Bleaching corals? Why?

jrlandsman

jrlandsman

Member
I have a 90 gallon with 2x250w metal halide and 2x90 watt compact florescent. This lights are 8 inches above water level. I put a Montipora and a acopora coral in yesterday and now they are both half white!!! The lights are only on 8 hours a day. I moved the lights up to 12inches above the tank and cut the light back to 6.5 hours a day. Also the corals are not at the very top of the tank but maybe 3/4 of the way up I thought they needed a lot of light?
 
d-dzel

d-dzel

Member
I remember reading that when they start to bleach it's a sign of them dying. Hopefully that's not that case and someone else can pitch in about this.
 
pbnj

pbnj

Member
Many problems can be attributed to the individual specimens themselves and their condition before you put them in your tank. What were the conditions in which they were kept previously (e.g., lighting/placement/water quality)?
Last week, I added an 8" Red Monti plate to my tank with 2X250W MHs and T5s. The lights are about 8" above the water and the Monti is only about 4" from the surface. I didn't acclimate it; in fact, it spent about 5-10 minutes out of water while I glued it to a rock. The thing's more colorful than before.
So you see, we have very similar set-ups, but very different results. I would suggest moving the corals down in the tank for the time-being and check your water parameters again.
 
jrlandsman

jrlandsman

Member
How long will things take to bleach if it is the water params? I put these in Saturday morning and came home from work yesterday and they were all bleached. So about 60 hours I would say.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Do a search for RTN, rapid tissue necrosis. Also what lighting was in the tank they came from? Could be you needed to acclimate them to your lighting.
 
veni vidi vici

veni vidi vici

Active Member
What are your water parameters specifically for pH,Calcium,Alkalinity,and SG ?I have found from my experience with RTN and STN its was mostly due to not having stable pH,cal,alk......Once i got my water params stable and consistent i have had better success at keeping SPS.
However sometimes SPS just RTN/STN for no apparent reason.
 
paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
SPS are very very very tempermental. I cannot stress how important and random the flow should be, and the water should be ideally perfect. The light is not the problem IMO. Whats the water levels, and what kinda skimmer are you running?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top