Too much light on ORA Hawkins?

[DarkSephiroth]

My Hawkins is at the very top of the tank. With 6x54W T5 SunPower blasting on it (Fixture is about 15" above water) (the hawkins is about 2 inches below water).

The tips is always pinkish purple and now its bleached out from the tips.

Calc is about 440
Alk is about 9DkH
PH is about 8.0-8.1
Mag is 1380

Only the Hawkins is bleaching out from the tips, my other acros are doing fine. Any suggestion?

 

[Captain Nemo]

Are there any other corals touching it? I know it sounds stupid, but t happened to me. Also what are the rest of you'd parameters? And a pic would help. Notice any aefw on it? How long have you had it?

 

[swannyson7]

Did you experience an alk swing at all? It could be alk burn seeing as it's at the tips

 

[Troylee]

Sounds like a alk swing... Pics would help greatly...
Be thankful it's just the tips rtn can set in within minutes...

 

[returnofsid]

I don't think your problem is due to too much light, UNLESS this is a recently acquired piece, that came from a drastically different lighting environment.

I'd look for an issue with Alk, as has been suggested. I'd also recommend snipping off the bleached tips, at the first sign of any tissue loss. I've noticed, with smooth skinned Acropora, when they start to "go," they GO quick!

 

[Kataro]

+1 on alk swing resulting in an alk burn. Any other corals in the tank getting white tip? Or just the hawkin

 

[butts182]

alk sounds like the problem, but did you recently change bulbs or just get the nex fixture or move the coral recently? hawkins has fine branches and is kind of finiky

 

[cmcneil]

i think its getting too much light,the hawkins IMO is the most sensitive corals ORA has.there website calls for med-high light but i think it does better under med light.if is a new coral then light is probably the issue.
ORA Hawkins Echinata | Acropora sp. | Oceans, Reefs & Aquariums

 

[DarkSephiroth]

The bulbs are about 10 months old. Need to be changed soon. My alk was recently at 7 and i just dosed it in the sump and it jumped back to 9. So that could've been the problem.

NO3 is 0
PO4 is 0

Also i removed the hawkins and put it down lower in the frag rack

 

[reefsmokinFOOL]

I think its too much light. I did a par check on one at my LFS TODAY. They have had it for 3 months with good growth. The par on that piece was 165. That is pretty low from my pov. Just my 2 cents. Mine died in 1 week that is why i did this par check for my next one. I am better informed now so i will have a better shot next time.

 

[swannyson7]

Over how long of a period did your alk jump from 7 to 9? That's pretty big jump, so I'd be inclined to think that the swing caused alk burn on your tips

 

[drainbamage]

I really don't think its too much light- mine is growing within a couple inches of my teklight, and sdguy's is within a few inches of his halides and looks happy as all heck.

Id say the alk spike could have caused it as-

Aefw: would be tissue loss at base or undersides first typically, not tips

Too much light: rest of coral would also respond with color change or similar

Alk swing: burns growth spots, such as branch tips

 

[NeverlosT]

im going to go alk swing as the cause, it has happened to me (tips burned). Stability and time will tell. I think more than just the tips would be affected if it was too much light.

 

[drainbamage]

Oh, forgot to put this in- if you have an overdriven T5 fixture, your "white" bulbs need to get swapped at 6-9 months, the fixtures burn out the spectrums fairly quick, and that could be affecting it as well

 

[DarkSephiroth]

Ok here are some pics
Note: I just shot it like 5 mins ago and then upload it here, i didn't edit anything besides cropping out all the unwanted corals

 

[DarkSephiroth]

When i tested my alk it was 7, so i add in some BRS 2 parts alkalinity in the sump, so its going to take a while for it to spread evenly in the tank. I always dose it in the sump because i don't want to have an accident where my hand slips and pour it on top of my corals.

Also i don't overdriven my bulbs, its running normally as ATI provided, im not pushing it any higher.

 

[Kataro]

Maybe it's just me, but some of those tip look like they were broken off / eaten.

But the others look like they rtn and algae is growing on it now.

 

[DarkSephiroth]

I clipped it off after it was bleached on the tip.

 

[Kataro]

Oh I see, was this recently acquired and did you dip it in anything?

I think I remember some people having issue w/ hawkin echinata after dipping it

 

[DarkSephiroth]

I had it for about 5 months, it was doing fine until a week ago