What are the reasons for a SPS to bleach and lose tissue

[krazekajin]

I have four frags of SPS that I bought to try out in my tank. I really want to get into SPS.
Of the four:
frag of millepora bleached overnight (I wrote it off to damage from clownfish throwing it around)
frag of birdsnest started losing its tissue and then quickly succummed (again this frag has gotten beat up by my clown)
But last night, I noticed my acropora tenus was starting to lose its tissue.
My digitaga still looks awesome and has polpyed out great. I did notice a small spot of bleached on it, but today that bleached spot is starting to polp out.
I do not think that I acclimated them very well. I was going by the instructions of the LFS that I got them from.
So what are the causes of sps bleaching and dieing?

 

[candycane]

They hate you.

 

[candycane]

Outside of that, you have to be sure that it IS bleaching. Bleaching will occur very rapidly. The entire coral will turn dead white usually inside of 48-72 hours on the long end. This usually can not be explained. Shock, improper acclimation, there are about 30 contributors. If you coral is slowly turning white on the bottom, it is most likely growing more limbs out of the back, trying to grow straight towards the light. Also it can be the fact they are not getting enough water flow and are releasing their flesh because of excessive algae build up. It is nearly impossible to say. Here are probably the top 5 reasons though.
1. Improper Placement
2. Alakalinity Levels
3. Excessive algae growth
4. Damage to the tissue during shipping
5. Shock because of drastic water changes. For instance you never want to add one at night. Regardless of what people say, the PH shifts are to drastic. The water from the bags is usually from a tank that is lit.

 

[krazekajin]

I had one bleach overnight. This is more like the tissue is receding from the bottom up and it has receded about a quarter of an inch since last night.

 

[bang guy]

RTN is a disease. This hits a lot of people.
Low waterflow will cause SPS to suffocate in their own slime.
Rapid water parameter fluctuation can cause internal enzyme problems.
Improper acclimation from low lighting to intense lighting.

 

[krazekajin]

question.
If you read my earlier posts, I had a very hyper and distructive clown. I have rearranged my tank and he is better now.
my acropora tenus was doing good. I added my freshwater top off the way I always do it by dumping it into my tank slowly. But I am sure that a good dose of fresh water hit my acropora squarely. Could that have damaged it?

 

[bang guy]

Not in my experience.

 

[candycane]

It'll sometime stress them out and cause them to shed slime coat like Bang was talking about earlier. It's best to try to top off your water in your filtration or in a corner of the tank. Because that too, is a drastic chemical composition change in tank parameters. All in all, there really is no real reason why they do it. It is considered a disease like Bang was stating, simply because it does and will always happen. But there are about 800,000 things that can cause a coral to bleach out. One thing you have to do is make sure that the params are nearly identical to those of the store you purchased it from.

 

[krazekajin]

as many of you guessed, I am trying to keep some sps.
Here are my levels prewaterchange with exception of calcium.
Calcium - about 450
prewater change tests
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20 (I think this is due to my canister filter)
PH - 8.1
Alk - 2.5
Phosphates - 0
Temp 79
Salinity - 1.025

 

[krazekajin]

I will check my levels tomorrow which will be 24 hours after a 1/3 waterchange.
I changed about 10 gallons of my 29gallon tank

 

[krazekajin]

I need to check the levels from the store.

 

[krazekajin]

what can I do to stop this acropora from bleaching? It has bleached another inch since last night
After waterchange:
Salinity - 1.026 (Is This High)
Temp - 79-80
PH - 8.2
Alk - 3.0 or 8.4 DKH
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 40 (Help. . . )
Calcium about 450

 

[bang guy]

Your water looks great to me. A specific gravity of 1.026 @ 80F is a Salinity of about 35ppt. This is perfect IMO.
What is your waterflow like?

 

[scarface]

you know i might have missed it but I did not see what type of lighting him/her is using.... :notsure:

 

[kpk]

I would probably be looking into lowering your nitrates that could be the culprate of the rtn. Also you may want to test for phosphates. This could also be a problem.

 

[crox]

Originally Posted by Scarface
you know i might have missed it but I did not see what type of lighting him/her is using.... :notsure:

Yep
He might not have adequate lighting for SPS..

 

[kpk]

Depending on the amount of time he/she had them they should have browned a little before receeding being light deprived. Bleaching should have been from too much light and little nutrients. If it receeded overnight after getting it that day then no way it was light. I may have missed something though...

 

[candycane]

I'm gonna blame it on the bi-polar clownfish. That and the fact that they were out of the water and params were pretty far off. LOL

 

[kpk]

HAHA the clown definitly needs a attitude adjustment, or a zanex.
Kraze how old is the tank?

 

[krazekajin]

Okay, I did test for phospates and forgot to include the reading.
Phosphates 0
Lighting is 1x175W HQI, 2x65W CF, and 3xBluemoon LED. I think that it is a 15K or 20K bulb. I can't remember. The frag is directly under the light about a foot and half down from the bulb.
My tank is a 29g that has been set up for 13months. Levels have been steady and my other corals (soft and LPS) are doing great and growing wonderful. The nutrients might be it but it was gorgeous and then over night it started losing its tissue and today it is still receding. I don't tink it is light related, because my frag of digita is awesome and greatly polpyed out.
I lean towards not enough waterflow or damage from idiot clown. Also I did not acclimate them enough. I followed the instructions from the LFS and they said to just float them and then take them out of the bag, allow them to slime up for a couple of minutes and then place in tank. I think I should have drip acclimated them.