SPS help!! Bleaching or RTN..advice..

[Southern Fishing Co.]

So I'm relatively new but have been learning as much as possible. My tank is 4.5 months old. Its has 6 news, 4 RFN's, some zoo's, LPS, a softy or 2(have 2 more coming)n a few leathers. All of those are doing great! But ever SPS(except a single red digi frag) all bleach......ive tried lowering the light intensity and slowly acclimate them. But every time they either bleach or maybe its RTN. Im not sure. I have a birds nest that has lost all its skin except a 1cmx1cm section that seems to possible be getting bigger. But I got this one SPS that was a small coloney im guessing...it has a 2in x 2in round tree branching looking and it was ok for a day or two and then it started to bleach. Ive tried different areas of the tank for different light and flows but it doesn't seem to matter what I do it just keeps loosing skin....any ideas or experience that could help me. Maybe I'm not understanding something correctly...ive attached 2 photos the first is of my digi, the second has the birds nest in it and the other sps(i can't remember the name of it to save my life but the polyps are green in color.

 

[Greg P]

Possibly shock. Did you test the parameters of the original tank water and your's?
Did you acclimate?

 

[Duffer]

What are your parameters and include nitrate and phosphates...if you are getting swings in the alk and/or phosphate it can lead to bleaching...

also your tank is young,so sps tend to not do well until a tank fully matures...some folks have luck with young tanks but not many...

 

[Southern Fishing Co.]

So first yes I've tested the water from both my LFS along with a local home dealer that does things the right way....she's shown me her procedures and everything and me and my roomate(who got me into this hobby after seeing his tank after moving in, and I meet the local lady from him and get 90% of my stuff from her and haven't had a coral from her haven't any negative reations or any corals go downward on me all growing nicely and color is great. Here are my tank parameters-

DkH-10.8
Cal- 450
Ammonia-0ppm
Nitrates-12ppm
Nitrites.01
Phosphate-.04
Temp-78°
Salinity- .025

34gal display tank and 2gal fx4 canister filter(got it bc I was new.....Im in the process of making a sump to replace the canister filter. N im running LEDs with a par range of 60-300 depending on the area and I believe my flow is good as well, I have high flow and low flow areas to allow different corals needs. If there's any other info you need please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Southern Fishing Co.]

Also my calcium and alk don't swing very much one way or the other and I do weekly 15-20% WC religiously.

 

[Southern Fishing Co.]

What would you consider a mature tank? Bc I know some peoples mature quicker or slower than others depending on that person's system.

 

[Southern Fishing Co.]

And yes I do acclimate them first floating them to come to temp and then I so a slow drip and a dip(revive).

 

[Tamberav]

That is RTN. I would run your alk lower, somewhere between 7-9ish (depending on salt). SPS tend to be more tricky at higher alk. Especially if that PO4 ever has gotten any lower. Just use a salt with a lower alk for water changes. It is easier to acclimate frags too since you won't be changing alk as dramatically from the system you bought from to yours if your alk is somewhere in the middle.

 

[Southern Fishing Co.]

Ok ill def give that a try. Thanks.

 

[Duffer]

Your parameters look good but like pointed out to you with low nutrients that alk is high, bring it down slowly, around 8-8.5

mature tanks can take yrs sometimes..stability is key in this hobby...if you start out with dry rock it can take quite a while for the right bacteria to form in your tank, but like I said some folks can go faster...I went thru a year with ever sos coral dieing, until a few months ago they finally are living and growing..took me 2 yrs...lips corals no problem

 

[Knotyet]

My tank did the same thing for months I couldn't keep any sps they would start losing tissue the bleach out and die. Its now at the 14 month mark and all new sps are growing now. I think its just the newer tank isn't stable yet. It'll pass

 

[saltybees]

What’s your mag? Alk is probably too high like people are saying with that low of n+p and it really isn’t really necessary to drip your corals, just float to temp, dip then into the tank..

