Crash Course on Bleaching

[dmorel]

OK,
I understand that there are a variety of things that can cause bleaching in corals. (temp, ph, calc, swings in just about anything...)
But when you put 8 new frags in a tank, one of them bleaches immediately, another over night and then a third starts to show signs of going while the other 5 look great I just don't even know how to react.

How long do I wait before I write off a stark white coral?
I bought a piece of cap that bleached a little, but two weeks later it started to recover, but it was a far cry from turning stark white like these are doing/have done.

I test my water with test kits and everything always measures fine with the exception of po4 being ~.1 and if I use the "you can tell by your corals method" then my tank is psycho cause there seems to be no rhyme or reason to anything that happens in there.

Any advice on what I might want to be looking for would be great.
Also on the way you folks respond to bleaching corals would be great too, since I don't really know what to do. I get depressed looking at these two beautiful pieces that are white, and this third one that is on its way, but I don't want to give up on them yet.

As always, thanks for your thoughts.

-dm

[Stoli]

Dave:

Not that I think it's a supply problem, but where did you get the frags? I'd wonder what the lighting conditions were in the seller's tank. You may have dramatically increased the light. I've heard many stories of reefers simply replacing old bulbs with new ones and ended up bleaching corals. Seems to me that if your other parameters are OK, that could be a cause. Also, did you dramatically change the current as compared to the seller's tank? Same concept.

Stoli

[dmorel]

Stoli,
I hear what you're saying about current and light.
I guess that these could be the source of the bleaching as much as anything else.
I even understand that some corals are more likely to suffer from these changes (or any changes at all) then others, perhaps explaining why 3 of 8 bleached (or are clearly bleaching) and the others seem to be doing great.
I did acclimate all of them the same way; exchanging water over a period of about 90 minutes.

In the future I guess the take home message is to find out exactly what the conditions for these corals has been and try to replicate them as close as one can (provided they were successful to being with).
I admit, the only thing I knew was that these were corals a fellow had been fragging for a while now with a high rate of positive response from folks on the board who had gotten some from him.

All things being what they are I guess my current pressing questions are:
What should I do now?
How long do I wait before I "give up" on a coral?
If it's bleached should I move it or just let it be and see if it comes around?

Regards,
-dm

[Semi newbie]

dmorel, I am experiencing some of this too but I recently upgraded my lights. I have had them for about a week and a half now and they are up to about 4 hours on, maybe a little shy of that. The actinics are on for 12 hours, that is the same wattage as before. I have noticed that the two stonies I have are appearing a little white. One worse than the other but I am still not sure it is bleaching as I have never seen this phenomenon before. I don't really know what to do either. I just know it totally bums me out! I think my ricordia is upset too but not positive of that yet either. I am waiting to see what that does today when the halide comes on!!!!! Thanks for asking these questions and starting this thread, hopefully we will be able to rescue our frags!!! Do you think I should back off on the lights for a while?????

[Stoli]

Keeping in mind that my SPS experience is probably about the same as yours, just a couple of common sense things. First, get in touch with either Playfair or Todd. Second, find out what the conditions were in the seller's tank, if possible. Third, if not, depending on where the frags are in the tank, try moving them up or down and into or out of current flows.
Fourth, sacrifice a virgin to Poseiden and ask for his divine intervention. If that doesn't work, see 'first'.

[Playfair]

Dave, Stoli summed up new arrival bleaching pretty well. If this did indeed happen, there will still be flesh on the skeleton, and even polyps showing, it's just the coral will be white (sps are sometimes hard to tell if there is tissue or not). The other thing that could have happened is RTN (rapid tissue narcosis) which would very quickly leave nothing but skeleton left. If this is the case, then they are history. If you have only bleached them, then try cutting back on lighting and hope for the best. When this has happened to me, it has taken up to 6 months to recover!

Semi, shortened photoperiod is only part of the story to increased light acclimation, and many feel it doesn't work well when the intensity is increased by a large amount (the analogy would be all winter inside, then going into the Florida sun... 20 minutes and you are history!). One of the best ways to acclimate is to raise up the canopy and slowly lower (inverse square law). I have also placed "sun blocking" strips of wood on the lip of the tank to protect sensitive corals from rapid light changes.

[Gary Majchrzak]

Losing frags is no fun.Losing newly imported colonies at $50 each and up is a cause to cry.Dick Perrin {owner of Tropicorium in Detroit}once told me that only 1 in 10 colonies of pink seriatopora {birdsnest}survives shipment and acclimation rigors.Usually a multiple change in environmental parameters causes a coral to bleach.

[ReeferMac]

Good points and idea's Dave, my experience matches as well.
I got in a shipment from Atlantis Aquatics once, where half the corals bleached and died, half didn't so I know your pain... Couldn't put rhyme or reason to it either.
Over the time it's been since I ordered them (little over a year), I've gotten in a lot of other frags, and noticed a few things about my system:

My Salinity is too high. I'm using a Marinomat Hydrometer, and after comparing it with a reading from a refractometer, I'm at about 1.029... but stable.

