Help with Millepora Colony

[Tswifty]

Over the past week, my Green Millepora colony has been looking worse and worse. It used to be dark green, but has been getting lighter and lighter in coloration lately. It's looking like I'm going to lose it soon, so I figured I would post here to see if anyone has any ideas.

It's in strong flow, and par of around 300

Here is what it looks like now:

Here are some older pics of it:

 

[killingseed2000]

has the lights change in any way? maybe its too close to the lights? how long have you had the coral? how do the other corals around it look?

 

[Tswifty]

Thanks for the response.

Not really, I added a second pendant to the tank on June 3rd (almost 2 months ago) and this just started the past week. I've had the colony for a while now, almost 5 months. There is a Pink Millepora right next to it that looks great.

 

[jhsu703]

Have you moved the millepora at all recently? I remember once i moved my red planet up one inche and out of nowhere it started to bleach. I had to lower it and the color came back

 

[gilmour01]

what are your basic params?

 

[Tswifty]

Have you moved the millepora at all recently? I remember once i moved my red planet up one inche and out of nowhere it started to bleach. I had to lower it and the color came back

No, it's been in the same spot since I added it.

 

[Tswifty]

what are your basic params?

I was away this weekend, so I'm going to test tomorrow.

 

[sailfish]

Do you use single ended bulbs? If so you may want to make sure the glass is not creaked and leaking UV. To me 300 par is on the low side but that may be just my tank as I run 400s

How long have you had the piece?

Joe

 

[Tswifty]

I don't think the PAR is too low, since I have had it for 5 months. I run DE bulbs. I just checked, and no the glass is not cracked.

Do you think too much direct flow could cause this? I may try and move the piece tomorrow away from the VorTech some.

 

[gilmour01]

do you run phosphate media?

 

[Tswifty]

Yes, I began running GFO (Warner Marine Research PHOSaR) in a TLF Reactor about 1 month ago.

 

[gilmour01]

hmmm....not sure. it looks healthy other than the color change. i would think if it was something in the water or with the lighting, then you would have issues with other colonies as well. my only other thought would be to keep your alk closer to 8, but if its been doing well in these parameters then i doubt that has anything to do with it. maybe you could try dosing brightwells koralcolor or something similar to see if it improves.

 

[xrayrider]

My local reef club did som experiments, and most SPS can "survive" in as little as 180 to 200 PAR. 300 PAR is just about right for optimal growth. More is okay, but not needed. Check very closely for red bugs. I was once having a problem with only two colonies od SPS. One was newly added, and the other was right beside it. They didn't kill the colonies, the just slowed the growth, and changed the color. A friend pointed out the Red Bugs to me, or I probably would never have figured it out. They are very hard to see. Alk and Phosphate levels can also effect color.

Good Luck.

 

[aerius007]

Check very closely for red bugs.
Good Luck.

Will red bug mess with a milli? I thought I remembered hearing they dont, but I have no experience with them. I would doubt that the milli is getting too much flow, ive seen them love tons of flow, but if your vortech is dialed on the high side and its getting hit directly it could be a problem. Maybe try dialing the flow down for a day or two of you can, add an extra mj (im sure you have one or two sitting in closest, we all do) to the other side and see what happens. The only concern I would have with doing that is your rbta going for a walk.

 

[FateX8]

am i the only one or do i only see a rose mille?
sorry to get off topic
also the temperature change could have caused the bleaching

 

[Tswifty]

am i the only one or do i only see a rose mille?
sorry to get off topic
also the temperature change could have caused the bleaching

There is a Rose Milli in the second picture along with the Green milli. However, my current issue is only with the Green Millepora.

 

[Tswifty]

hmmm....not sure. it looks healthy other than the color change. i would think if it was something in the water or with the lighting, then you would have issues with other colonies as well. my only other thought would be to keep your alk closer to 8, but if its been doing well in these parameters then i doubt that has anything to do with it. maybe you could try dosing brightwells koralcolor or something similar to see if it improves.

Yeah, that's why I'm kind of confused. The problem seems to be isolated just to this colony. Which is why I think it could potentially be some sort of pest? I've always ran high alk (usually 10-12) on all my reef tanks and never experienced issues from it.

 

[Tswifty]

My local reef club did som experiments, and most SPS can "survive" in as little as 180 to 200 PAR. 300 PAR is just about right for optimal growth. More is okay, but not needed. Check very closely for red bugs. I was once having a problem with only two colonies od SPS. One was newly added, and the other was right beside it. They didn't kill the colonies, the just slowed the growth, and changed the color. A friend pointed out the Red Bugs to me, or I probably would never have figured it out. They are very hard to see. Alk and Phosphate levels can also effect color.

Good Luck.

Yes, 200-400 PAR is fine for most SPS corals. So I do not think the intensity is to blame here.

Red Bugs only effect smooth skinned Acropora.

 

[Tswifty]

Will red bug mess with a milli? I thought I remembered hearing they dont, but I have no experience with them. I would doubt that the milli is getting too much flow, ive seen them love tons of flow, but if your vortech is dialed on the high side and its getting hit directly it could be a problem. Maybe try dialing the flow down for a day or two of you can, add an extra mj (im sure you have one or two sitting in closest, we all do) to the other side and see what happens. The only concern I would have with doing that is your rbta going for a walk.

I think I'm going to pull it out here in a little, inspect it, then move it out of the path of the VorTech and see what happens. At this point if I do nothing I'm pretty positive I'm going to lose it anyway, so I'm going to start experimenting a little.

 

[Tswifty]

Oddly enough, after viewing my pictures.... some people also mentioned that they do not think the colony is an A. Millepora either, and it may be an A. Tenuis???