Live Rock Bleaching

[miuYH]

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

[FishyFishy!]

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.

[miuYH]

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.

[FishyFishy!]

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

[windcoast reefs]

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

[miuYH]

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.

[miuYH]

Originally Posted by FishyFishy!

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?

I have several softies that are doing well. Some finger leather, xenia, mushroom, and zoas and palys.

I have also done 10% water change every two weeks since day 1.

Perhaps my last batch of water was bad, as I only noticed the bleaching after the last water change. All corals are opened and happy thou.