Did my LFS sell me a Bleached Coral?

[brighteous]

Hello fellow reefers!

I am a newbie who is only a month into keeping saltwater so I was hoping some experienced coral keepers are able to help me identify my latest purchase.

I picked up a coral yesterday from my LFS which was listed under "Green Torch Corals". This one had a glowing greenish color to it compared to other ones (darkish green with white tip), so thought this one was cool and bought it. After bringing it home, and researching..I am now wondering if I picked up a "bleached" coral. I thought this fell under the "Green Torch Coral" category as a more brighter neon color. The color may not fully reflect in the pictures..but to give you a precise description, the color of my coral is exactly like any glow in the dark item under a light.

Can you please see if this coral is in fact "Bleached" or if not, help me identify what these are called?

Thank you

 

[T-J]

Bleached torches can regain their color with good nutrients.
Considering that this tank is brand spanking new, I have a feeling it may not survive more than a few weeks.

 

[dedragon]

Looks ok just slightly bleached but as TJ said harder in newer tanks. If you have any access to live rock from a very trusted reefer, usually from this forum as you can see their tanks and they will tell you what pests they might have experienced in the past, it will help a ton with biological stability needed for a lot of corals to thrive. Another option is using pns pro bio and yellow sno but only if you cant get access to good live rock

 

[brighteous]

Thanks for the reply guys. I have two live rocks that I purchased and placed in my tank during the 1 month cycle actually. I introduced corals and livestock after the 1 month cycle with live rock and MicroBacter Start XLM. It was full of Copepods and other micro organisms which really helped with the tank cycling. Also had a copepod bloom, which my Clownfish were going to town for.

I was doing some research and wondering if this may be a "Aussie Green Torch" by any chance.

Aussie Green Torch

The Aussie Green Torch has bright green stalks and green/cream tips. As with all Euphyllia, space should be provided between it and its neighbors. This WYSIWYG coral is a single large head roughly 3.5"+ when fully expanded.

www.tidalgardens.com

I do see real similarities between the two and also the brownish color in the middle seems to be the same. The base of the coral also looks dark and healthy, with the tentacles fully extended in my tank

However, I just wanted a second opinion to see if it is "bleached" since I have never seen one myself due to lack of experience. Attaching a close up photo.

 

[Duffer]

Also understand your lights,spectrum , your parameters, etc are probably different than your lfs so what you saw in his tank will be different in your tank

i hope for the best for you but newer tank without maturity and stability is asking a lot for a coral

 

[brighteous]

Also understand your lights,spectrum , your parameters, etc are probably different than your lfs so what you saw in his tank will be different in your tank

i hope for the best for you but newer tank without maturity and stability is asking a lot for a coral

Thanks Duffer.

It actually looks the same as the lfs. The coral has the same color as what I saw in lfs. So was wondering if I bought myself an already bleached one from the get go.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Looks pretty bleached, but pictures can be deceiving. Keep it in good water (stable parameters) and maybe think about feeding it by broadcast to up the nutrients a bit and should recover and color up.

Also, different lights and different tanks can affect colors.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

How would you compare your lighting with the lfs lighting? If you downgraded its lighting by bringing it home then there could be issues. Nutritional results through both lighting (zooxanthellae) and weekly spot feeding (meaty foods) are the goal. Less light and no supplement feeding could be a problem. Thoughts?

 

[Cell]

Looks a bit faded, but it also looks like it could be a nice torch when colored up!

 

[bradreef]

Thanks for the reply guys. I have two live rocks that I purchased and placed in my tank during the 1 month cycle actually. I introduced corals and livestock after the 1 month cycle with live rock and MicroBacter Start XLM. It was full of Copepods and other micro organisms which really helped with the tank cycling. Also had a copepod bloom, which my Clownfish were going to town for.


I was doing some research and wondering if this may be a "Aussie Green Torch" by any chance.

Aussie Green Torch

The Aussie Green Torch has bright green stalks and green/cream tips. As with all Euphyllia, space should be provided between it and its neighbors. This WYSIWYG coral is a single large head roughly 3.5"+ when fully expanded.

www.tidalgardens.com

I do see real similarities between the two and also the brownish color in the middle seems to be the same. The base of the coral also looks dark and healthy, with the tentacles fully extended in my tank



However, I just wanted a second opinion to see if it is "bleached" since I have never seen one myself due to lack of experience. Attahing a close up photo.

The standard answer for everyone on here is- Your tank is too new. lol. Most of these people would have you wait a year for coral.

The rock looks great, the coral looks slightly bleached but could easily come back. coral expel their zooxanthellae when stressed and can lose that source of nutrients.

Things I would consider in your shoes.

Make sure it has some flow but not too much (looks like it is extended and happy).
Make sure it has light, but not too much as well.
You can try and feed it to give it nutrients in addition.

 

[brighteous]

How would you compare your lighting with the lfs lighting? If you downgraded its lighting by bringing it home then there could be issues. Nutritional results through both lighting (zooxanthellae) and weekly spot feeding (meaty foods) are the goal. Less light and no supplement feeding could be a problem. Thoughts?

My lights were a bit on the low side, so I upped it today. It still extends fully with no issues. I will target feed it for the next few weeks and see the progress. Thanks

 

[brighteous]

The standard answer for everyone on here is- Your tank is too new. lol. Most of these people would have you wait a year for coral.

The rock looks great, the coral looks slightly bleached but could easily come back. coral expel their zooxanthellae when stressed and can lose that source of nutrients.

Things I would consider in your shoes.

Make sure it has some flow but not too much (looks like it is extended and happy).
Make sure it has light, but not too much as well.
You can try and feed it to give it nutrients in addition.

Thanks for the feedback!

