Live Rock Bleaching
 

So my 2 month old 10 gallon soft coral tank's live rock have begun bleaching a few days ago.

The rocks are slowly turning white and the coraline algae is disappearing.

Anyone else every experience live rock bleaching and if so, what is that cause?

Thanks

How old is the tank? What kind of lights are you using? Have you checked water perameters?

When my coraline was turning white on my Fluval Edge, I had my metal halide light too close to the rocks, and I also noticed that my calcium was low. I moved the light up 4" and dosed calcium and it came back quickly.

The tank is on its second month.

I use a single tube of 24'' T5HO and the light is suspended about 4'' above my tank.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you need more light for sure!

Yeah it may need some more light. Do you know your parameters?

Thanks for the replies.

My parameters are all in check and has been relatively the same since the inception of the tank.

I am guessing it is not getting enough light. Whereas in the first month, I had the lights on for a much longer period. I will try to leave my lights on for longer and see if that will change anything.

I would saw its not so much about the length of time but the intensity of the light. If you can, add some more light.

Is that so?

Because when the rocks first came, there was almost zero Coralline Algae. Then as time progressed, more and more started to develop and grow. It was only until recently where the rocks began to turn white and bleach. So I think what I did was decrease some of the photo period...

So I am unsure as to what might be causing this?

I think calcium might be an issue. I am no expert but that light on a 10 gallon seems fair enough (2.5w/gallon + shallow tank). Maybe your should do a water change (if you didn't do it for a significant amount of time) or check the calcium with a kit.

Yeah constant levels of calcium are very important with healthy coraline growth, as well as intensity of light, not the photo period.

I would get some better lights on there. I have a 7g Fluval Edge Nano with a 150W Metal Halide and LED suppliments... and I have pure purple rocks, with coraline growing over coraline. I also dose calcium into my ATO resevoir.

Do you have any corals in there yet? And have you done a water change since the setup?