My Alkalinity and Ca are very high most of the time. Kalkwasser's great $hit!

My "Nutrient Levels" (DOC's, etc.) are probably a lot higher than most people keep SPS in (seem's I'm always on the verge of an algae outbreak).

My pH run's on the high side (8.2+ most time during the day).

The analogy I like to use is similar to Dave's... ever take a Western New Yorker and ask them what they thought of Las Vegas? Serious change in environment...

In my last shipment, like I said, half the frags kicked it... Half of the half (I 'spose I could have just said 1/4), were gone nearly instantaneously... Within an hour or two. The one mille seemed to slough off it's flesh as I was adding it to the tank.

They were all aclimated over a couple hours to my water... all were placed on the sandbed to get used to the lights (Brian uses 10K 400 Watt Lamps on 40 Gal Breeder tanks).. so while the lighting was comparable, my spectrum was wildly different from his... He also attempts to maintain pristine water conditions and is a minimalist when it comes to feeding... something very far removed from what I do.

So all that being said... what killed the corals I ordered? Prolly a combination of all the things. Some were just more tolerant to certain conditions than others. Consequently, some were able to adjust and survive (as evidenced by that solid purple Acro growing out in the back of my tank), some held on for a few days, but slowly spiraled into white-hood. And finally, some gave up from the get-go.

What does that mean to your situation? Well, these are nothing more than one person's anecdotal observations, and a different vendor's tank... but...

I think it's safe to say, being a newly setup tank, that things are still stabilizing in your tank... That leads me to believe there may be some things different about your water than the guy you got these frags from. Lighting.. prolly different too. Flow can definitely impact the coral, but I would expect that to be more an issue over time (few days to a week), than immediately, as it most likely will affect the polyp extension of the coral (and the affects from that will take time to show). Some of the corals could have been at the bottom/top of the box, too far away (or too close) to the heat pack... Million things, maybe it got drop-kicked down the runway by Fed/Ex?

IME, once an SPS starts to go, you're very lucky to recover it... I usually just leave 'em be. However I think you'll stand a better chance if you put it lower, and give it more time to acclimate. I know how frustrating it can be, sitting there watching a coral die over a few days, totally helpless. One of the reason's people are so high on Captive Raised Frags, as this situation is generally less likely than when ordering wild caught heads... and it's less traumatic to the bio-tope we all love so much. As you can see however, ordering frags is still not a 100% guarantee.

Also, RE: Bleached vs. dead coral... On SPS, I use the corralite as my indicator, if it's dead or just bleached. When the coral is dead, the skeleton (limestone rock at this point), is fully exposed, and natural bio-films and what-not can encroach on it. Seems that every time I get a Dead Acro Frag, the first thing I notice is a brownish color in the corralite (or the hole where it used to be). If you look on the ends, and see brown just in that tiny recess of the skeleton, chances are it's a goner. Best bet would be to place the frag on the sandbed near the glass, and try to look at it with a magnifying glass. You get the right angle, you can actually see the skin on top of the skeleton... to wit, I have a spare 10x loupe if'n your interested.

- Mac

[dmorel]

Thanks for the posts everyone.

Kev your post made me feel better (at least till I got back home and saw the tank again).

I have not yet been able to determine if we are talking about bleaching or rtn. Appreciate that you guys were able to make me aware that there is an obvious and identifiable difference.
I will try sometime to move the frags to glass and view them with magnification.

regards,
-dm

[Stoli]

Dave:

I was thinking about your problem today. One other thing to check is a PH spike. I thought you had a ph monitor or controller so probably not a problem, but just another thought. How is the rest of the tank doing?

[RandyO]

I thought I'd add to this post. I would guess the lights caused the bleaching. Its always a good idea to put the frags on the very bottom of the tank when you order them from somewhere. Do you know how long they were in the box? If they were in transit for a few days in complete darkness, and then you throw them under intense lighting, they can bleach instantly. I see this more often when the boxes are delayed a day or two. SPS corals are able to adapt to lower light conditions. In the ocean, they will snap off frags from wave motions, and fall down. They adapt to lower light and quickly attach and start to grow up. This is part of their evolutionary history. But what does not happen is the sps breaks and blows up to higher more intense lit areas. They can not handle the quick increase in light.
Anyway, the point I am tryng to make is, better off in lower light than brighter. If your not sure, keep it low.

[Zmann]

I agree with what Randy said. I almost always put my frags on the bottom for at least a week till they turn a light shade of brown then slowly move them up.

[dmorel]

Stoli,
the ph is steady, and yes it's monitored by the controller.
It swings a little over the course of the day but nothing out the ordinary.

Randy and Zmann,
I will from now on put my frags on the sandbed as suggested.
At this point I have three of my new frags that may or may not be toasted.

Would you guys think moving them down now is worth doing or should I just leave them at this point figuring the damage is done?

Thanks again for your practical advice.
Regards,
-dm