Bleaching Branching Montiporia

[BelleMorte]

1. Type & how long you have had it: Branching Monti we have had it 2 months
2. Current lighting & Bulb Age: 6 x T5 Lamps, which include 3 x 24W T5 HO 12,000K Fluorescent Lamps and 3 x 24W T5 HO Actinic Blue Lamps
3. Nitrate:0.0
4. Calcium:480
5. Phosphate:n/a
6. Alkalinity:n/a
7. pH:8.4
8. Salinity:1.026
9. Temperature:80
10. Liquid or strip test kits: Api Marine Kit
11. Location in tank:Upper Middle
12. Current amount of flow:can't remember but two good sized power heads
13. Current tank dosing regimen:no dosing
14. Nearby coral:None to near it but the closest is a Fijian Yellow Leather that is doing wonderful
15. Explanation of problem:it is bleaching started from the bottom up. Lady at the lfs (been in business 20+ yrs) said our lighting would be okay for it. Today I noticed the purple tint has faded even more to the point it looks like it is bleaching out...Mind you this is the first time I have ever had corals in my tank and my tank is around 8 yrs old. I do have the option to move it my smaller display tank that was being set up for seahorses if I need to move the coral

 

[Rutrag]

I agree your lighting should be sufficient, unless the tank is exceptionally deep. How long are the lights on each day?

Also, I strongly suggest getting an alkalinity kit, magnesium kit, and phosphate kit. your calcium and pH are in line, but knowing those other parameters might help give us a clue. Do you have a local reef club or an LFS than can test those for you?

 

[Ingy]

I have a follow up based on your quote "12. Current amount of flow:can't remember but two good sized power heads". How old are the bulbs in the light. Flourescent bulbs have a surprisingly short lifespan, in the 9-12 month range. After that the spectrum starts to fall off to the lower frequency, and your corals will suffer. Could be your only problem if they are 8 years old as well.

 

[BelleMorte]

@Rutrag I will be picking up those test kits soon so I can test for those as well no local reef club and sadly the lady at the fish store doesn't test for anything but the basics I already called and talked with her.

@Ingy the lights are only 2 months old got them in march we got the corals when we upgraded the lighting. The reason I dont' remember the tech stuff is my husband takes care of that stuff I take care of the tank and water changes which I do weekly since it is a 30 gal tank I tend to do 10 gal changes unless I get something very outta wack

 

[BelleMorte]

Oh forgot to answer about the lighting....the blues kick on in the morning about an hour before the whites and then are on for about 8-9 hours then the whites kick off and the blues are on for an hour after the whites then the moon lights are on for a couple of hours then dark....I have the lights kick on around 9 am since the tank gets some natural morning sun

 

[mr_X]

Bleaching from the bottom up would not be lighting anyway. Alk issues/swings would be what i would want to rule out first.
Random indirect flow for this coral. You want to see the tiny polyps move back and forth from time to time.

 

[BelleMorte]

I do see the tiny pylops and i will be getting the other tests tomorrow and figure out what is going on that way.....I would hate to lose this neat little coral

 

[BelleMorte]

the Monti is coming back nicely since we had to treat for Dino which i must say is a pain in the arse.....Though since the dino my fiji yellow coral is dying...I thought it was shedding like most leathers do so i gently cleaned off the shedding stuff and now there are huge holes in it....it is crumbling like a freaking old dried out sponge....I am getting very frustrated at this point....I treated the dino didn't dose the tank..lights out for 3 days and covered up so light could get in....kept up on everything and all was fine

 

[mr_X]

How did you treat for dinoflaggelates? Just by turning the lights out for 3 days? I don't think that would kill the leather. When in doubt, do a water change.

 

[BelleMorte]

tank covered for 3 days with no lighting...have carbon filter running did a huge water change when the 3 days were up. Will do another change when I get off work.

 

[BelleMorte]

I can't figure out how to attach the pic I have on my phone to here so I can't show it to you