Chalice coral turning white along the edges

[BigRedReefer MT]

I am new to the hobby and have recently received a chalice frag from wwc. I put it on the bottom of my tank in a shaded area under some LR. For the first 2 weeks it was looking great but has recently started to turn white along the edges. The color is still vibrant red in the interior part and the edges even appear to be extending a little. I have yet to witness any PE after lights out which is when I get home from work. My WC schedule is 20 gal a week in a 75 gal tank. My last water test was 10/3 right before my WC and have done another WC on 10/10. Myparams were:
Temp 80 two thermometers
S.G. 1.025 refractometer
PH 8.2 API test kit
Ammonia 0 API
Nitrite 0 API
Nitrate 0 undetectable API
KH 11.5 Salifert test kit
Ca 430 Salifert
Mg 1410 Salifert
Po4 < 0.3 Salifert
I know my kh is a bit high but is trending down from the original 13.5 when i first got a reliable test kit. I'm just not sure if this is bleaching or growth??? My mushrooms are in the same area and are doing great. Two of the three are starting to bud new mouths and split. My large tooth colony and hydnophora are doing great. The hydno did the same thing, turned white on the edges at the tops and showed polyp retraction right before it exploded and started shooting branches and fins everywhere with excellent PE. Please help

 

[BigRedReefer MT]

I think it looks like tissue regression but am inexperienced with chalices

 

[DSC reef]

Welcome to R2R! Chalice corals can be sensitive to alkalinity swings so stability is key for long term success. That chalice has a lot of tissue recession but I would not toss it, they can come back from the tiniest bit of tissue.
#WelcometoR2R

 

[GoPitt88]

^ What he said [emoji106] Welcome to R2R! [emoji16]

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

Another +1^^ welcome to R2R

 

[dwest]

I am new to the hobby and have recently received a chalice frag from wwc. I put it on the bottom of my tank in a shaded area under some LR. For the first 2 weeks it was looking great but has recently started to turn white along the edges. The color is still vibrant red in the interior part and the edges even appear to be extending a little. I have yet to witness any PE after lights out which is when I get home from work. My WC schedule is 20 gal a week in a 75 gal tank. My last water test was 10/3 right before my WC and have done another WC on 10/10. Myparams were:
Temp 80 two thermometers
S.G. 1.025 refractometer
PH 8.2 API test kit
Ammonia 0 API
Nitrite 0 API
Nitrate 0 undetectable API
KH 11.5 Salifert test kit
Ca 430 Salifert
Mg 1410 Salifert
Po4 < 0.3 Salifert
I know my kh is a bit high but is trending down from the original 13.5 when i first got a reliable test kit. I'm just not sure if this is bleaching or growth??? My mushrooms are in the same area and are doing great. Two of the three are starting to bud new mouths and split. My large tooth colony and hydnophora are doing great. The hydno did the same thing, turned white on the edges at the tops and showed polyp retraction right before it exploded and started shooting branches and fins everywhere with excellent PE. Please help

Agree with previous answers. However I’m also wondering about the 0 nitrates. Do you do something to lower them or does your tank naturally stay at 0?

 

[landlubber]

I don't know how deep your tank is or how powerful your lights are but the chalices in my system aren't afraid of taking a little bit of light. I say keep it on the bottom but bump it out into the open.
also, zero nitrates is a recipe for disaster and I don't know how it has got to this but nutrients (PO4 and NO3) are what primarily feed your corals. I would consider 2 or 3 focused spot feedings a week at the end of the day. when I do this I use reef roids but there are lots of good options.

 

[Geebs19]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Fudsey]

Welcome to R2R ! ! !

 

[BigRedReefer MT]

The 0 nitrates is from a combo of chemipure elite, a four inch sand bed, and weekly 25% water changes on a fallow system except for snails, crabs, 1 conch, 1 sand sifter star. I had brought home a beautiful white (bleached) sebae anenome with purple tips and a very light cream pedistal and because I didn't dip and quarantine I introduced velvet to my system. I have since added back the surviving Angel and two clowns so I'm sure my nitrates have risen since 10/3 but will test tonight after work. Also I target feed my corals with a pipette feeder twice a week with polyp lab and frozen Omega brine shrimp mix.

 

[BigRedReefer MT]

I haven't been dosing any KH or calc for 3 months since my young system doesn't consume much. But it has been trending down due to WCs and use from 2 acros, 1 hydno, and 1 tooth corals. Do you guys suggest I continue letting kh slowly work down to 8-9 or should I try to stabilize it at it's current level of 11.5???

 

[dwest]

I haven't been dosing any KH or calc for 3 months since my young system doesn't consume much. But it has been trending down due to WCs and use from 2 acros, 1 hydno, and 1 tooth corals. Do you guys suggest I continue letting kh slowly work down to 8-9 or should I try to stabilize it at it's current level of 11.5???

I would run alkalinity wherever it’s stable as long as it’s in the 7-12 ish range.

 

[dwest]

The 0 nitrates is from a combo of chemipure elite, a four inch sand bed, and weekly 25% water changes on a fallow system except for snails, crabs, 1 conch, 1 sand sifter star. I had brought home a beautiful white (bleached) sebae anenome with purple tips and a very light cream pedistal and because I didn't dip and quarantine I introduced velvet to my system. I have since added back the surviving Angel and two clowns so I'm sure my nitrates have risen since 10/3 but will test tonight after work. Also I target feed my corals with a pipette feeder twice a week with polyp lab and frozen Omega brine shrimp mix.

I personally would replace chemipure elite with rox granular activated carbon.

 

[BigRedReefer MT]

Brs was out when I was looking so I opted for chemipure and I also run a little bag of Drs Foster and Smith pelleted carbon. Overkill I know but it keeps the yellow out of my water which helps light penetration since I have glass tops. I'm working on plumbing My ATO but it's not up and running. I work 70+ hours a week so I don't always remember to top off before bed and figured glass tops would help stabilize sg during my thurs- Sunday stint of 15 hour days.