all struggle with as our creator intended us to resist and overcome by clinging to His great commands to love one another.

He knows that I haven't made much progress with any of these things.

To new beginnings, prosperity and providence in the face of corruption.

… And a new reefing budget

 

[Artzevo]

One can hope that the coral will thrive beneath the photons and grow into a colony of brightly colored polyps that proudly defies the animosity of those filthy court documents that she hoped would signal your surrender beneath the weight of her undying love and devotion to the relationship between you and her legal team. Only God can forgive us for the toxic environment that we all struggle with as our creator intended us to resist and overcome by clinging to His great commands to love one another.

He knows that I haven't made much progress with any of these things.

To new beginnings, prosperity and providence in the face of corruption.

… And a new reefing budget

Lol happy blessings to your freed up budget! And thank you @KrisReef for the advice! This journey is fascinating! SPS are my biggest challenge so far

 

[Artzevo]

In case anyone wants an update lol. Turns out it was recession from stress. I was using API to check Alkalinity. BIG mistake, it was marking the results at 8 when truthfully it was at 6.5 dkh. I ordered salifert and hanna and those told me the real rating. I ended up losing that acro. I since then corrected the dkh, tried a digi monti and its doing well. Now I added two acros again, so far theyre doing great and survived the week without any recession. I'm hoping they keep it up! This will be my first success with SPS.