Pocillopora permanently bleached skeleton, great PE

[Max Rackstraw]

Ive had this green pocillopora for about 7 months now. It used to be a dark green colour all over. Unfortunately it had bleached within the first month or two of introduction to my tank.

Its stayed with a white skeleton ever since, although the tips of the polyps have remained green.

It has also encrusted during this time and grown a maybe 1cm on a few branches.

Is there anything i can do to bring the colour back?

Tank has been running around a year.

Tank volume: 90L (nano)

Equipment:
Skimmer
Activated carbon
Ai prime 16hd lighting

Parameters:
(Tested daily)
Alk: 7.7dKH
Calc: 410ppm
Mag: 1220ppm (raising slowly currently)

Nitrate: ~0ppm
Phosphate: ~0ppm

Perhaps its my low nitrate and phosphate. I know many people point these out in all my posts. The trouble is, these numbers wont budge, trying to feed more (frozen, pellet, flake or reef roids) just causes hair algae growth.

Fish: 2x 1.5 inch clowns, fed once daily with frozen, they eat it all.

I have two tuxedo urchins to eat hair algae and one herbivorous snail. For canivores theres about 10 nassarius snails and 2 babylonian snails.

 

[Max Rackstraw]

Here is the coral in question. Note no coralline algae, presumably because there has been two tuxedo urchins on the same rocks for the entire time the tank has run.

 

[The_Paradox]

How much light is it getting?

 

[Max Rackstraw]

How much light is it getting?

Don’t have access to a par meter, but its in the bottom quarter of the tank with an ai prime 16hd 9 inches above the water surface with this schedule:

 

[Max Rackstraw]

I do also keep an acropora millipora and a few montiporas aswell, and none of those suffer with this problem. Infact theyre all very colourful currently.

 

[fushi]

Ive had this green pocillopora for about 7 months now. It used to be a dark green colour all over. Unfortunately it had bleached within the first month or two of introduction to my tank.

Its stayed with a white skeleton ever since, although the tips of the polyps have remained green.

It has also encrusted during this time and grown a maybe 1cm on a few branches.

Is there anything i can do to bring the colour back?

Tank has been running around a year.

Tank volume: 90L (nano)

Equipment:
Skimmer
Activated carbon
Ai prime 16hd lighting

Parameters:
(Tested daily)
Alk: 7.7dKH
Calc: 410ppm
Mag: 1220ppm (raising slowly currently)

Nitrate: ~0ppm
Phosphate: ~0ppm

Perhaps its my low nitrate and phosphate. I know many people point these out in all my posts. The trouble is, these numbers wont budge, trying to feed more (frozen, pellet, flake or reef roids) just causes hair algae growth.

Fish: 2x 1.5 inch clowns, fed once daily with frozen, they eat it all.

I have two tuxedo urchins to eat hair algae and one herbivorous snail. For canivores theres about 10 nassarius snails and 2 babylonian snails.

I would raise nitrates and phosphates, keep them at a 10:1 (N,P) ratio.
Undetectable nutrients will cause pale corals.
Whats it look like under white light?

 

[fushi]

I do also keep an acropora millipora and a few montiporas aswell, and none of those suffer with this problem. Infact theyre all very colourful currently.

Could you share pictures off all the corals under white light?

 

[Max Rackstraw]

I would raise nitrates and phosphates, keep them at a 10:1 (N,P) ratio.
Undetectable nutrients will cause pale corals.
Whats it look like under white light?

Here it is under white light.

I really want to raise nitrate and phosphate! How do i do it without causing megatons of algae growth? Since I get hair algae as soon as i feed more. I cant see how dosing nitrate and phosphate manually does any different, but can it?

 

[Max Rackstraw]

Could you share pictures off all the corals under white light?

Ive done these with my phones torch as the light is off right now, i hope this is okay.

Kung pao montipora

Purple montipora digitata

Green acropora millipora

There is also a forest fire monti in the background there, i cannot current get a good picture of that because it got disturbed by an urchin and closed all its polyps.

 

[Max Rackstraw]

Ive done these with my phones torch as the light is off right now, i hope this is okay.

Kung pao montipora

Purple montipora digitata

Green acropora millipora

There is also a forest fire monti in the background there, i cannot current get a good picture of that because it got disturbed by an urchin and closed all its polyps.

