Rainbow Wellso bleaching under t5s

[RavePartyReef]

I've had a nice rainbow brain for a bout 2 months now. It is on the sand of my long 20 gal. I have 4x24w t5s and I'm not sure what lighting it was under before I bough it... It had some bright red, yellows and now has neon pinks, light greens and the tissue is becoming see-through in some corners. All other corals(mostly lps) are doing very well, water parameters are stable, temp stable and all else growing. This brain has been eating really well just like before, and I feed it mysis 2x week. I have a green brain next to it that I've had for years and it is doing very well/perfect colors. The strange thing is I have a big lobo that came from a friends tank with led and that looked dead orange color up greatly and turn a beautiful redish orange under my t5s. This brain is way down on the substrate and losing color. I can't move him to lower light areas since the tank has corals everywhere else....I might have to place it at the sump with way lower light?
Those that had this issue with their brains, what foods should I feed it? I read at a magazine that power feeding them allows for coloring back, but that the original color will never return...is that the case? I'm jot a big fan of over feeding these guys.
Thanks and help is appreciated.

 

[RavePartyReef]

Here is a pic of the tank:

And this is the coral:(is my favorite, so mad this is happening)

 

[typicaltony]

When I switched from LEDs back to T5 with the same fixture you have, some of my plates started bleaching... I'm thinking it was because of the brand new ATI coral+ bulb that did it but I started dosing Brightwell KoralColor and within a month or two their colors came back, so you might want to give that a try.

That's a beautiful tank you have btw.

 

[BBoley24]

Yeah I read 20g long and thought to myself "welso"... might be a frag tank or something...

Yeeeeeeeah you've got quite the setup there!~

 

[RavePartyReef]

When I switched from LEDs back to T5 with the same fixture you have, some of my plates started bleaching... I'm thinking it was because of the brand new ATI coral+ bulb that did it but I started dosing Brightwell KoralColor and within a month or two their colors came back, so you might want to give that a try.

That's a beautiful tank you have btw.

Thanks brother. Funny I was looking into that yesterday and thought maybe it would help....on their website I couldn't find what is in it...it says pigmentation facilitators but what are those....I really like this brain and it sucks to see it bleach. I will give koralcolor a try

 

[RavePartyReef]

Yeah I read 20g long and thought to myself "welso"... might be a frag tank or something...

Yeeeeeeeah you've got quite the setup there!~

Thanks BBoley24, I've downsized to this 20 from and old 60 sps cube and am very happy with less maintenance....still lots of work though

 

[MarkL]

What t5 fixture are you using?

 

[bct15]

Here is a pic of the tank:

And this is the coral:(is my favorite, so mad this is happening)

In my experience, once you dub or proclaim one of your corals as one of your favorites...you have exponentially increased the chances of something bad happening to it.


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[Dowtish]

I acquired a rainbow wellso from a friend that said it had bleached out in his tank. I have had it now for around 6 months or so under T5's and it is easily 30" down from the light. It has not colored back up at all. I am starting to think that once these lose color, they may not be able to get it back. I'm also not sure if this is a case of losing zooxanthellae and id they are able to build it back?

 

[Reefer831]

Put it into a low flow shaded area which I don't think you have much of… And feed it every day... It should come back for you in about a month.. I have had mine for years and when ever I neglect it without feeding it starts to bleach... All your other LPS's scolys and plates would benefit from feeding also.... Just make sure you don't overfeed because you will start to have a nutrient problem in such a small tank.

 

[dankreef]

When I switched from LEDs back to T5 with the same fixture you have, some of my plates started bleaching... I'm thinking it was because of the brand new ATI coral+ bulb that did it but I started dosing Brightwell KoralColor and within a month or two their colors came back, so you might want to give that a try.

That's a beautiful tank you have btw.

Did you ever take out the coral+ ? I too added 3 coral+ in my 8x80w fixture and started to see some corals bleaching. I removed 2 and am still running 1 and noticed some color coming back. I think I am going to take out the last one as well.

 

[jcdeng]

raise your light about 8 inches from where it is now and keep it there.

 

[NanoTopia]

I agree with much of what has already been said here, raise your light fixture, build something to create a shaded area in your tank, put the bleached corals under the shaded area, and feed, feed , feed. The corals will come back.

In addition: I would recommend bringing all your parameters to NSW levels (if they are not already), corals are more stressed in elevated or depressed levels making them more likely to bleach or STN etc. I get the same growth from my corals at NWS levels as I did when I used to keep things like ALK and Ca sky high. In fact I get better growth with balanced params close to NSW, and my corals are more healthy and resistant to bleaching.

Watch your GFO or bio-pellets (if you are running them) they tend to strip nutrients out excessively and lead to stress...bleaching as well. Most of the corals you are keeping require lower light conditions and feeding to thrive.

My thought here is that the coral was not light acclimated properly and bleaching occurred. Light acclimation is not just about intensity, it involves spectrum as well.

My 2 cents (as they say), good luck, it really sucks to loose corals or even have them bleach out.

Christine

 

[shellynjason]

Your tank is stunning!

I too have T5's , no coral+ though, and notice some of the sps birdsnest that I put up high all look pale. I bought the corals from a guy running MH, so it surprised me that I could be giving to much light. Hope you get that wellso colored up again it sure is sharp looking.