Bleached Corals

[Jeremy Lain]

Is it possible to bring bleached corals back to life?

 

[AdamNC]

Yes with stable parameters and time. I’ve done it a few times.

 

[Jeremy Lain]

They were fully white, and now they are changing to a brown color. Is this a sign that they are coming back do you think, or could that be algae growing on them?

 

[AdamNC]

Brown in the cases I’ve dealt with is the middle stage between bleached and coloring back up. You sound to be on the right path. The longest one of mine went from bleached to colored was about 5-6 months.

 

[Jeremy Lain]

Alright! Thank you for your reply! I am glad to know they can come back!

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

What type of coral? If it's SPS, and there is tissue and polyps then it can come back. Some people confuse bleaching with RTN. RTN = Rapid Tissue Necrosis. If it's RTN and you only have white skeleton left, then it's already dead. The brown could be either recovery or algae depending on if it's bleached (possible recovery) or has RTN'd (already dead). Can you post pics?

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Brown in the cases I’ve dealt with is the middle stage between bleached and coloring back up. You sound to be on the right path. The longest one of mine went from bleached to colored was about 5-6 months.

Nice job on this one @AdamNC !

 

[AdamNC]

Nice job on this one @AdamNC !

TY, this is when I started using Polyp Lab Polyp Booster and Reef Roids. Unfortunately it’s in a new tank now and back to being brown but a few days ago I noticed some hints of green coming back.

 

[Jeremy Lain]

Some of them still have tissue and some of them are fully white.

 

[Jeremy Lain]

.

 

[mcarroll]

If you actually saw tissue slough off, then it's dead. If theres tissue/polyp left, then it can come back.

Presuming that you resolved the stress that caused the bleaching, then it's "only" at risk of starving to death.

If it can avoid that long enough to recover, it can hypothetically adopt or grow some new dino's and proceed with life.

 

[Grappler]

Can RTN take place in one day. I moved my monti from medium light were it was happy but not thriving, to more intense light, overnight bleached and dead. No tissue just white skeleton

 

[goodefx]

Can RTN take place in one day. I moved my monti from medium light were it was happy but not thriving, to more intense light, overnight bleached and dead. No tissue just white skeleton

Would like to know as well, pictured is WD in one day....[emoji22]

 

[ZaneTer]

Would like to know as well, pictured is WD in one day....[emoji22]

RTN really means rapid. Yes it can be less than a day. All the tissue can come off in less than a night.

As said earlier, if you can see polyps then it is bleached. If no polyps then most likely all the flesh is stripped off. Sometime it leaves the corallites with a slightly jagged appearance.

 

[ca1ore]

As noted, bleached is different than dead. If you can see polyps then it’s bleached and recovery is possible if the conditions that caused it are reversed (usually light levels). If the corralites are bone white and empty then it’s dead. RTN can absolutely happen overnight. IME its almost impossible to halt. STN can be stopped by fragging, but even with aggressive fragging I’ve not been able to stop RTN.

 

[Snookin]

Some of them still have tissue and some of them are fully white.

Dead