Help with Acro

[Lapras]

Hi all,
Recently (1.5 weeks ago) purchased an acro and it doesn't seem to be doing too well.

What I am noticing is that the tips and base are slowly fading, as if being drained. I still see the polyps in there. I don't see any pests and dipped with Bayer. Attached some pics. The green slimer next to it also has that tip sort of dying off, but seems to be stable at the moment.

The other acros in my tank are doing well.

Params
Lighting: T5 ATI x 8
sg: 1.026
Alk: 7.4
ca: 520
mg: 1330
no3: ~5ppm
po4: ~0.03
ph swings from min 8.11 max 8.28

Thank you for any help!

 

[Silent]

Maybe its getting burned. How old are the bulbs?

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

My old eyes can't really tell from the washed out photo, could be growth. As far as fading occurs sometime this happens going from one tank to the next. Also,are your parameters the same as the tank it came from?

 

[Lapras]

Thank you. The bulbs are about 6 months old. I moved it to a lower light area.

paja3, it's definitely not growth. Sorry for the bad pics. I've attached a better one. The tank from which it came had nearly same parameters, except alk was 8.5, my alk is 7.4

 

[Hemmdog]

Your big 3 are out of balance. Boost alk or drop cal.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Drop your calcium, everything else looks good. How long has the tank been set up?

 

[Lapras]

Killed the CA doser. About 3 years

 

[Lapras]

@jda --- i follow your posts religiously. Any insight? I just checked tonight, ALL polys are still alive, even in the "drained"/white areas of the coralites

 

[Lapras]

Bump. I moved the coral to a much more dim area of the tank. Still hanging on it seems, time will tell.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Are you using any gfo, nopox, vibrant etc?

 

[joseserrano]

Did you dip it, if so with what, and how long?

 

[Lapras]

Dipped with bayer for 10 min.
not using any gfo or anything.

 

[joseserrano]

Could have dipped it too long or used too much. Different corals have different tolerances

 

[vetteguy53081]

PH is is in good range. CA quite high and I would focus on light and water flow. Please describe flow.
Verify salinity with water sample to a trusted LFS.
What is age of tank ? Did you start with lower light setting and gradually bring it up ?

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Could have dipped it too long or used too much. Different corals have different tolerances

Agreed. I only dip for 3 or 4 minutes with Bayer. I actually don’t even dip right out of the bag anymore as I feel it stressed corals too much. I examine them with a magnifying lens and blow them off with a turkey baster and put them in my qt or set up a 3 gallon temp tank and dip them a day or 2 later.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

That looks like a pretty cool frag sorry it’s not doing good. It looks like a coral that’s been dipped too long or harshly. It’s coralites are really flared out and lots of space in between them and I don’t know the species but it looks like an acro that would not fare well past a 4 or 5 min dip. That’s the only thing you have done and it’s a new acro so it makes sense. The slimmer looks like the tip died off too though so who knows.
Where did you get this acro from? Wild or Aquacultured?

 

[Michael Gray]

Following. Since I dip with Bayer for 10 min as well

 

[Lapras]

That looks like a pretty cool frag sorry it’s not doing good. It looks like a coral that’s been dipped too long or harshly. It’s coralites are really flared out and lots of space in between them and I don’t know the species but it looks like an acro that would not fare well past a 4 or 5 min dip. That’s the only thing you have done and it’s a new acro so it makes sense. The slimmer looks like the tip died off too though so who knows.
Where did you get this acro from? Wild or Aquacultured?

Reputable dealer. Aqua cultured. And the more I've been reading, it seems it might have been the dip. I will dip for much shorter time next time.

 

[ScottB]

I find Bayer to be pretty mild on acros -- but I do delay my dip for several days to let the stick "de-stress".

Given your parameters, I think it will settle down. After a 5-6 days, try to get a good look at it under lighted magnification to make sure no bugs/eggs. Short dip again.