First SPS trial was a success...

[pegasus]

Several weeks ago, I bought 5 pieces of SPS corals... a pink and a green pocilloporas damicornis, a green and a red montipora capricornis, and a yellow branching porite. They've been doing excellent, so I bought a couple of acros to see how they would fare. I don't know the formal names of them, so all I know is that they are acropora spp., as that's the only name that was provided for them. One of them was browned-out (but 100% healthy), so I it was relatively cheap. The other is called a Color-Tip Acro. Bad weather caused a 24 hour delay, so the color-tip wasn't too colorful when it arrived. I think a 48 hour blackout may have had something to do with that. The other coral was... well... brown. They got a dip, and went immediately into the tank. The first night, the color-tip started extending it's polyps, but the browned-out acro did nothing. By the end of day two, the color-tip was starting to take on a yellowish color with a lavender tint on the tips and full polyp extension. Cool. The brown acro was starting to show slight polyp extension and some green coloration at the base of each stalk, so it's slowly but surely getting there. My wife is already pressing me to buy more acros. I want to see how these fare before plunging into the deep end. Only time will tell if I can pull off this challenge!

This picture shows the pocilloporas, porite, the red and green caps, as well as the browned-out acro (center)...

The browned-out acro begining to show polyps and light coloration on main stalk:

Color-tip during the day...

and after lights out...

 

[pegasus]

PS: If anyone can identify what types of acros these are, it will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!!!

 

[snakeblitz33]

That white one looks bleached?

What dip did you use?

 

[pegasus]

That white one looks bleached?

What dip did you use?

I don't think it's bleached as it was white(r) when I took it out of the shipping box. I thing some of the zooxanthellae algae in it may have died after two days of total darkness.

I used a weak solution of Julian Sprung's Botanical Formula ReVive Coral Cleaner and tank water. It's picked up a little more color today. The stalks are turning a pale aqua/teal color, and the tips are getting slightly darker lavender. Still have great polyp extension, so I think it's going to be okay. It'll take it several days, or weeks, to adjust to the new lighting... which happens to be T5 HO.

 

[pegasus]

Same coral, same lighting, 24 hours apart. It's slowly gaining color.

 

[snakeblitz33]

It's slow for sure. Glad it's recovering.

 

[bang guy]

I don't think it's bleached as it was white(r) when I took it out of the shipping box. I thing some of the zooxanthellae algae in it may have died after two days of total darkness.

FYI - When a coral loses it's Zooxanthellae due to lack of lighting we call it "bleached" or "Bleached out". It doesn't mean Chlorox, just that it's going to need TLC in order to grow its Zoox back.

 

[pegasus]

Thanks, snake!

Thanks for the reply, BG. I wasn't sure which way bleached went. I suppose it makes more sense if it was due to lack of light, instead of too much light, which would likely result in brown-out... correct? The pictures don't show it too well, but the lower parts appear to be turning a light mint green color with the tips taking on a light blue tint. I'm going to pamper it for a week or two, then compare the pics. I hope to see a drastic improvement by then. The polyps are staying extended all day and night. Do you think feeding it will help with repopulating the zooxanthellae, or should I let it heal on it's own?

 

[Bryce E]

Usually corals will expel their zooxanthellae when the water gets too warm. You think it may have gotten too hot with the heat packs in shipping? Or maybe it was already like that. Just a thought. Although several things can cause bleaching even stress. But I think it would be too high of light that would cause it. Not lack there of... at least not after only 2 days without light.

 

[Bryce E]

Congratulations on the SPS by the way. I'll be following suit shortly. Good luck!

 

[1guydude]

I've been trying sps lately. Only successful with hydronphora, montis, digis, and a cpl acros.
Sps can b tuff. I just had a string of rtn and still stn.

Give em time. Looking good pegasus!
D

 

[1guydude]

2 lil fishes revive is wat I've been using 2.
D

 

[pegasus]

Usually corals will expel their zooxanthellae when the water gets too warm. You think it may have gotten too hot with the heat packs in shipping? Or maybe it was already like that. Just a thought. Although several things can cause bleaching even stress. But I think it would be too high of light that would cause it. Not lack there of... at least not after only 2 days without light.

