Bleehing or bacterial issue?

[nhelw1]

Hi guys I went away for a week and left my tank in the care of a family member. Came back a few days ago and noticed two of my corals are (I think) bleaching.

I did a water change and some upset corals still don't seem to be happy

All the tank and water stats seem ok

Nitrate -8ppm
Ph 8.7
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0

I'm awaiting a phosphate test kit in the mail.

Any help would be great



The coral on the far right in the flor I'm not sure if it's name and it used to be HUGE!! Not Anymore

 

[aquandrew]

are your lights on a timer?

 

[nhelw1]

are your lights on a timer?

Yea they are

(Single t5 blue) on at 10am

(Twin t5 blue) on at 10:30am
(Three blue t5) on at 10:40
Three t5 and one daylight t5 on at 1130
Then the lights slowly turn of until 840pm

Is it too long? Between 6pm and 840 it's only one blue moonlight t5

 

[nhelw1]

 

[bribo12]

Your pH is high. Do you know your alkalinity/calcium/magnesium readings?

 

[nhelw1]

I'm awaiting a better test kit to arrive

 

[aquandrew]

what salt brand are you using? do you dose anything? do you use RO/DI water?

 

[nhelw1]

Yes I'm using ro/di water but I don't dose anything. What would you recommend?

 

[Dav3]

How long till new test kit arrives? Do you have a GOOD lfs near you to test all your parameters and give you actual numbers rather than "your water is ok"?

Knowing what all of your parameters are is the best way to diagnose the issue and give you a solution?

 

[aquandrew]

agreed with dav3 we need parameters before taking course of action. doing a water change won't hurt though

 

[Dav3]

Agreed. Immediate water changes are going to be your most likely solution at this point. Your PH is off which means alk, cal, and mag are probably off as well. Water changes with a good reef salt will help balance those out.

 

[nhelw1]

It was supposed to be here today but not yet. I'll do a water change ASAP and see how I go. I changed about 30% two weeks ago. Should I change more than that to get things happy???

 

[aquandrew]

It was supposed to be here today but not yet. I'll do a water change ASAP and see how I go. I changed about 30% two weeks ago. Should I change more than that to get things happy???

yes most definitely. 30% two weeks ago is very minuscule in your situation. what kind of protein skimmer are you using? what test kit for nitrates? if you only did a water change two weeks ago, you should be showing some level of nitrate. if you tested wrong, that could be part of your problem along with the high Ph. nitrate tests are often done wrong and should be tested multiple times when in doubt.