Bleaching or new growth?

[douggiestyle]

whitening on platygyra brain coral. how can i tell if it is new growth or bleaching?

im all ears
thanks,
doug

 

[steve-s]

White on these types of corals is not usually a good sign. They do not grow like other hard corals where you might see the lighter color as the skelatal structure progresses. The flesh on an LPS is usually growing/expanding much faster than the scleractinia.

Could you post a pic? Might just be some fading in color or needs feeding.

Cheers
Steve

 

[douggiestyle]

feeding plenty. polyp is expanding at night even in the whitened areas. will get pic, though it may take a day or two.

 

[douggiestyle]

the pics

here are the pics. sorry for the poor quality.

before

 

[douggiestyle]

after 1

after 1

 

[douggiestyle]

after 2

after 2

 

[steve-s]

To be honest with you I cannot really tell. Is the "white" primarily near the edges of the coral or in various places haphazardly?

Look like just near the edges. In which case I would suspect placement. Could be excessive water flow, too much light or possibley too close to a nearby coral?

Cheers
Steve