SPS Bleached

[daniella3d]

you say your parameters are spot on, but how do they compare to the tank the frag came from? you may have your alkalinity at 10 and think it's spot on, but the other tank was at 7.

What are your parameters compares to the tank it come from?

[Nano]

well I dont know about the params in the other tank, it was from RC in edmonton, so I'd assume the params were good, but I couldnt be precise on the numbers

but mine are
ph 8.2
CA (low) 320-340
Alk 11
nitrates and nitrites 0
ammonia is 0
phosphates 0
dont know about my magnesium, but I know it has been lower around 1095 in the past.
Salinity is 1.025-1.026

edit, guess they arent "spot on" since my CA is a bit low, and mag is most likely low as well, it usually has been. I have some Reef advantage Calcium(Seachem) that buffers ph and Mag, and Strontium

[Nano]

Looks done for! might still be a single polyp but not counting on it. damn what a bummer my first sps frag ever

[daniella3d]

Alkalinity at 11 is too high. It could be ok but it could also cause a lot of RTN and STN if your level of nutriment is low and juging from your test, you have low nutriment.

You should keep your alkalinity at 8 or around 8, not more than this when you have no amount of nitrates and phosphates detectible.

I think this is your problem and why your SPS bleached, alkalinity shock with low nutriment system.

I could be wrong, but this is my guess, also your calcium is far from being spot on, and this also could be a problem, as well as the low mag.

I would try to keep the alkalinity lower though.

You should rise your magnesium before attempting to rise your calcium because no matter what amount of calcium you put in there, it won't rise if your magnesium is that low. First raise your magnesium to 1300 or a bit more, then rise your calcium to 420, then try to lower the alkalinity to 8 and you should be able to keep SPS no problem.

Originally Posted by nanomano

well I dont know about the params in the other tank, it was from RC in edmonton, so I'd assume the params were good, but I couldnt be precise on the numbers

but mine are
ph 8.2
CA (low) 320-340
Alk 11
nitrates and nitrites 0
ammonia is 0
phosphates 0
dont know about my magnesium, but I know it has been lower around 1095 in the past.
Salinity is 1.025-1.026

edit, guess they arent "spot on" since my CA is a bit low, and mag is most likely low as well, it usually has been. I have some Reef advantage Calcium(Seachem) that buffers ph and Mag, and Strontium

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by nanomano

Looks done for! might still be a single polyp but not counting on it. damn what a bummer my first sps frag ever

monticap is sps my friend and its doing fine so dont get yourself down yet stick with easy sps untill your tank matures

[Nano]

so by raising my calcium my alk should go down? my wallet is tapped ATM but I got caclium/Mag buffer combined its by seachem.

[Nano]

Originally Posted by reefwars

monticap is sps my friend and its doing fine so dont get yourself down yet stick with easy sps untill your tank matures

thats the weird thing.. The monticap has actually seen some noticable growth in a short time. not huge but in comparing pictures, its changed. and the one you gave me(you know the small bleaching piece) is back 100%.. its so weird! I also added some bright red monti and same thing its doing great. my sps, is also quite low in the tank. but my tank isnt to deep, my alk is def. to high. hopefully I can get things undder control

[fishytime]

ya that frag looks like its pretty much toast.....like Denny said, your tank is still fairly new...stick with montis, and birdsnests.....maybe a milli.... these SPS are quite a bit more forgiving then most SPS and are great corals for the ego.....place them a little lower in the tank(save the uppermost prime spots for more light thirsty SPS) and see how they do.....after a couple monthes your tank may better accomodate some of the harder to keep SPS....

Ca, Mg and Alk form what they call the "big three"......if one or more of those numbers is off it makes maintaining the other parameters very difficult....my advice if you want to test and dose and do things by the book would be to pick up a Mg test and have all three additives......it sucks to begin with, testing and testing and then testing some more to figure out where your at and what your tank is consuming, but after you've got it dialed in, half the battle with SPS is won.................





.............or you could just do what I do and dont test or dose a thing

[tang daddy]

even experienced reefers can lose sps without any notice, I aquired a stable and starting to encrust australian Ice fire echinata that just died mysteriously in one day after being in my tank for 3 weeks.....

I know how you feel, however as others have said stick to the montis and millies for now and once the tank settles down maybe try slimer stags oand keep moving up to the more delicate species.

Good luck!

[Aquattro]

If you can remove it from the tank, smell it. If it has that acro smell, it's still alive and can come back. I've had frags go completely white for months, then suddenly color up.
Alk is also not likely the issue, I run a really low nutrient (as opposed to nutriment?) tank with alk around 14 (not on purpose, it just likes to sit that high). I don't have any bleached acros.
As others have said, sometimes frags just do this just to be annoying. You could add a second frag right beside it that does fine. Grab a couple of test frags from someone and see what happens. If they bleach too, then look for a problem. But don't get all worked up over one frag, it's probably just bad luck.
Low Ca will inhibit growth, but not likely to bleach a frag. Best guess on this one was just stress of moving. If it still has tissue (you'll smell it), then it's got a good chance to recover.