And theres LPS coral, but they look the same as ever

 

[fushi]

Here it is under white light.

I really want to raise nitrate and phosphate! How do i do it without causing megatons of algae growth? Since I get hair algae as soon as i feed more. I cant see how dosing nitrate and phosphate manually does any different, but can it?

It looks like theres still a little color ( some corals show their color better under white light)


The ICP haters will probably hop on this thread after I say this but...

I would get an ICP test, correct any anomalys. I find algae to be much less of an issue when all my trace elements are good. It looks like you have urchins, but I also recomend Carribean nerites, throcus, and astera snails.

For dosing N & P I prefer randys DIY recipes with products from amazon, its cheap and easy.
Try to keep your nutrients at a 10:1 ratio.


I use
sodium nitrate
trisodium phosphate

There are a few threads on this form about diy N & P recipes, if you dont want to read it all heres the short nessissary info.


dosing calculator
use Nitrate- potassium nitrate
and Phosphate - potassium phosphate

 

[fushi]

I would fix any trace elements, then add any more snails, then slowly dose N & P last.

 

[Max Rackstraw]

It looks like theres still a little color ( some corals show their color better under white light)


The ICP haters will probably hop on this thread after I say this but...

I would get an ICP test, correct any anomalys. I find algae to be much less of an issue when all my trace elements are good. It looks like you have urchins, but I also recomend Carribean nerites, throcus, and astera snails.

For dosing N & P I prefer randys DIY recipes with products from amazon, its cheap and easy.
Try to keep your nutrients at a 10:1 ratio.


I use
sodium nitrate
trisodium phosphate

There are a few threads on this form about diy N & P recipes, if you dont want to read it all heres the short nessissary info.


dosing calculator
use Nitrate- potassium nitrate
and Phosphate - potassium phosphate

Alright thank you, i will take a look at the nitrate and phosphate diy dosing.

I am an icp test enjoyer too, i like knowing all the parameters are in check. Maybe im due another one. I did one a few months ago for figuring out why i had cyano (unfortunately it didnt tell me anything was off, it all looked good, N and P where also zero at the time). It only went away with the addition of a skimmer.

 

[Max Rackstraw]

I would fix any trace elements, then add any more snails, then slowly dose N & P last.

Yeah sounds like the best course of action. I am planning on getting some more snails this weekend, didnt get time last weekend unfortunately. Ill get an icp on order soon i imagine.

 

[fushi]

Alright thank you, i will take a look at the nitrate and phosphate diy dosing.

I am an icp test enjoyer too, i like knowing all the parameters are in check. Maybe im due another one. I did one a few months ago for figuring out why i had cyano (unfortunately it didnt tell me anything was off, it all looked good, N and P where also zero at the time). It only went away with the addition of a skimmer.

Did you start with all dry rock?

I can not recommend carribean nerite snails enough, they are the best! Just be aware they will leave little eggs, but they are no big deal.

 

[The_Paradox]

Short light cycle and low in the tank. All look like coral that’s not getting enough light to me.

 

[Max Rackstraw]

Did you start with all dry rock?

I can not recommend carribean nerite snails enough, they are the best! Just be aware they will leave little eggs, but they are no big deal.

Most snails ive had in the past used to lay eggs, good food for everything i guess.

No i didnt start with all dry rock, most is dry but there was one “live” rock from a fish store. It has lots of tube worms. I do question whether the introduction of a small real reef live rock (if i can get one) would be beneficial.

 

[Max Rackstraw]

Short light cycle and low in the tank. All look like coral that’s not getting enough light to me.

Would you suggest this coral get moved up higher? Intensity increase? Photoperiod increase?

I an uncertain on the par its getting, anywhere between 100 and 250 if i had to guess from videos ive seen of people measuring par with similar setups (i.e. the brs video on the prime 16hd par)

 

[fushi]

Most snails ive had in the past used to lay eggs, good food for everything i guess.

No i didnt start with all dry rock, most is dry but there was one “live” rock from a fish store. It has lots of tube worms. I do question whether the introduction of a small real reef live rock (if i can get one) would be beneficial.

Prodibio products might be easier/cheaper to get. I like their stuff a lot.

 

[Seansea]

That is definitely from low light. Is it off to the side away from the light? Is something shading it? When polyps are out but you can see skelly that is from not enough light.