RBTA changing color

[Donzidan28]

i left for vacation and had my reef tank cared for while 8 was gone. When I left, the star of my tank was a huge RBTA in the middle of the tank. Attached up high but stretched and came out the bottom of a hole and about 10” across. Stunning! I returned to it being completely inverted and hanging straight down. I thought for sure it was dead. The next morning did a water change and started to see a little movement. My clown was still trying to to coax it along but very little movement. I waited a week and did another water change and now it’s coming out again but has lost the rose color? She’s about 3” still not stretching upward and it’s all white. the Only thing out of the ordinary parameter wise was the fact that my a/c decided to shut down while I was away and my tank temp went from 77° to 82°. Anybody had a RBTA do this? And what’s the long term probability it recovers? I will post pics later. Thanks for any thought

 

[Smirkish]

It sounds like the stress of the heat may have caused it to release its zooxanthellae...they do not tolerate temperature swings well. This is what causes the loss of color, even though it is referred to as “bleaching”. How long was the tank at 82? If it has made it this long I would try to feed it a little, and it should recover. Pictures would be great!