Red Dragon bleaching - suggestions?

[WhiteRaven]

My red dragon is just starting to bleach. What do I do? Alk was low at 5.6dkh. I've been slowly reading it 0.5 dkh per day. I'm at 7.6 now. I saw first signs yesterday and now today one branch is bleached.

29ga Coral QT tank

AI prime HD using brs suggested settings from their video but in acclimation mode at 50%. My first thought was light was too strong but hammer, monti, and mushroom are doing good.

I have not dosed anything.

Ammonia 0.25ppm. I added prime today after testing. I had a different mushroom detach and get caught in powerhead 2 days ago. Added carbon in case of toxins.

Nitrite 0ppm
Kh 7.6dkh
410 calcium
1500 Mg
1.023 (I plan to raise it to 1.025 with water changes today and tomorrow)
0.08 phosphate
32 ppm nitrate
8 pH
79 temp

It's the little branch at the bottom. And maybe the tips of others?

 

[jda]

That is RTN/STN, not bleaching. I would leave it alone and keep it as stable as possible and see if the TN subsides.

 

[WhiteRaven]

That is RTN/STN, not bleaching. I would leave it alone and keep it as stable as possible and see if the TN subsides.

Thank you!

How can you tell the difference? I'm having trouble telling the difference. This is my first sps and first time with stn.

 

[dave57]

So many changes, I would stop doing so many changes at once. That’s causing so much stress to the sps. Salinity low, nitrates high, alkalinity swing. I know it’s easier said than done.. but in a 29 gallon it makes it that much harder to maintain stability

 

[jda]

Bleaching is when the coral still has color, but it is lighter... in this case, light pink. White, exposed skeleton is a sign of TN... slow or fast depends on how quickly it is happening, of course.

Red Dragon is not a super-easy acropora. Do not take it too personally if it dies... not many people would suggest it as a first specimen. It can really grow like crazy and do great when healthy, but it is also quite picky.

 

[WhiteRaven]

I lost the second branch the next day after this post. However, since then the STN/RTN send to have stopped for 2 days. The third branch still looks dull in color but not getting worse. The alien eye is now getting dark and showing white on one edge. Ugh.
I've been keeping parameters consistent now. Testing daily. My mushroom and hammer are doing great now especially since feeding them some bits of shrimp.

Thanks all for the help. I think my best course is to continue to keep things consistent. I think if I try any change to attempt to improve things, it will only result in stress making it worse.

 

[ndrwater]

SPS= Stability Promotes Success

First time SPS keepers can have a tough go of at it at first, but don't get dissuaded. Keep things stable. Even slightly elevated Nitrate and Phosphate isn't a death nail. Instabilty can be though. Hang tough, keep an eye on things, and ultimately, you'll be just fine.