Bubble Coral completely retracted after bacterial bloom

[Ernie C]

Hi everyone, my bubble which I've had for like 15 years is completely retracted on one head. Recently moved everything to a new tank. Red Sea 350. It was great until the bloom hit. Its been I'm on day 6 and it seems to be clearing up. Skimmer is still going berzerk. One of the heads is fine while the other is completely retracted. It opened up some today but quickly seized up again. Is this normal after a bacterial bloom. I've been testing my parameters and all seem ok. I'm taking some water to the LFS tomorrow though to confirm. Anyone experience this before? Here is a picture from just now. It seems to be starting to open a bit but a bit ago It was so tight i could see all the teeth.

 

[Tahoe61]

Impressive that you have kept the Bubble Coral that long.

As to the reasoning to why it's displaying stress that is a difficult questions.

Is it still acclimating?
Was the coral used to a system with increased nutrients prior to the move?
Is the lighting the same type?
New tanks tend to have a higher alk value, was it a shift in alkalinity from the previous tank?

Sure hope it turns around for you.

Congratulations on your new tank. :-)

 

[Ernie C]

Thanks for the reply. I don't see any large differences in the parameters after the move. It was completely open and thriving until the bacterial bloom. I'm hoping its just expelling the bacteria filled water. This is a picture 1-2 week in to the new tank.

 

[Tahoe61]

That looks totally awesome!

 

[Ernie C]

Just to leave the thread updated, the bloom lasted about 6 days and the bubble did this a few times expelling poop. It’s back to normal. I did end up putting an inexpensive 24w submersible UV in the Sump like on day 5 and it finished clearing up the water. I bought it on amazon. I’ll leave it on there while the tank matures and then remove it at some point.