I looked up many videos online in regards to flow, and it seems to be a good amount where my hammers, gsp and this torch fully extend. I made sure to place the corals in the mid lower section of my tank so I will monitor and make changes to the light intensity.

How long does it usually take for a faded/bleached coral to have it’s color back? Also, what would you recommend for spot feeding food?

 

[Dburr1014]

So, how old is the tank? I didn't see anywhere you listed it.
What are your parameters? What test kits are you using?
What lights are you're using? What's their setting? What pumps are you using for flow?

The coral does look slightly bleached, not on death's bed by any means. Stable parameters, swaying flow, par of 150 or so will go a long ways for the survival of the coral.
Waiting a year for LPS is excessive, Imo.

 

[brighteous]

So, how old is the tank? I didn't see anywhere you listed it.
What are your parameters? What test kits are you using?
What lights are you're using? What's their setting? What pumps are you using for flow?

The coral does look slightly bleached, not on death's bed by any means. Stable parameters, swaying flow, par of 150 or so will go a long ways for the survival of the coral.
Waiting a year for LPS is excessive, Imo.

The tank is 2 months. I cycled the tank for a month with live rock and live bacteria for a month before adding live stock(2 Clown fish, Royal Gramma, 1 cleaner shrimp, 2 Hermit crabs) and only started adding corals 3 days ago. So the corals have been added after 2 months.

Equipment:

Tank size: 15 gallon long
Lights: Hipargero A029 LED reef aquarium - light set at 100% blue and 40% white. There was a youtube video that did a test the light par, and these lights were emitting anywhere from 150 - 200 range in the mid section of the aquarium.

WaveMaker: Hygger mini wave maker - wave current flow run on lowest. This seems to give the low-medium flow. If I bring it up any higher, it starts blasting the corals and my fish.


Parameters: (Using Salifert)

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 2-5ppm
PH: 8.2
Salinity: 1.025
Alkalinity: 8.3-8.6 (Did a test with LFS since they were out of test kits. Will be getting some this week)

I have 2 hammers, GSP and this torch in my tank. I also have a chaeto growing in the back underneath the filter to keep the phosphate and nitrate levels down.

Attaching a photo of my tank for reference.

 

[Dburr1014]

The tank is 2 months. I cycled the tank for a month with live rock and live bacteria for a month before adding live stock(2 Clown fish, Royal Gramma, 1 cleaner shrimp, 2 Hermit crabs) and only started adding corals 3 days ago. So the corals have been added after 2 months.

Equipment:

Tank size: 15 gallon long
Lights: Hipargero A029 LED reef aquarium - light set at 100% blue and 40% white. There was a youtube video that did a test the light par, and these lights were emitting anywhere from 150 - 200 range in the mid section of the aquarium.

WaveMaker: Hygger mini wave maker - wave current flow run on lowest. This seems to give the low-medium flow. If I bring it up any higher, it starts blasting the corals and my fish.


Parameters: (Using Salifert)

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 2-5ppm
PH: 8.2
Salinity: 1.025
Alkalinity: 8.3-8.6 (Did a test with LFS since they were out of test kits. Will be getting some this week)

I have 2 hammers, GSP and this torch in my tank. I also have a chaeto growing in the back underneath the filter to keep the phosphate and nitrate levels down.

Attaching a photo of my tank for reference.

So long as everything is stable there's not much more you can do. Seems like you've done your homework. Sometimes the biology make up of the tank needs to work itself out. I think some tanks are sooner and some tanks are later.
If you can get that wave maker to give it a random flow that's your best bet. Is it only one pump or do you have another? Having two can definitely give you that random flow and you wouldn't have to turn them on so high.

 

[brighteous]

So long as everything is stable there's not much more you can do. Seems like you've done your homework. Sometimes the biology make up of the tank needs to work itself out. I think some tanks are sooner and some tanks are later.
If you can get that wave maker to give it a random flow that's your best bet. Is it only one pump or do you have another? Having two can definitely give you that random flow and you wouldn't have to turn them on so high.

It’s only one pump. I can switch the setting of the wavemaker to give it a random flow. Will switch it up and see. If it doesn’t seem so random, will grab a second one and give it a go. It seems that the color is more defined in the torch and doesn’t see so bleached today. Will keep monitoring and make necessary changes. Thanks a ton for the advice.

 

[bradreef]

Thanks for the feedback!



I looked up many videos online in regards to flow, and it seems to be a good amount where my hammers, gsp and this torch fully extend. I made sure to place the corals in the mid lower section of my tank so I will monitor and make changes to the light intensity.



How long does it usually take for a faded/bleached coral to have it’s color back? Also, what would you recommend for spot feeding food?

I feed anything my fish eat. Mysis, pellets, ect

 

[Kasrift]

Looks bleached to me, but definitely healthy enough to color up and survive. As others mentioned, torches are more sensitive than others for starting with. I hope you got a good deal. I bought a slightly bleached hammer once since the store was selling it cheaper, it's colored up nicely since then, but you'll have to be on top of things. I was also way further into my tank journey and wouldn't recommend playing coral "vet" early trying to save things because they are a lower price.

 

[brighteous]

Looks bleached to me, but definitely healthy enough to color up and survive. As others mentioned, torches are more sensitive than others for starting with. I hope you got a good deal. I bought a slightly bleached hammer once since the store was selling it cheaper, it's colored up nicely since then, but you'll have to be on top of things. I was also way further into my tank journey and wouldn't recommend playing coral "vet" early trying to save things because they are a lower price.

I actually wasn’t looking for a cheap coral to play vet with but actually thought the colors looked cool . The neon color with white tips stood out among other green torches.
Little did I know the bright colors meant that it was bleached. I guess it stood out because it was placed among dark colored ones haha. Lesson learned..next time I shop for corals, I will know what to look for.

Thanks!