As the title says I am trying to figure out why my acros bleached suddenly. Here is everything that has happened past week. Please let me know what you think was the most likely culprit so I don't make the same mistake again. FYI. I tested everything I have test kits for, I know I am missing some important stuff.
Friday 7pm : Added chemiclean to try and get rid of red cyanobacteria. Removed purit (carbon mixture) and let skimmer overflow because directions call for increased aeration.
Sunday 5pm : water test
Nitrate - 1ppm
Phosphate - 04ppm
Alk - 7.9
Calcium - 420
Temp 77.2
Ph 7.96
These numbers are very steady with where I have been keeping them for the past few months.
Sunday 6 pm: performed a 20% water change as per chemiclean instructions.
5 Gallons of the change trying to suck algae from rocks and 5 gallons siphoning 90% of the sandbed.
Skimmer still going crazy can't stop it from overflowing. Also replaced wetside of mp10 with a brand new unit. Rinsed off before adding.
Monday morning: I notice all 3 of my acropora are almost neon colored and their polyps fully extended farther than I have ever seen. Most of the other corals are at least partially closed or not looking good.
Monday noon: acroporas are turning a lighter shade. Everything else still looks bad
Replaced purit mesh bag with fresh stuff in case of chemical contamination.
Monday 7pm: 80% of the color is gone on acropora Everything else still looks bad. Frogspawn is breaking off little pieces and looks very strange.
Monday 8pm: setup skimmer to drain into 5 gallon bucket and use ato to put fresh mixed saltwater back to make up for water drained. Essentially performing a 2 hour 5 gallon water change using the skimmer.
Monday 10pm: water test to figure out what is out of wack.
Nitrate - 1.5
Phosphate - .03
Alk - 8.7
Calcium - 425
Temp- 77.5
Ph - didn't check.
Tuesday night: Acropora is 90% bleached, most other corals looking slightly better including frogspawn. Fish seem unaffected by the whole thing.
Possible causes:
Siphoning the sand bed - I have done this 3 or 4 times before without issue.
Alk swing of 0.8dkh - most likely from the water changes with a higher alk level and auto doser
Chemiclean - not likely but maybe
Microbubbles from skimmer?
If you made it this far thank you for reading everything. I think this is as detailed as I can get, hopefully I can figure it out. It is really disheartening when the tank has been doing good for months and this sort of thing happens.
Friday 7pm : Added chemiclean to try and get rid of red cyanobacteria. Removed purit (carbon mixture) and let skimmer overflow because directions call for increased aeration.
Sunday 5pm : water test
Nitrate - 1ppm
Phosphate - 04ppm
Alk - 7.9
Calcium - 420
Temp 77.2
Ph 7.96
These numbers are very steady with where I have been keeping them for the past few months.
Sunday 6 pm: performed a 20% water change as per chemiclean instructions.
5 Gallons of the change trying to suck algae from rocks and 5 gallons siphoning 90% of the sandbed.
Skimmer still going crazy can't stop it from overflowing. Also replaced wetside of mp10 with a brand new unit. Rinsed off before adding.
Monday morning: I notice all 3 of my acropora are almost neon colored and their polyps fully extended farther than I have ever seen. Most of the other corals are at least partially closed or not looking good.
Monday noon: acroporas are turning a lighter shade. Everything else still looks bad
Replaced purit mesh bag with fresh stuff in case of chemical contamination.
Monday 7pm: 80% of the color is gone on acropora Everything else still looks bad. Frogspawn is breaking off little pieces and looks very strange.
Monday 8pm: setup skimmer to drain into 5 gallon bucket and use ato to put fresh mixed saltwater back to make up for water drained. Essentially performing a 2 hour 5 gallon water change using the skimmer.
Monday 10pm: water test to figure out what is out of wack.
Nitrate - 1.5
Phosphate - .03
Alk - 8.7
Calcium - 425
Temp- 77.5
Ph - didn't check.
Tuesday night: Acropora is 90% bleached, most other corals looking slightly better including frogspawn. Fish seem unaffected by the whole thing.
Possible causes:
Siphoning the sand bed - I have done this 3 or 4 times before without issue.
Alk swing of 0.8dkh - most likely from the water changes with a higher alk level and auto doser
Chemiclean - not likely but maybe
Microbubbles from skimmer?
If you made it this far thank you for reading everything. I think this is as detailed as I can get, hopefully I can figure it out. It is really disheartening when the tank has been doing good for months and this sort of thing happens.