Acropora Discoloration

[Aprod]

About a month ago I picked up a free Acropora colony and some other SPS/ LPS corals from a fellow reefer who was tearing down his tank for a move. This was my first piece of Acropora. Every coral in my tank is doing well except for this Acropora (which I know it is among the hardest to keep). The other SPS I picked up ares till colored up great and appear to be growing, albeit slowly (do not dose 2 part currently).

I say it is not doing well because the portions which receive direct light are very pale/ bleached; however, I still get PE on those portions at night. It has been in this state for several weeks now and does not seem to be getting worse, but also not better. I figured I may have bit off more than I could chew with an Acropora colony, but it was better than the guy throwing it out!

Unfortunately, I have not invested in solid testing equipment yet since I was not expecting to keep Acros this early, so I will post my parameters with the API kits that I have:
Alk - 7 dkh
Calc - 380
Nitrate - 10 ~ 20
Phos - Cannot detect on API kit
Mg - Do not have capability to test
Salinity - 1.025
Temp - 79 degrees

Skimmer & Chaeto running fairly well. Dealing with cyano on sand bed. I am thinking that my Phosphate may be high. Those who have experience in SPS know what may be causing this? I do have plans to purchase Hannah/ Red Sea testing equipment and eventually 2 part dose, but not this month (already over budget). Appreciate the feedback!

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Looks like some bleaching possibly due to your lighting. What lights are you running, and did you acclimate the Acro to the lighting?

 

[jda]

That is LED light burn. I would turn the unit down or move the acro. It will cause death eventually if you don't do anything.

 

[Aprod]

That is LED light burn. I would turn the unit down or move the acro. It will cause death eventually if you don't do anything.

Looks like some bleaching possibly due to your lighting. What lights are you running, and did you acclimate the Acro to the lighting?

Wow! To be honest, I had not even considered this since I figured I may not even provide enough lighting for SPS. I always thought they required far more than LPS/ Softies.
I had the colony on the bottom of the tank for about a week and then glued him to the top of the rock work, so not the best acclimation process, but some.

I run an AI Prime HD about 9 inches over the 20 gallon tank. The schedule I run is AB+ @ 80% power. Peak for 6 hours, ramp up/ down for 2 hours. See below:

I will put into acclimation mode down to 70% over the next two weeks and see if I get any improvement/ issues with the other corals.
Sincerely appreciate your feedback!!

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

If you can get your hands on a PAR meter, that will really help to determine if the lighting is too intense. Either way, reducing it should help. You might want to go down to 60% then acclimate up from there. Good luck!