Stylophora bleaching maybe?

Brandonn

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 17, 2019
Messages
68
Reaction score
86
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The tip top started turning white a week ago , no changes at all with environment, please help with advice . Do I have to worry? All my other corals and anemones are happy as can be

2F42DD0D-2558-456A-8E98-C9BCB8B1CB53.jpeg
 
OP
OP
B

Brandonn

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 17, 2019
Messages
68
Reaction score
86
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The tip top started turning white a week ago , no changes at all with environment, please help with advice . Do I have to worry? All my other corals and anemones are happy as can be

2F42DD0D-2558-456A-8E98-C9BCB8B1CB53.jpeg
Could my wrasse be messing with it?
 

Hemmdog

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
11,681
Reaction score
44,773
Location
Silicon Valley, CA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Is this your only sps coral? Sps are more sensitive to fluctuations in the water in comparison to softies & lps.
 

Hemmdog

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
11,681
Reaction score
44,773
Location
Silicon Valley, CA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
First and only sps so far , I have a frogspawn, feliosi, closed brain coral, gsp, and 2 anemones as well.
I see. Do you know your full parameters? Alk, cal, mag, nitrate, phos, salinity, temp
 
OP
OP
B

Brandonn

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 17, 2019
Messages
68
Reaction score
86
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I see. Do you know your full parameters? Alk, cal, mag, nitrate, phos, salinity, temp
Salinity is always between 1.023-25, temp always 78-80 max depending on how hot the summer day is here in Michigan , nitrate is around 20-40 ppm, I’ve struggled with nitrate. I was told not to worry about cal, mag,phos, until I get more hard corals that take up a lot of nutrients. I use reverse osmosis water and do a 3 gallon change every 2 weeks . My aquarium is 20 gallons with a 3 gallon ish sump filter .
 

Westoncase

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 19, 2019
Messages
275
Reaction score
182
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Salinity is always between 1.023-25, temp always 78-80 max depending on how hot the summer day is here in Michigan , nitrate is around 20-40 ppm, I’ve struggled with nitrate. I was told not to worry about cal, mag,phos, until I get more hard corals that take up a lot of nutrients. I use reverse osmosis water and do a 3 gallon change every 2 weeks . My aquarium is 20 gallons with a 3 gallon ish sump filter .

Calcium is definitely very important with sps and lps, not quite that important with soft corals. Somewhere between 400-450ppm is good. I’m not sure about magnesium, and phosphate needs to be .01-.03. It wouldn’t hurt to do bigger or more water changes.
 

Mkeller088

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
May 17, 2019
Messages
146
Reaction score
174
Location
Jensen Beach Fl
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
How long do you run the whites per day? It definitely bleached. Frags that size bleach out completely in a matter of hours once it starts.
I don’t guess you have a par meter?
I’ve had a lot of success with sps in a mixed reef tank. My light cycle is 12 hours, but the whites only run for 3 hours.
Lighting can be a major factor, depending on what lighting they came from.
A safe bet is start low and very slowly bring the lighting up.
I attached my set up using AI 26 HD’s, 8 inches off the water. My SPS are 15 inches below the surface. That’s where my par readings come from.
What lights do you use?

33EF2F9E-1EA8-4110-BD8D-8465B64D4B3E.png
 

JCOLE

Grower of the Small Polyps
View Badges
Joined
Mar 12, 2018
Messages
4,080
Reaction score
11,032
Location
Charlotte, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Salinity is always between 1.023-25, temp always 78-80 max depending on how hot the summer day is here in Michigan , nitrate is around 20-40 ppm, I’ve struggled with nitrate. I was told not to worry about cal, mag,phos, until I get more hard corals that take up a lot of nutrients. I use reverse osmosis water and do a 3 gallon change every 2 weeks . My aquarium is 20 gallons with a 3 gallon ish sump filter .
Stability is key with SPS. SPS isnt hard but it is a lot of work to maintain levels for SPS. This is where the struggle is. Stylophora is pretty hardy.

I think the reason here is your levels were jumping around and stressed the coral out. Your salinity and nitrate reading is a huge gap between. Your phosphate is very important with SPS. Too little and too high will take out some SPS. Also, what is your ALK? Are you measuring ALK everyday? If you ALK is fluctuating a lot throughout the day then that is a death wish for SPS.

If you are looking to get into SPS then I would monitor your parameters daily especially ALK until you reach a level of stability. This is even more important for a smaller tank like yours. The smaller the tank the harder it is on the corals with fluctuations. That is why I have a 150 gallon so it is more forgiving. :) Once your system is stable and not fluctuating then SPS will be much easier to keep.

Keep it up. It happens to all of us and when the tank gets there then it will be very rewarding.
 

Reefing threads: Do you wear gear from reef brands?

  • I wear reef gear everywhere.

    Votes: 17 14.8%
  • I wear reef gear primarily at fish events and my LFS.

    Votes: 6 5.2%
  • I wear reef gear primarily for water changes and tank maintenance.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I wear reef gear primarily to relax where I live.

    Votes: 18 15.7%
  • I don’t wear gear from reef brands.

    Votes: 66 57.4%
  • Other.

    Votes: 8 7.0%
Back
Top