Dark blue Acro turned completely white

[Shawcabelguy]

I had a few acros and today I looked at my tank and the one dark blue one is gone completely white with some slime by it anyone know what could've happened and do I take it out or leave it

 

[reefhomie]

She looks bleached! What’s your parameters? did you have a temperature spike or drop?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Causes are generally:

High flow
High alk
High Salinity
Insufficient calcium
High water temp
Flatworms
Bleached by bright lights

Try elimination off this list and see if anything stands out

 

[Mick51]

Also swings in alk, calcium, they are sensitive to swings,how long has it been in the tank?

 

[Shawcabelguy]

It did get warm about a week and a half ago just from a few hot days in a row but then I got a fan for the top and it only went within a couple degrees.
Ph 8
Alk 9.72
Cal 476
Temp 79
Salinity 1.023

 

[Shawcabelguy]

Been in the tank about 2-3 weeks

 

[SeaDweller]

She looks bleached! What’s your parameters? did you have a temperature spike or drop?

I think you mean dead.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

It did get warm about a week and a half ago just from a few hot days in a row but then I got a fan for the top and it only went within a couple degrees.
Ph 8
Alk 9.72
Cal 476
Temp 79
Salinity 1.023

What’s your no3/po4? How high did the temp get?

 

[Mick51]

Been in the tank about 2-3 weeks

Have you had any luck with acros before they can be a crap shoot I’ve had acros for years and jmo any little thing can tick them off, I have a strawberry shortcake in one tank and it some how got a bit of hair algae on 1 branch.. white

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

She looks bleached! What’s your parameters? did you have a temperature spike or drop?

Not bleached, RTN'd. That Acro is dead.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

The tank looks very new. How long has it been setup and cycled?

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

Have you grown SPS before??? Your salinity is low as well. I like mine at 1.026 and Stable. We need more info on the tank and its equipment.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Have you grown SPS before??? Your salinity is low as well. I like mine at 1.026 and Stable. We need more info on the tank and its equipment.

All this, and yes step 1 is get your salinity where it should be. What are you using to test?

 

[Palegic]

Have you grown SPS before??? Your salinity is low as well. I like mine at 1.026 and Stable. We need more info on the tank and its equipment.

Glad you said it before me. New tank syndrome for sure. You parameters are def not stable enough. Tank looks less than 2 months old, and if it was fresh sand, and dry rock I would guess that it never had a true cycle. On a tank with dry sand and rock I would absolutely wait 6 months to a year of stable water values to introduce most corals ESPECIALLY SPS. A good indicator you are ready is the prevalence or propagation of coraline algae.

Like mentioned before salinity is way low I keep mine around 1.027 which is on the high side but helps a bit with minimizing dosing between water changes.

Keep the water chemistry stable. If you had a large temp swing, getting a fan a few days later isnt enough. Things like that need to be controlled immediately or before they happen if you want to have a successful reef.

I would say you could probably start once your chemistry is pretty stable with some softies quite honestly, maybe some mushrooms before wasting 20-30 a pop on frags that will die quickly.

 

[Shawcabelguy]

Okay well its been exactly 3 months since I've setup the tank and it was with dry rock and live sand and my temp only went up to 82 from 79 so that was probably what happened idk everything else seems to be doing fine. I haven't grown any sps honestly it's my first reef so im just trying to take it slow but I guess I should've taken it slower Sadly. So should I remove the frag or leave it in

 

[Joedubyk]

79--82 probably didn't kill it.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

High alk and a starved tank. What Is your no3/po4? What are your nutrient export methods?

 

[Joedubyk]

High alk and a starved tank. What Is your no3/po4? What are your nutrient export methods?

thats my guess, too. Alk burned

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

thats my guess, too. Alk burned

Probably. But could be lighting as well, but we don’t know that or the nutrient variables yet

 

[ScottB]

SPS -- and acros in particular -- require a very mature biome. In the "old" days we could accelerate our biome maturity by stuffing the tank and sumps with live ocean rock. But it still took some time and expertise.

Don't take it hard; we've all done exactly what you did. And some folks get lucky or are just really good at this hobby. Otherwise, you are best off sticking with softies and some LPS for 6-12 months. When you see lots of established sponges in your sump/overflow and undersides of rock, plus plenty of coralline in there, it is time to pop in a aussie green slimer and see how it does.