Soft corals bleaching

[Saltwater_hobbiest]

Has anyone had a lot of soft corals start to bleach in their reef tank? A lot of my soft corals are starting to bleach and I have had my reef tank for a year now. What could it possibly be?

 

[bluemon]

Has anyone had a lot of soft corals start to bleach in their reef tank? A lot of my soft corals are starting to bleach and I have had my reef tank for a year now. What could it possibly be?

It’s like asking someone to give answers to life right there.

You need to give us something, anything to start off of.

Tank size?
Lighting?
Parameters?
Inhabitants?
Recent changes?
Pictures?

 

[Saltwater_hobbiest]

It’s like asking someone to give answers to life right there.

You need to give us something, anything to start off of.

Tank size?
Lighting?
Parameters?
Inhabitants?
Recent changes?
Pictures?

Tank size - 50 gallons
Lighting - 2 95 watt SMATfarm lights at 30% white and 80% blue
I have 2 clownfish, royal gramma, 2 damsels, tomini tang, blue regal tang, blood shrimp, sand sifting starfish and an emerald crab
Parameters - picture below
Pictures of bleaching below as well

 

[BonnieB]

Since soft corals are so hardy and adaptable, there’s a good chance they are stressed and/or not getting enough light (since they are photosynthetic creatures) now for some reason. But as @bluemon said, without pics and info it is hard to help you here.

 

[bluemon]

Tank size - 50 gallons
Lighting - 2 95 watt SMATfarm lights at 30% white and 80% blue
I have 2 clownfish, royal gramma, 2 damsels, tomini tang, blue regal tang, blood shrimp, sand sifting starfish and an emerald crab
Parameters - picture below
Pictures of bleaching below as well

The nitrate could be higher.

I would try lowering the lights? Not sure how powerful those lights are in PAR.

Lastly, you cannot keep those tangs in a 50

Also, anything change in the last few months? New additions, equipment, etc

 

[Saltwater_hobbiest]

Since soft corals are so hardy and adaptable, there’s a good chance they are stressed and/or not getting enough light (since they are photosynthetic creatures) now for some reason. But as @bluemon said, without pics and info it is hard to help you here.

I added the photos above

 

[Saltwater_hobbiest]

Since soft corals are so hardy and adaptable, there’s a good chance they are stressed and/or not getting enough light (since they are photosynthetic creatures) now for some reason. But as @bluemon said, without pics and info it is hard to help you here.

I added the photos above

The nitrate could be higher.

I would try lowering the lights? Not sure how powerful those lights are in PAR.

Lastly, you cannot keep those tangs in a 50

Also, anything change in the last few months? New additions, equipment, etc

I had the lights at only 35% the past two months and the corals have been bleached for that long as well. I just changed the lights to 80% today.

 

[bluemon]

Since soft corals are so hardy and adaptable, there’s a good chance they are stressed and/or not getting enough light (since they are photosynthetic creatures) now for some reason. But as @bluemon said, without pics and info it is hard to help you here.

I added the photos above

The nitrate could be higher.

I would try lowering the lights? Not sure how powerful those lights are in PAR.

Lastly, you cannot keep those tangs in a 50

Also, anything change in the last few months? New additions, equipment, etc

I had the lights at only 35% the past two months and the corals have been bleached for that long as well. I just changed the lights to 80% today.

The lower light is a big culprit.

I’ve never had mushrooms bleach out unless they were babies stuck in literal darkness.

And you really need to rehome at least the blue tang

 

[Saltwater_hobbiest]

The lower light is a big culprit.

I’ve never had mushrooms bleach out unless they were babies stuck in literal darkness.

And you really need to rehome at least the blue tang

Yeah it is going in a bigger tank soon. Do you think my water parameters are making the coral bleach or do you think it was the lights at 35%?

 

[bluemon]

The lower light is a big culprit.

I’ve never had mushrooms bleach out unless they were babies stuck in literal darkness.

And you really need to rehome at least the blue tang

Yeah it is going in a bigger tank soon. Do you think my water parameters are making the coral bleach or do you think it was the lights at 35%?

At face value,

Nitrates could be higher for softies, around 20-50 is my soft spot for thriving softies.

But other than that, nothing stands out.

Salinity?

 

[Saltwater_hobbiest]

At face value,

Nitrates could be higher for softies, around 20-50 is my soft spot for thriving softies.

But other than that, nothing stands out.

Salinity?

Salinity is 1.025

 

[Saltwater_hobbiest]

Salinity is 1.025

Do you think my 5.8 alkalinity is playing a factor in the bleaching?

 

[bluemon]

Do you think my 5.8 alkalinity is playing a factor in the bleaching?

Most likely not. Alkalinity doesn’t matter for shrooms

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

IMO lights at 35% would be an issue, its too low. But if you bumped it up to 80% in one shot, that might be the problem. Increase light intensity slowly over a period of time.

Even though soft corals don't depend much on alk, I would still fix it. Are you doing regular water changes? If you are doing weekly water changes I don't see how it can get that low.

 

[BonnieB]

Since soft corals are so hardy and adaptable, there’s a good chance they are stressed and/or not getting enough light (since they are photosynthetic creatures) now for some reason. But as @bluemon said, without pics and info it is hard to help you here.

I added the photos above

Yes that was a typo

 

[BonnieB]

Since soft corals are so hardy and adaptable, there’s a good chance they are stressed and/or not getting enough light (since they are photosynthetic creatures) now for some reason. But as @bluemon said, without pics and info it is hard to help you here.

I added the photos above

The nitrate could be higher.

I would try lowering the lights? Not sure how powerful those lights are in PAR.

Lastly, you cannot keep those tangs in a 50

Also, anything change in the last few months? New additions, equipment, etc

I had the lights at only 35% the past two months and the corals have been bleached for that long as well. I just changed the lights to 80% today.

Go slow with the light increase…don’t want to shock them!