 

[Greg P]

So first yes I've tested the water from both my LFS along with a local home dealer that does things the right way....she's shown me her procedures and everything and me and my roomate(who got me into this hobby after seeing his tank after moving in, and I meet the local lady from him and get 90% of my stuff from her and haven't had a coral from her haven't any negative reations or any corals go downward on me all growing nicely and color is great. Here are my tank parameters-

DkH-10.8
Cal- 450
Ammonia-0ppm
Nitrates-12ppm
Nitrites.01
Phosphate-.04
Temp-78°
Salinity- .025

34gal display tank and 2gal fx4 canister filter(got it bc I was new.....Im in the process of making a sump to replace the canister filter. N im running LEDs with a par range of 60-300 depending on the area and I believe my flow is good as well, I have high flow and low flow areas to allow different corals needs. If there's any other info you need please don't hesitate to ask.

If your tank params match that of the donor tank you shouldn't be having issues
The listed params are from what tank?
Do these match your tank and the donor tank?

 

[Greg P]

And yes I do acclimate them first floating them to come to temp and then I so a slow drip and a dip(revive).

But, I'll ask again
What are the donor tank and your tank params ...

Sorry to beat a dead horse here, but I want to point out you need to acclimate

If one of your params don't match it may cause problems

 

[Greg P]

it really isn’t really necessary to drip your corals, just float to temp, dip then into the tank..

I disagree
Acclimating corals is important, especially if they are sensitive.
Temp acclimate to tank temp, then drip. Drip time is dependent on how far out of balanced your 2 water samples are.

 

[Greg P]

Dripping corals can take hours if your Big 3 plus N&P are not close enough

 

[saltybees]

I disagree
Acclimating corals is important, especially if they are sensitive.
Temp acclimate to tank temp, then drip. Drip time is dependent on how far out of balanced your 2 water samples are.

Can I ask what you base that off of? No one would tell you to change alk by over 1 dkh in a day or calc by over 100 in a day so why would it be necessary to do it within a couple hours max to a coral that’s been sitting in a stagnant bag of waste for potentially 48 hours? once you open the bag it’s only going to stress the coral out more sitting in that water with oxygen being introduced. Wouldn’t it be better to get it into fresh flowing water instead of having it sit in toxic water for a few hours then exposed to chemicals? THEN put in the tank?

 

[saltybees]

Not trying to sway anyone to not drip acclimate their corals, but ime the only corals I’ve lost are ones ive dripped..and I’m not the only one.

 

[Alexopora]

Can I ask what you base that off of? No one would tell you to change alk by over 1 dkh in a day or calc by over 100 in a day so why would it be necessary to do it within a couple hours max to a coral that’s been sitting in a stagnant bag of waste for potentially 48 hours? once you open the bag it’s only going to stress the coral out more sitting in that water with oxygen being introduced. Wouldn’t it be better to get it into fresh flowing water instead of having it sit in toxic water for a few hours then exposed to chemicals? THEN put in the tank?

I think both of you have merits. It really depends on how long the coral has been in the bag. If the coral has only been for at most a few hours in the bag, dripping the corals would be better. However if the corals were shipped and have been in the bag for a day or longer, it’s not really recommended to drip as the coral has been sitting in less than ideal water for a long time. Also, drip acclimating a coral should not be done more than an hour unless you can absolutely assure that the temperature in the container (where the new coral is) and your destination tank matches.

 

[saltybees]

I think both of you have merits. It really depends on how long the coral has been in the bag. If the coral has only been for at most a few hours in the bag, dripping the corals would be better. However if the corals were shipped and have been in the bag for a day or longer, it’s not really recommended to drip as the coral has been sitting in less than ideal water for a long time. Also, drip acclimating a coral should not be done more than an hour unless you can absolutely assure that the temperature in the container (where the new coral is) and your destination tank matches.

I’ve had acros stink up the bag from 15 mins from my house, last thing I’d do is dip it for an hour for the 8dkh in the bag to match the 9 in my tank..like I said if you want to drip acclimate do it but it’s not necessary, lots of people float dip and drop without repercussions. As far as I’m concerned it’s a personal preference, there’s no evidence to show either or is better that I’ve come across..I’d love to see documented proof that shows what’s better if it’s out there. Just trying to help this guy out with his frags.