Red Dragon Bleaching?

[Biglurr54]

I picked up a large red dragon acro frag at a lfs. I put it in my tank and after 2 1/2 weeks it went from red to white in 2 days. I removed it today and got it down in the sand bed. Is it bleached? It was under t5 and now it's under 150w halide and leds. The blue tenius frag I got from the same lfs tank is much higher up in my tank and is looking great with excellent polyp extension.

 

[tdileo]

Happening that fast sounds like RTN to me. Is there actually any flesh left on it or is it just hard and white? If it’s the latter it is completely dead and only skeleton.

 

[jda]

That second picture is dead, not bleached. Sorry.

They are a medium care coral. Did you dip? The smooth skinned acropora can really suffer if you dip them and can even last a few weeks before they die.

Even if you did not dip them, don't sweat this too much. These can die after transfer and it is not always an indication of you as a hobbyist. Everybody loses one every once in a while, so if the rest are fine, just take measure of where you are but don't do anything crazy and change stuff.

 

[JaimeAdams]

Red Dragon can be finicky for sure. The piece I have died in several tanks on it's way to me. My buddy that I got it from had his bleach with a tank issue that is still undiagnosed. Last I talked to him it was white, but still had polyps. Unfortunately yours looks like it has lost it's flesh.

 

[BoomCorals]

Agree with others. Sad to say it’s time to toss it. And don’t lose too much sleep. Red dragon is one of the most finicky Acros I know.

 

[Biglurr54]

I didn't dip it. It looks like all flesh is gone. I'm not terribly upset. I just like to know what happened. I'm considering buying a Michelangelo monti frag at $200. I would be upset if I lost that one for no reason.

 

[TX_Punisher]

Is that from ADG in Houston? I just got a similar piece. It's hanging in there after two weeks.

 

[Jlentz]

Red dragon is really touchy. It’ll die in a heartbeat. Give it the right conditions and it grows like a weed though.

 

[aquavista99]

Red dragon grows like weeds for me but agree with others...it is sensitive and will be one of the first corals to let you know something is out of whack with your parameters. It does not do well with commercial iodine dips ...Bayer works well and once you acclimate it to your system, it does not do well under high light either...prefers indirect/less intense light for me.

Sorry you lost yours but don't let that stop you from trying again ...it's a nice looking goral grown out.

 

[Kth]

Red dragon grows like weeds for me but agree with others...it is sensitive and will be one of the first corals to let you know something is out of whack with your parameters. It does not do well with commercial iodine dips ...Bayer works well and once you acclimate it to your system, it does not do well under high light either...prefers indirect/less intense light for me.

Sorry you lost yours but don't let that stop you from trying again ...it's a nice looking goral grown out.

Agreed ^^

What are your parameters like? I also noticed that there's a bit of algae growth in the corner your tank, or is that just the pictures? If it is, acros tend to struggle in water w/ algae (not saying that there is causation). I've read a study from the 90's that mentions this.

 

[Donovan Joannes]

Smooth skin acros are mostly a deep water acros. They will RTN under extreme light shocked (you mentioned lfs is on t5, yours is halide). From your picture it seems like you have a very bright tank. Always do a light acclimation for newly acquired corals. IME, all dragon acros are very delicate, they will RTN overnight for no apparent reason.

 

[Mattrg02]

Agreed ^^

What are your parameters like? I also noticed that there's a bit of algae growth in the corner your tank, or is that just the pictures? If it is, acros tend to struggle in water w/ algae (not saying that there is causation). I've read a study from the 90's that mentions this.

My acros were at their best when my tank was riddled with algae.

 

[DSC reef]

Is that a pectinia or hydnophora coral Its next too? Could it be a possibility it got stung?

 

[rlman41299]

Red dragon is like my Achilles heel from the sps family. I have tried at least 10 times and every single time I lose them over time. My last one has lasted me a while now since I started using bayer as dip.

 

[Biglurr54]

I do have patches of algae here and there. The overflow and back wall are the major hot spots for some algae. The algae doesn't hurt much and almost like more natural because it's in small spots here and there. I tend leave it alone. I have a large fuge as I am running g triton that takes care of the export. Nitrates are 0 as are phosphates. Every thing else in the tank is doing excellent with good pool extension.

My wife did dump in about a table spoon of pellets. I could have killed her. I have had a cyano outbreak since. Nitrates and phosphates have stayed undetectable.

It is a bright tank. Specially in pictures because it's halide and not led which can read don't pic up. It's 150w 12k bulb with Luxeon rb led supplement. I am thinking that it got light shock. It's a bare skeleton now. Oh well time to try again.

I don't think it got stung by any corals. It had enough space.

Anyways fts ignore the cyano.

 

[Scott.h]

Another thing to keep in mind is that everyone talks about tons of flow for sps. But that's not necessarily the case. Some of the thin skinned sps can't handle the flow that others like.

And get the no3 and po4 up.

 

[jda]

I would chalk this up to "who knows." I keep my CITR Red Dragon under lots of light (halides) and keep the N at .1 and P at .005-.-01 and they grow like weeds. The only thing that I have in spades is consistency. I have a colony the size of a football, but when the fish break the branches off, I plant them in this garden where I keep them until they hit 4-6" and then I sell them and start over again. These ones in the picture are from 2 to 5" - that Chocolate and Purple tang are pretty much full grown, for reference.

Like all of the deep waters, they will nearly always lose if they get touched or stung.

 

[landlubber]

Is that a pectinia or hydnophora coral Its next too? Could it be a possibility it got stung?

exactly what i was thinking. it looks like a hynophora. i would guess the outermost branches would have shown signs in the previous 2 weeks.

 

[Kth]

My acros were at their best when my tank was riddled with algae.

There's some level of competition (uptake of nutrients as an example) between corals and algae so if your tank is(was) nutrient rich it'd explain you noticing that algae helped your acros thrive.
A lot of what happens in reef tanks are very different than in nature as we struggle to keep our corals in conditions similar to what is found in the natural coral reefs.

http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/68/m068p065.pdf

 

[Shigshwa]

I can vouch for Red Dragon's sensitivity, it's usually the first coral to RTN on me if my alk goes way up, or something else starts to swing to the extreme.