New Acropora Frag problem

[Oceansinmybasement]

Seems I’m having some difficulty with a new frag I got! I am new to corals and have only had some Zoa’s for a few weeks that are doing well. Saw a Acro frag on sale and thought hey why not give it a try. It’s now day three and seems an entire branch has gone white. On day two it looked as if it’s exterior was peeling off. Not sure if it’s bleached or if it’s actually dying, looking for an opinion or some advice on next steps. My magnesium is a little low and I will start dosing for that but other parameters are all within normal limits. I am using a Current USA LED lighting system, and have placed the frag at the top of my rocks, still about 8 inches from the surface. It’s in a high flow area, almost in a direct path of a power head. Not sure if placement is correct or not. Not sure if it matters but specifically this is a Acropora Granulosa.

Water parameters as follows; Calcium 440ppm, Magnesium 1080ppm, Alkalinity 8.5dkh, pH 8.0, Ammonia/Nitrate/nitrite 0ppm, Salinity 1.024, phosphate 0.02ppm

I’ve attached some photos, best I could get. They are from today, don’t have any from before unfortunately.

 

[andrewey]

It looks like it's RTNing. It could be due to flow, acclimation, tank instability, water chemistry, shipping, etc.

How old is the tank?

There are many concerns I have, but ultimately, are you sure you and/your tank are ready for SPS? Generally speaking, "new to corals" and acropora don't do well together.

 

[Oceansinmybasement]

Tank is about 5 months old now, water parameters have been pretty constant for quite some time now. I did drip acclimate when the shipment arrived, and a coral dip/bath. Did not realize sps could be so difficult. But at this point is there any saving it? Just leave it? Take it out? I don’t plan on adding anymore sps for a while but trying to manage this for now.

I understand Acropora can be difficult but I’m looking to get into mixed reef and gotta start somewhere I feel. Feel free to point me towards any simpler hard corals to start with.

Thanks!

 

[Jaysushi]

I would generally wait longer before introducing acros into a system that is only 5 months old. Wait for your system to mature some more. I did not have any success until I waited a little over a year and my coralline algae growth exploded.

 

[jsvand5]

Looks like it’s toast to me. That rock looks much newer than 5 months old. Wait for SPS till you are growing coralline algae.

 

[Tahoe61]

Too soon.

Try some easy inexpensive sps like Birdsnest first.

Yeah some can pull off Acropora in younger tanks, but I think they are the exception. Looks like you started with dry rock? The chem we can test for does not necessarily indicate stability in newer tanks. Once you start to see significant coralline algae growth you are headed in the right direction.

 

[Dilan Patel]

Hey man so unfortunately the coral does look like it is experiencing Rapid Tissue Necrosis(RTN). I personally would leave the coral and try to keep the water chemistry as stable as possible. So putting the coral in front of a power head is not always the smartest move as it can blow off the tissue. Indirect/turbulent flow is best. As for lighting an upgrade may be needed in the future if you want to do a mixed reef. Remember you don't have to go super expensive like radions you can go with chinese black boxes which does the same thing for 1/4 the price...I have both types so if you would like a deeper explanation on which i prefer pm me. Looking at your chem the nitrate at 0 concerns me as you could be starving the coral. I keep mine anywhere from 5ppm to 25ppm and .08 phosphate to give me some wiggle room. An easy fix to this is add more fish which creates more food for the coral As for starter SPS I recommend birdsnest, green slimer as these have been known to be pretty resilient and can most likely get it from a local for cheap.

 

[Oceansinmybasement]

Thanks everyone for the comments. In response to a few questions, yes I used dry rock to start the tank, and it has been up for 5 months now. I will look into those other sps options, i know my lfs finally got a bunch of new stock so might check them out rather than ordering online.

As for stocking, there was mention of increasing stock to increase nitrates.... I have 2 clowns and a damsel, in a 30 gallon. Looking to get a few others soon, particularly a yellow watchman goby to help maintain sand. And possibly a fire fish or royal gramma.

What’s the target phosphate level? I was given guidelines to keep 0-0.03 but there is mention of 0.08 here as well.

Lastly assuming this frag goes completely white /dead. Is it safe to just leave it there? Till I replace in the future or should I take it out right away?

 

[Henryb9]

It’s your nitrates... get it up.. start feeding more.

 

[jsvand5]

What test are you using for nitrates? It pretty unlikely they are actually zero. I don’t think lack of nitrates is the problem since it died so quickly.

 

[Oceansinmybasement]

Using Red Sea for nitrate/nitrite/ammonia. All others are salifert. Any issues there?

 

[Graffiti Spot]

use Salifert for nitrate and don’t worry about nitrite or ammonia.

 

[madweazl]

What test are you using for nitrates? It pretty unlikely they are actually zero. I don’t think lack of nitrates is the problem since it died so quickly.

