Acro bleaching bottom up

arbee · #1 07/04/2007, 11:51 AM

I got a couple small frag of acro yesterday. First attempt at keeping sps. I will post a couple pics of some bleaching on the bottom of the frags.
My tank is 125 gallons, with 14 T-5 36w bulbs. I have two Hydor Koralla 4 on each end of the tank with one 1200 Maxi-jet in the center back with a Hydor Flo.
My paremeters:
PH-taken right as display lights came on) 8.2 (sump on reverse lighting)
Alk 3.0 (six drops to yellow with the Seachem test)
Calcium is 300 (Seachem Reef Status)
Am 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate < 2.5
Phosphate 0
I am using 2 Part Bionic to dose daily.
The have PE. Could it be too much light? Anything I can do to stop the progression of the bleaching?
Pics-first taken yesterday afternoon after placing:

Pic just taken today--less than 24 hours:

I have two other small frags--they are showing the same thing, but not as much.
Thanks for any suggestions and help. I knew this would be difficult but never thought it could turn bad so fast

Thanks~
Rita

Twistedpro · #2 07/04/2007, 01:39 PM

if its too much light you would see the tips and upper edges burnt, it looks more alk like to me. When you say 3 is that DKH, ppm etc?

arbee · #3 07/04/2007, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Twistedpro
if its too much light you would see the tips and upper edges burnt, it looks more alk like to me. When you say 3 is that DKH, ppm etc?

Twistedpro~Sorry that was so vague.
According to the test-each drop is 0.5 meq/L
I assume the results would be 3.0 meq/L since it took 6 drops to turn yellow. I should be between 2.5 to 4 meq/L according to the charts posted on RC to be within normal range.

Cultivatedcoral · #4 07/04/2007, 02:10 PM

It's probably your alk. Your test kit doesn't sound very accurate, try a Salifert test kit.

If the frags came from a tank that had 6-8dkh and your running your alk at 8.6-11dkh then your coral is going to bleach from the base up.

6-12dkh is acceptable although if your corals are not used to a higher alk then they will bleach from the base up.

Are you using a calcium reactor or dosing kalkwasser? If so, that is why your alk is probably a little high.

Any questions, let me know.

arbee · #5 07/04/2007, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by zeorocka
It's probably your alk. Your test kit doesn't sound very accurate, try a Salifert test kit.

If the frags came from a tank that had 6-8dkh and your running your alk at 8.6-11dkh then your coral is going to bleach from the base up.

6-12dkh is acceptable although if your corals are not used to a higher alk then they will bleach from the base up.

Are you using a calcium reactor or dosing kalkwasser? If so, that is why your alk is probably a little high.

Any questions, let me know.

No, not using a calc reactor or dosing kalkwasser. I do have some Aragamilk but have been using the 2 Part A & B.
Will get the Salifert test kit for alk. Meanwhile is there anything I can do to stop the bleaching?
Thanks for the help

crrichey · #6 07/04/2007, 02:39 PM

It's difficult to stop bleaching like that once it starts.

Philwd · #7 07/04/2007, 03:09 PM

One thing that has worked for me many times. Was a tip I got from a very experienced coral propogator. Trace the edges of the recession with a qtip dipped either in Lugol's or Seachem's Reef Dip. Do this outside the tank. Get every edge. Trace, wait 30 sec - 1 min rinse then place back in tank. I've saved many frags and a friends big colony this way.

Good luck.

arbee · #8 07/04/2007, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Philwd
One thing that has worked for me many times. Was a tip I got from a very experienced coral propogator. Trace the edges of the recession with a qtip dipped either in Lugol's or Seachem's Reef Dip. Do this outside the tank. Get every edge. Trace, wait 30 sec - 1 min rinse then place back in tank. I've saved many frags and a friends big colony this way.

Good luck.

I have Lugol's. Will do this now-can't just watch it fade away and not try anything.
Thanks Philwd!

Cultivatedcoral · #9 07/04/2007, 03:27 PM

Try lowering your alk in the mean time.

In worst case scenario, cut the coral above the bleaching area and re-glue to another plug. I have done this before and it works well but you still should bring the alk down so it doesn't happen again.

Good luck.

Philwd · #10 07/04/2007, 03:34 PM

An alk of 8.4 is not high. For Zeo maybe not someone starting out. Stability is more important than the exact number. At this point I would recommend stability above all else.

Cultivatedcoral · #11 07/04/2007, 10:28 PM

Philwd,

It's high enough if the person you got the frag from had alk of 6-8 dkh. 8.4 is enough to start bleaching from the base up.

It also sounds like his test kit is not exactly accurate or he is not using it properly so his alk could even be higher.

Believe me, I've had some acro's bleach from the base up and it was only when my alk got up to 8-9 dkh inadvertently when I used a little to much kalk in my drip.

MarineGirl411 · #12 07/04/2007, 10:45 PM

So it could be STN then. First of all, where did you place the corals when you got them? Did you start them off in the sand bed? Or did you place them high on the rocks to begin with? Always acclimate them to your lighting by starting off in the sand bed. I've also heard of others placing frag glue around the infected area to stop it from spreading. It does look like they are on the rocks though. I'd move them down.

mmotown · #13 07/05/2007, 12:06 AM

In the meantime until you lower your levels frag your frag or you'll lose it. In my experience once the ression started it did not stop. If you lower your levels the coral still has to adjust and until it does it will still STN. Just by looking at your pics you don't have time to wait for levels to adjust and then sit back and see how the frag responds. JMO

Philwd · #14 07/05/2007, 01:18 AM

If her test kit is inaccurate then how do we recommend a course of action? The alk could be low and lowering levels could make things worse. We have no idea what the alk was in the tank the corals came from. Going from an alk of 7 to 8.4 IME will not cause this. I run ~ 9.3dkh and have gotten frags from tanks with alk all over the map. Also in my experience high alk burns the tips not cause base up recession. But I don't run zeo so my experience may be different. If this frag came from a zeo tank then a number of possibilties come to mind.

I do have experience stopping STN of this nature using the Lugols and Reef dip. A couple times with new frags(from tanks with alk ~ 9 so was a different reason) and a few times with established corals. Only once did it fail to stop the recession. Since there doesn't appear to be much left to frag I offered what has worked for me in these situations.

Icefire · #15 07/05/2007, 01:57 AM

His Calcium is low with only 300

Serioussnaps · #16 07/05/2007, 09:32 AM

Necrosis....not bleaching....not the lights. My guess is ALK swing, temp swing, salinity swing, gluing/epoxy/mounting improperly or just unlucky with the glue and less likely is contaminant in the water.

Bebo77 · #17 07/05/2007, 09:36 AM

better frag that thing and fix the tank or you will lose it...

Serioussnaps · #18 07/05/2007, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Serioussnaps
Necrosis....not bleaching....not the lights. My guess is ALK swing, temp swing, salinity swing, gluing/epoxy/mounting improperly or just unlucky with the glue and less likely is contaminant/pathogen in the water, or a combination of all of the above