Acros unhappy

[Zach Hart]

Hello, I’m new to keeping Acroporas having kept lps and other sps before happy and thriving before. However, as you can see from the pictures I attach I have a couple acros that seem to be doing well such as the green slimer which has coloured up nicely and another coral which is growing and regaining its colour. However the majority look either bleached of colour or have turned a light pinkish colour but still showing their polyps. What could be the reason for this? I also have a clam (5 months) which seems to be doing well if that gives you an indication of overall water stability and conditions. Thanks

tank has only recently been fully stocked with 12 fish in a reefer 250
Nitrate is 5ppm
Phosphate is 0.08 ppm
Alk varies from 8.3-8.7 (using Neptune trident)
Calcium 440
Magnesium 1320
Tank is 7 months old
Acros have pretty much looked like this since I got them for 3 or 4 months

 

[gbroadbridge]

How old is the tank?

What sort of water flow do you have? SPS need a lot of water movement.

What type of lighting?

 

[DanyL]

There are many reasons why Acros can turn pale, but one things that stands out from what you wrote is your recent stocking. If there were no fish present until now there is a good chance your tank was low in nutrients and thus starved your Acros.

Do you have a record of prior nutrient test results?

The other, usual suspects are too much light or not enough time to gradually acclimate to a higher PAR setting, too much/low flow, stress from a harsh dip or generally from introduction to a new environment, extreme temperature shock, lack of trace elements, etc etc.

 

[Zach Hart]

How old is the tank?

What sort of water flow do you have? SPS need a lot of water movement.

What type of lighting?

Yes I just edited to say that the tank is 7 months old. Lighting are 2 reef led 90 and flow is 2 mp40 with custom heads to dispurse the flow so it doesn’t batter the corals. All in all it’s about 100x tank turnover

 

[Zach Hart]

There are many reasons why Acros can turn pale, but one things that stands out from what you wrote is your recent stocking. If there were no fish present until now there is a good chance your tank was low in nutrients and thus starved your Acros.

Do you have a record of prior nutrient test results?

The other, usual suspects are too much light or not enough time to gradually acclimate to a higher PAR setting, too much/low flow, stress from a harsh dip or generally from introduction to a new environment, extreme temperature shock, lack of trace elements, etc etc.

I had 8 fish originally but it took a while for the fish I wanted to come back in stock. Tank was fully stocked about 3 weeks ago. During this time the nutrients were also about 5ppm nitrate and 0.05 phosphate

 

[Dburr1014]

Hello, I’m new to keeping Acroporas having kept lps and other sps before happy and thriving before. However, as you can see from the pictures I attach I have a couple acros that seem to be doing well such as the green slimer which has coloured up nicely and another coral which is growing and regaining its colour. However the majority look either bleached of colour or have turned a light pinkish colour but still showing their polyps. What could be the reason for this? I also have a clam (5 months) which seems to be doing well if that gives you an indication of overall water stability and conditions. Thanks

tank has only recently been fully stocked with 12 fish in a reefer 250
Nitrate is 5ppm
Phosphate is 0.08 ppm
Alk varies from 8.3-8.7 (using Neptune trident)
Calcium 440
Magnesium 1320
Tank is 7 months old
Acros have pretty much looked like this since I got them for 3 or 4 months

7 months old tank is young. But it sounds like this is not your 1st rodeo.
How did you start the tank?

Pale, imo, seems like not enough light. Not enough=less zooxanthellae ; too much= brown out, more zooxanthellae.

Will need flow, lights, ect.
System is stable otherwise?

Edit: replied before my post,
100 turn over in flow... Random, on off, or?
Never used those lights, can't comment.

 

[Zach Hart]

7 months old tank is young. But it sounds like this is not your 1st rodeo.
How did you start the tank?

Pale, imo, seems like not enough light. Not enough=less zooxanthellae ; too much= brown out, more zooxanthellae.

Will need flow, lights, ect.
System is stable otherwise?

This is my 3rd tank and I started it with some live rock from my previous tank that was 2 years old. Pale is not enough light? I thought pale was too much light. I have a seneye to measure par so I’ll do that again in a minute because I don’t remember the numbers.
system is relatively stable and fluctuates possibly 0.5 dkh over a week or two and calcium doesn’t fluctuate much.