It's not just the nitrates (or any other single item), it's an immature system that isn't ready for SPS.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Thanks everyone for the comments. In response to a few questions, yes I used dry rock to start the tank, and it has been up for 5 months now. I will look into those other sps options, i know my lfs finally got a bunch of new stock so might check them out rather than ordering online.

As for stocking, there was mention of increasing stock to increase nitrates.... I have 2 clowns and a damsel, in a 30 gallon. Looking to get a few others soon, particularly a yellow watchman goby to help maintain sand. And possibly a fire fish or royal gramma.

What’s the target phosphate level? I was given guidelines to keep 0-0.03 but there is mention of 0.08 here as well.

Lastly assuming this frag goes completely white /dead. Is it safe to just leave it there? Till I replace in the future or should I take it out right away?

As others stated wait to add sps, anything you add right now is just gonna die.
Plenty of people giving you sound advice.

yet, you still want to add sps corals...

 

[ScottB]

Don't be hard on yourself as we are all trying to figure out what makes a "mature system" happen faster. In the old days we started with real live rock which gave us a jump start, allowing us to support SPS earlier. Personally, I have not used/seen a bottled answer to the natural maturation process for SPS.

I have rock that is +12 years old. I move some around when starting up something new. Tampa Bay and KP Aquatics may be options to consider unless you have an LFS that keeps some old rock around.

If I had to speculate, maybe it accelerates you from 18 mos down to 12 to have a mature enough biome for SPS. SPS "eat" differently than other coral, relying more on nutrient (PO4) that is consumed FIRST by specific bacteria that they feed on. One theory anyway.

 

[92Miata]

It looks like you have a monti digitata in the back of one of the photos. Grow that for now - when its doing really well, and is significantly larger, add some birdsnest, or stylo, and then think about adding acros.

For now, start testing alkalinity very regularly - every couple of days. You need to learn how to figure out what your consumption is.


I really doubt you have 440ppm calcium, 8.5dkh, and 1080 ppm mag - its really hard to keep calc and alk at that high with mag that low. I'd bet one of your tests is off (most likely you're not doing it correctly). Mag tests are tougher than the other ones - so its probably that - but make sure.

Also - Everyone says acros need tons of flow and tons of light - but start them off in a relatively calm area of the tank with relatively low light. Pumps can rip the flesh off them and lights can burn them - they need to get used to your water first - and they'll starve a lot slower than they'll die if you shock them.

 

[Oceansinmybasement]

As others stated wait to add sps, anything you add right now is just gonna die.
Plenty of people giving you sound advice.

yet, you still want to add sps corals...

that is correct I would like to add SPS, and requested information on good beginner options. I did not say I wanted to add it today or tommorow. I am asking for the future.

 

[Oceansinmybasement]

It looks like you have a monti digitata in the back of one of the photos. Grow that for now - when its doing really well, and is significantly larger, add some birdsnest, or stylo, and then think about adding acros.

For now, start testing alkalinity very regularly - every couple of days. You need to learn how to figure out what your consumption is.


I really doubt you have 440ppm calcium, 8.5dkh, and 1080 ppm mag - its really hard to keep calc and alk at that high with mag that low. I'd bet one of your tests is off (most likely you're not doing it correctly). Mag tests are tougher than the other ones - so its probably that - but make sure.

Also - Everyone says acros need tons of flow and tons of light - but start them off in a relatively calm area of the tank with relatively low light. Pumps can rip the flesh off them and lights can burn them - they need to get used to your water first - and they'll starve a lot slower than they'll die if you shock them.

thanks for the advice, I have been following the instructions on the salifert kits precisely so I'm not sure where I could be going wrong in that regard. I have been testing weekly thus far, but can increase that if you think I should.

 

[Oceansinmybasement]

I appreciate all the comments and advice. I understand that most agree the system is too new for sps. I made the attempt as i've heard of other new systems having success although rare. I will continue with soft coral and remaining hard coral in the tank for a few months and then revisit SPS when the system has matured.

 

[Boonz28]

As for not being able to grow acros until a tank is a year old or more, I’d agree with it being a good guideline but definitely not a hard rule. I have 2 tanks growing acros in them. One is A 200 gal bare bottom and was started with dry rock, all new equipment (couldn’t stack the deck more against stability). This tank has had acros in it since about 5 months in and hasn’t lost a single one, everything stayed happy and grew well. I should also note that I’m using the Zeovit system on this tank and that’s what I attribute it’s success to. On another tank I started adding sps at around 6 months, lost some, some did well. No Zeovit or anything fancy on that tank.
To answer your question about the frag that’s dying, leave it, at least for a few months if it’s not in the way. I’ve had sps die off to nothing, I’m talking a bare skeleton for 3-4 months, that eventually grew back tissue and recovered. Must have had living DNA somewhere down in that skeleton.
For beginner sps, those mentioned above as well as Anacropora, or Milka Stylo are my recommendations.