Did my LFS sell me a bleached Acan?

[AzReefn]

I recently purchased an A. Echinata from one of my LFS. Went to another LFS and they said my Echinata looks bleached. I am very new to the hobby and when I saw the Echinata (they had 3 that were near identical) it looked stunning so I bought it not knowing it may be bleached. Its colors are a blue/purple hue with neon green polyps but it kind of looks white in some lights. Below are some pictures. Do you think this is a bleached coral? If it is bleached is there any way to get it's zooxanthellae back?

 

[Brew12]

I recently purchased an A. Echinata from one of my LFS. Went to another LFS and they said my Echinata looks bleached. I am very new to the hobby and when I saw the Echinata (they had 3 that were near identical) it looked stunning so I bought it not knowing it may be bleached. Its colors are a blue/purple hue with neon green polyps but it kind of looks white in some lights. Below are some pictures. Do you think this is a bleached coral? If it is bleached is there any way to get it's zooxanthellae back?

I'm not one of the coral experts but it looks like it will be fine. There is no way of saying what the colors will be after it has been in your system for awhile. My opinion (and again, I'm not one of the coral guys) is that it just needs some love. It is possible that this is its natural color. There are a wide range of colors and patterns in Echinata.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Looks a little bleached to me but it should bounce back with some love and care

 

[John3]

I’d say it’s bleached as well. It will come back if your paremeters are good.

The toughest part at the very beginning with picking out corals is knowing the signs of healthy corals. My wife especially wanted some white corals which lead us to buy some stuff that was bleached not knowing it. Of course that was also why we got some white pulsing Xenia. Point is you will make mistakes at the beginning, just don’t make the Xenia mistake

 

[S-t-r-e-t-c-h]

I'd say looks a bit bleached as well. A consistent feeding regimen will keep it healthy while it recovers. Target feed at night or after you've fed the fish...

 

[happyhourhero]

Coloring and recovering lfs mishaps is my favorite part of the hobby.

 

[AzReefn]

Thanks for the info guys! I currently feed all my corals mysis, and I dose reef energy a&b once a month. my fish get mysis/brine, and lrs herbivore frenzy. I'm getting pods and phyto Monday. Is there something else to feed it that will help more?

 

[John3]

Sounds like you have a good variety going into the tank already. My corals are happy eating cut up raw shrimp and occasionally catching a mysis scrap. Every now and then I’ll hit the corals with smaller polyps with coral frenzy.

 

[AzReefn]

I'm not one of the coral experts but it looks like it will be fine. There is no way of saying what the colors will be after it has been in your system for awhile. My opinion (and again, I'm not one of the coral guys) is that it just needs some love. It is possible that this is its natural color. There are a wide range of colors and patterns in Echinata.

I really do like the way it looks now but it's kind of exciting knowing it will change colors and not knowing what they are

 

[ludnix]

I think it looks healthy although bleached a bit. Fortunately corals can recover from bleaching very easily when they are in a good home. Be very careful with dosing the phyto and other foods. It's so easy to overdose phyto and create nutrient problems and nuisance algae. I really don't think you'd have to focus on feeding it at all to see it recover well. Just being in a tank with proper parameters and lighting will be more than enough to do the trick. I would feed lightly when you have the time but not worry about target feeding it specifically or on a schedule.

 

[FangsAndGames]

Thanks for the info guys! I currently feed all my corals mysis, and I dose reef energy a&b once a month. my fish get mysis/brine, and lrs herbivore frenzy. I'm getting pods and phyto Monday. Is there something else to feed it that will help more?

Nope. If you have to check out fauna marine lps pellets medium sized. They eat mysis readily. I have a vid if you want to check it out.