Acro tips bleaching?

[jamal-188]

I got three acros frags from a LFS on saturday. They were under XM 20K bubls and about 1" from the top of the water with the bulbs being 6-8" from the water surface. There was a ton of water flowing across them. I told the owner I had Coralvue 10K bulbs and he said to place the frags as close to the surface as possilbe. Well my rock only goes a little past 1/2 up my 31" tank and I figured I'd be safe and just start them there due to the fact that 10K are usually more intense than 20k's. So now 2 of the frags are starting to bleach on the tips. It doesn't appear that the skin is peeling off but I"m worried. The third was an awesome blue millipora which is still looking wonderful.

Amonia/nitrite 0
nitrate<5

CA and alk are a little low but not too bad at 375/2.5-3.0meq/l.

I"m not sure what I"m doing wrong here, they were acclimated very slowly.

 

[reefrunner69]

Let's see a pic...new growth possibly, or is it definitely bleaching?

 

[jamal-188]

Here is a pic. It was suggested to me that maybe the switch from the 20K to my 10k bulbs could have done this. I considered this when I got them and figured it would be okay since they were about 9" total distance from the 20k and about 16-18" from my 10k now. I put it on the bottom of my tank to see if it improves. I"m getting 10 acro frags on friday and I"m a bit worried now. I need to find out what type of lighting this guy had them under but I'm assuming the safest bet is to start them on the bottom.

On a side note, would my flameback angel possibly be picking at my acros? Every once in a while my blue stag gets a damaged spot on him like something was scraping away...

 

[sumphead]

that doesn't look like aggrivation from your angel. Acros IME are very sensitive to quick changes, low alk, and some are sensitive to UV. You wouldn't happen to be using the old style CV 10Ks are you?

 

[reefrunner69]

It's always safest to start new animals on the bottom, and that doesn't look like growth tips. FWIW, my flame back picked at SPS.

 

[jamal-188]

I"m sorry, thats not the damage that I thought could have been damaged by my angel...I don't have a pic of that.

The CV bubls I have are almost a year old so they may be the old style. The last acro frag I got a couple months ago bleached the tips as well...the guy had them under 400w 20K and I think I started it off in the middle of the tank as well? I'm going to be ordering new bulbs in the new few days, either Coralvue 14K or Hamiliton 14K....whenver I decide which to get.

 

[jamal-188]

It's always safest to start new animals on the bottom, and that doesn't look like growth tips. FWIW, my flame back picked at SPS.

I think I may have to get rid of him....

I usually start all my new corals on the bottom, I usually even start them underneath an overhang in a shaded area moving them out a little each day, do you think the shaded part is necessary in a 31" deep tank?

 

[reefrunner69]

do you think the shaded part is necessary in a 31" deep tank?

No, I doubt it.