 

[Zach Hart]

7 months old tank is young. But it sounds like this is not your 1st rodeo.
How did you start the tank?

Pale, imo, seems like not enough light. Not enough=less zooxanthellae ; too much= brown out, more zooxanthellae.

Will need flow, lights, ect.
System is stable otherwise?

Edit: replied before my post,
100 turn over in flow... Random, on off, or?
Never used those lights, can't comment.

It’s mp40s on reef crest

 

[Dburr1014]

Pale is not enough light? I thought pale was too much light. I have a seneye to measure par so I’ll do that again in a minute because I don’t remember the numbers.

Crap, sorry, didn't get much sleep last night. You are right. They will shed zooxanthellae with too much.
Definatly get some numbers.

Thanks for correcting me.

 

[DanyL]

This is my 3rd tank and I started it with some live rock from my previous tank that was 2 years old. Pale is not enough light? I thought pale was too much light. I have a seneye to measure par so I’ll do that again in a minute because I don’t remember the numbers.
system is relatively stable and fluctuates possibly 0.5 dkh over a week or two and calcium doesn’t fluctuate much.

Get the numbers, it'll definitely help.

How much time have past since you introduced these acros?
Did you light acclimate them?
Are you dosing trace elements?

 

[Zach Hart]

Get the numbers, it'll definitely help.

How much time have past since you introduced these acros?
Did you light acclimate them?
Are you dosing trace elements?

It’s been about 2/3 months since they were introduced. Still alive but just not doing too great colouration wise. Polyps seem to be extending though. I light acclimated the whole tank for about a month using the ReefBeat app for about a month.
just started dosing Red Sea trace colours last week as that’s what I thought might be an issue

 

[DanyL]

It’s been about 2/3 months since they were introduced. Still alive but just not doing too great colouration wise. Polyps seem to be extending though. I light acclimated the whole tank for about a month using the ReefBeat app for about a month.
just started dosing Red Sea trace colours last week as that’s what I thought might be an issue

I would just verify the PAR numbers are in a safe range, and keep dosing traces.
It could very possibly be a deficiency in trace elements, which would take 1 to 3 months to take effect, depending on the coral.

If you'd like to be extra carful, you could also send an ICP test, but given that you're only started to dose traces the results may not be representative to the original cause.

 

[Zach Hart]

Just tested my trace elements iron, iodine and potassium and 2 are reading low while potassium is high
iodine 0.03
Iron 0.05
Potassium 452pm

 

[Zach Hart]

Ok taken readings for the par: theyre all getting 300-400 par
1st picture is 370
2nd picture is 330
3rd is 310
4th is 350
5th is 400

 

[DanyL]

Just tested my trace elements iron, iodine and potassium and 2 are reading low while potassium is high
iodine 0.03
Iron 0.05
Potassium 452pm

I don't know about the Iron test kit, but I do know that Iodine home test kits aren't accurate enough to be able to rely upon. Maybe it's a myth, or things have changed since I've heard it but something to take into account.

Low Iron can definitely influence coloring with Acros.
High potassium can be lethal - I would stop dosing it for a while.

Ok taken readings for the par: theyre all getting 300-400 par
1st picture is 370
2nd picture is 330
3rd is 310
4th is 350
5th is 400

These are good PAR numbers in general, but they may also be too harsh for some acros.
Try to lower them towards the 200-250 PAR range for a few weeks and see if it has any affect.

 

[Zach Hart]

Ok

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Yes I just edited to say that the tank is 7 months old. Lighting are 2 reef led 90 and flow is 2 mp40 with custom heads to dispurse the flow so it doesn’t batter the corals. All in all it’s about 100x tank turnover

Where did you get the custom mp40 heads?

 

[Zach Hart]

Ecotech Vortech Flow Spreader – Reef Parts

reefparts.co.uk

It’s a British Company but I believe they ship worldwide
They’re quite big though but they do spread the flow alot

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Ecotech Vortech Flow Spreader – Reef Parts

reefparts.co.uk

It’s a British Company but I believe they ship worldwide
They’re quite big though but they do spread the flow alot

Thanks.

 

[Zach Hart]

Ok light intensity lowered. I’ve also been dosing Red Sea ab+ over the last week and half and it seems to bringing back some of the colour in other sps like my hysterix so I wonder if Low nutrients was my issue along with high par