Sps corals bleaching from bottom up

[Acskippy]

Hello all,

have sps frags been running fine for past 2 months great growth and color, 2 days ago noticed some small bleaching near the plugs...as of today its spreading to 5 of my sps frags... no changes to tank params

have at least 15 frags on same rack same spot never moved..... all others are ok

 

[Acskippy]

Think i found problem, had an alk drop of 0.5 over the past 2 days attributed to an empty dosing container... if anyone thinks its something else please lmk

 

[Crustaceon]

I’d have to see your parameters. A .5 dkh drop in two days isn’t that crazy. I’d be more worried about a .5 dkh increase and even then, I’ve raised my alk that far and have not had base recession or any negative response from my acros.

 

[Acskippy]

200 gal
3yrs old
Sps, lps, soft, Anems, zoa, fish
Ph 8.1 to 8.4
Alk 7.8
Cal 440
Mag 1550 (adjusting)
.02 phos
2-5 nit
3 part bionic dose daily
Auto WC 10% /week
Large skimmer
Algae scrub
Biopellet reactor
Chaeto
Chemipure blue
Phyto dose daily
Pods monthly
2 cubes washed frozen food /day
Garlic / vit c soaked nori & 3x/week
1/8 reef roids dose 2x /week

alk dropped to 7.2 over 2-3 days, alk doser ran dry... also been feeding 1 cube instead of 2... and been dropping my mag from 150ml to 50 ml over the course of 2 weeks...

 

[blstravler]

did you dip them? Maybe bacterial or a parasite ? I had the same thing happen and like your parameters nothing was out of the ordinary. I dipped all of mine and saved about 75%. I had no parasites - No idea what caused it to this day.

 

[Joel Franco]

I am currently going through the same thing. I noticed that 5 colonies had white patches on the bottom and I went straight into dipping just in case something was eating the flesh. Not sure about alk swing causing the bottoms and not the top of the coral to strip away.

 

[Acskippy]

I am currently going through the same thing. I noticed that 5 colonies had white patches on the bottom and I went straight into dipping just in case something was eating the flesh. Not sure about alk swing causing the bottoms and not the top of the coral to strip away.

 

[Acskippy]

Yea they were all dipped 5 completely gone in 3 days... smh

 

[Acskippy]

Yea they were all dipped 5 completely gone in 3 days... smh

Update.... have now lost 6 sps... HOWEVER, i went back in my notes and noticed that i did 1 thing.... turn my biopellet reactor back on... didnt feed for 2 days after... nit and phos were very low (0.02 & 2-5) before biopellet... also added chemipure blue at same time... tested nit n phos today, 0’s for both.... could this be the culprit?

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Update.... have now lost 6 sps... HOWEVER, i went back in my notes and noticed that i did 1 thing.... turn my biopellet reactor back on... didnt feed for 2 days after... nit and phos were very low (0.02 & 2-5) before biopellet... also added chemipure blue at same time... tested nit n phos today, 0’s for both.... could this be the culprit?

Yep.

 

[Gordonm]

Yep.

Nope

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Nope

Of course carbon dosing, adding gfo and limited feeding can and usually does cause tissue necrosis

 

[Acskippy]

Of course carbon dosing, adding gfo and limited feeding can and usually does cause tissue necrosis

I pulled one of the corals and inspected for red bugs and there was no sign... also made all these changes over the course of 24 hours, did not dose alk. Didnt feed, started biopellets and added chemipure all in less than a day.... verrrry stupid on my part but did NOT expect this

 

[SliceGolfer]

Necrosis top down/Burned tips usually related to Alk swing. Necrosis from bottom up usually related to bottomed out nutrients.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I pulled one of the corals and inspected for red bugs and there was no sign... also made all these changes over the course of 24 hours, did not dose alk. Didnt feed, started biopellets and added chemipure all in less than a day.... verrrry stupid on my part but did NOT expect this

How are the rest of your acros doing?

 

[Acskippy]

Necrosis top down/Burned tips usually related to Alk swing. Necrosis from bottom up usually related to bottomed out nutrients.

Seems like the most logical... ive had alk swings before but have never not fed for 2 days and added those things... ps also run a large skimmer and an algae scrubber

 

[Acskippy]

How are the rest of your acros doing?

So strange, some fine, some completely gone... dont have pic cuz its night but im sure its because the hardier (cheaper) species can deal a lil better than the expensive ones

 

[Tamberav]

Large skimmer
Algae scrub
Biopellet reactor
Chaeto
Chemipure blue

That is... a lot.

 

[Tamberav]

.02 phos
2-5 nit

for so little...

 

[Acskippy]

That is... a lot.

I must have slept walked...