I was just reading about how acros can expel zooxanthellae when they get stressed. From what I was able to find out, once they bleach, it's 50/50 on recovering their color. Looks like I hit the jackpot and got both ends of the spectrum... a bleached coral and a browned coral. Kind of like burning my candle at both ends, huh? Oh well, it is what it is, and we'll see how each of them fare. Thanks for the support and compliments, everyone!!!

 

[snakeblitz33]

Good job on the research. Knowing the terms and how to use them and how to fix it - is half the battle.

Here's a few more you will get familiar with when dealing with SPS:

AEFW
Red Bugs
STN
RTN
LTN
Alk burn

I'm just messing with yah. You probably already know em'.

 

[pegasus]

Good job on the research. Knowing the terms and how to use them and how to fix it - is half the battle.

Here's a few more you will get familiar with when dealing with SPS:

AEFW
Red Bugs
STN
RTN
LTN
Alk burn

I'm just messing with yah. You probably already know em'.

Actually... I don't! LOL! I'm slightly familiar with a couple of them, but don't know how to deal with most of them. As of now, I'm mainly focusing on these two terms... Dead or Alive!!!

 

[pegasus]

Well, it looks like I have one Dead... and one... Alive. The browned out Acro appears to be completely dead, while the Color-Tip is showing full polyp extension and s-l-o-w-l-y gaining a mint green color. It's like they say... two out of three ain't bad... lol!

 

[snakeblitz33]

unfortunately, it probably won't be the last SPS coral you lose. Acropora can be very finicky.

Not all SPS corals need the same requirements either. There are some SPS corals that don't like a whole lot of light - like montiporas, poci, stylo and hydeno... and then on the other side of that, there are some species of acropora that can't get enough light it seems.

There is some good information on there by Sanjay Joshi on lighting an SPS dominate reef tank. Mike Paletta also has some good information on SPS tanks and their care - and focuses on lighting and nutrient requirements - including feeding amino acids for SPS corals.

My last tank crashed because of bad top off water, letting chloramines into my system. I also think I accidentally used a mold inhibitor somewhere along the way. It was supposed to be an SPS dominate tank - I had LEDs on - and the SPS started coloring up just before my tank crashed.

The point is, any little small change can and will kill these corals... Salinity, temperature, pH drop, too many changes too fast, chemical sprays, not enough food, not enough light, too much light, ... Basically, people kill a bunch of SPS frags before they get the hang of it. Me included. Don't be discouraged.

 

[pegasus]

Thanks, snake. I'm not discouraged at all. I knew there was a risk involved when I bought a browned out acro. After my shipment was delayed by 24 hours, I was instructed to immediately place the corals in the tank. No temp or drip acclimation, just straight into the tank... so the changes in water parameters could have played a big role in it's demise. I guess I'll never know. It only cost $29, and the vendor has already assured me that I will get a credit for it, and he is also going to file a claim with FedEx for the shipping charges. As you know, the bad part about using store credit is that you always have to pay the shipping charge(s). If I'm lucky, I can replace it at no cost... but I'm not holding my breath.

I played it safe (or so I thought) and placed this Acro in the middle of the tank. I tried not to stress it any more than necessary, and didn't want to give it too much light... or too little light. It was white at the base when it arrived, and it gradually whitened all the way to the top. Today it's even more white than in the picture. I had begun to think that the Mag deal might have finished it off, but it was already turning white and casting polyps before I dosed the Mag. The Mag hasn't affected any of the other corals, fish, or inverts, so I think it was just an unhealthy coral from the start. Oh well...

 

[snakeblitz33]

I temp acclimate and poke a hole in the bag once every 15 minutes. I get about four holes poked and then put them in the tank.

 

[pegasus]

I temp acclimate and poke a hole in the bag once every 15 minutes. I get about four holes poked and then put them in the tank.

I temp and drip acclimated my pocilloporas, montis, and porite... but they didn't arrive 24 hours late. I simply followed the vendor's instruction for the late delivery. I never add shipping water to my tank, so other than sealed bags going in for temp acclimation, all new additions are acclimated outside the tank. I double the water in the container at least 5 times, and even then, I dip them out and then place them in the tank. You never know what kind of critters may be lurking in the vendor's water... lol!