Psammocora Issues

[maccyg]

Hi everyone.

I'm new to the forum. I started my marine tank 2 years ago and have kept just fish with live rock but am now venturing into the world of corals.

Wondering if anyone could help me with my 24k Psammocora and suggest what I might be doing wrong. It has been in my tank for a couple of days but it has been gradually looking worse as the hours have gone on so it clearly isn't happy.

The coral has begun losing patches of it's yellow colour, the patches themselves are purple and I'm assuming this is the base of the coral coming through. The change has been quite dramatic as its only been in the tank 24-36hrs so now I'm worried it's going downhill fast.

I have the coral in light of around 100 PAR as I'm conscious not to put it in any higher light while it acclimates but maybe the light is too low? Everything I read about stresses how important it is to keep new additions in lower light but now I am in a battle with myself as to whether the light the coral is getting is too strong or too weak!

I measure my PAR using a Seneye Reef meter, I know it's not as good as more expensive PAR meters but I understand it's measurements are still quite good.

My parameters are:-

Mag 1350
Alk 10
Calcium 420
Ph 7.9
Nitrate 10ppm
Phosphate 0.1
Temp 25.5 Celsius
Salinity 1.026

Light is an AI Prime HD on a 24"x24"x24 which I appreciate is a weak light for the tank size (I made a mistake buying that light really) but I can get around 350-400 PAR higher up on a rock if needed. I contacted the seller yesterday to explain the issue and he told me he was quite certain it wasn't a water parameter issue as he said his parameters pretty much match mine. He said he does grow his corals under T5's (he doesn't like LEDs) but me binning off the AI Prime and switching to a T5 unit on a braceless cube tank isn't an option for me really. He suggested the light the coral is receiving might be too powerful or too focused (the coral isn't going white though so I'm not sure about this) so said I should I move the coral into lower light which I'm happy to do but it's already in 100 PAR so I'm worried that by lowering it further it may continue to detrioriate.

I have a Favia coral in the tank which has been in the tank a year and has been doing fine so it's not like the 24k Psammocora is the only coral in the tank.

I chose a Psammocora as I like the encrusting corals and I have understood that it is more forgiving than Montipora both in terms of parameters and light - plus I gather it's pretty hardy but for some reason it doesn't like me!

I've attached a photo (not the best I apologise) and the purple patch has continued to spread overnight so things are looking worse than the photo taken just 12 hours earlier.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and I'll happily answer any questions anyone might have.

 

[Cell]

Coral skeleton is white and typically turns green from algae. I have no clue what the purple taking over in 24 hrs could be. Pull the frag and get a closer look. Is it algae? Does it blow off? Or is it the coral itself? If its receding flesh and algae growth, it should blow right off.

 

[maccyg]

Hi Cell - appreciate the response.

I've looked at the frag more closely - the purple flesh now appears almost like it's "bubbling" - see updated pic. I've been doing more research and the purple on the frag looks very similar to one posted elsewhere on this site:-

GROWING OR BLEACHING??

hey guys first of all can anyone I.D. This coral? Also, is it growing or bleaching? Thanks!

www.reef2reef.com

Based on the responses to this I am assuming it's a severe case of bleaching so I've moved the frag towards the edge of the tank and now I'm hoping for the best. I'm quite surprised though as I've always thought the AI Prime HD was underpowered for my tank but maybe it's simply a case of the frag being used to being under T5's with the seller, then being in the dark for 24hrs during transit to going under LEDs, perhaps the shock has been too much.

If anyone could confirm bleaching then I would appreciate it as at least I know 100% what I'm dealing with here.

 

[Cell]

I've never heard of bleaching resulting in any color but white/translucent. The AI prime 16 HD is a powerful light.

 

[maccyg]

This is my problem really then as, like you I always thought bleaching resulted in a coral turning white so this is what I've always looked out for.

If not bleaching, and my water parameters seem acceptable then the only other possibility is that it is getting too little light (would a coral go this colour in such a short space of time with too little light?) - therefore by me moving the coral into lower light I am simply speeding up it's demise. If however it IS bleaching then by moving it into more light I am again speeding up it's death. The difficulty I have is that my actions with the coral don't immediately show a result (can take weeks or months) so I can never know - and I worry that if I leave it where it is and do nothing it could also die.

 

[maccyg]

Update. Since moving the coral into less direct light the colour is now brown (see attached). I am now thinking it needs more light - would you agree?

 

[Hermie]

low light will not kill a coral fast, high light will

I would put it in medium/low light and give it time

 

[maccyg]

low light will not kill a coral fast, high light will

I would put it in medium/low light and give it time

Thanks. Yes it's now in PAR of between 100-150 and it's looking a lot better. Still has a brown tinge to it but it's improving so things are on the up

 

[Hermie]

I have a psammocora that turned "white" for a long time after being scraped by an Urchin, but I think it was a defense tactic and it didnt affect the "True" color of the coral, rather it put some kind of white substance on its surface; it took a long time but it's now back to the original color (green/yellow), and growing.

 

[Finn68]

I have a psammocora that turned "white" for a long time after being scraped by an Urchin, but I think it was a defense tactic and it didnt affect the "True" color of the coral, rather it put some kind of white substance on its surface; it took a long time but it's now back to the original color (green/yellow), and growing.

Hello, I am having what I believe to be the same issue with one of mine. It’s an orange psammocora and has small tentacles with lime green tips. Cant remember the name, but just recently i noticed a part of it was turning translucent/ cloudy white. And I had just removed some type of zoas next to them and some had grown back. You saying it was defensive got me thinking/ hoping that’s what is causing mine to do what it’s doing. I’m hoping it will stop spreading and get its color back soon. Thanks! Let me know how long it took your to come back with color

 

[Science/G]

I have watermelon psammocora that has been growing well just off to the side of my Primes in about 100-150 par.

 

[gregrock68]

Update. Since moving the coral into less direct light the colour is now brown (see attached). I am now thinking it needs more light - would you agree?

Brown is an indicator that a coral needs more light typically. If it begins to lose color and turn white that means it's getting too much light

 

[gregrock68]

Below are the details from tidal gardens on psamacora

When it comes to lighting and placement in the tank, Psammocora are pretty flexible. We have kept Psammocora in different lighting intensities, however we favor keeping them in aquariums with medium to high light. Anything around 100-200 PAR is a good starting point. Psammocora have consistent coloration meaning they won’t completely shift color palate in the way Acropora or Montipora will, but that is not to say that better lighting won’t bring out more desirable coloration. In my tanks at least they seem to have brighter colors and better highlights when provided more intense light than say in a dimmer aquarium under 50 PAR.

One thing to always consider is to not fry corals under too much light too quickly. Even if you plan to keep it under 200+ PAR lighting it is always a good idea to acclimate it slowly to those intensities. Lighting that is too intense will kill off a coral much faster than lighting that is too dim, so when in doubt, go with dimmer light and slowly move the coral into higher light. If you start to see Psammocora starting to bleach out, the most likely cause is high lighting intensity and I would recommend relocating the coral immediately or turning down the light if you can.