Setosa bleaching

[mekesterson93]

I got a frag of montipora setosa about a week ago, and it seemed to be doing fine until yesterday. I noticed it looked like it was bleaching in a spot. The next day it looked to get worst, so I moved it to the sand bed. It doesnt seem to be any worse today but it isn't any better. I have a fluval 13.5 and using an AI prime hd about 8 inches from the water. I guess I'm just looking for some advice, other than my seriatopora, this is the only other sps I've kept. I did just put in a pink stylo 2 days ago which doesnt have good pe, I just figured it was still adjusting. Seriatopora has crazy pe. First 2 pics was how it looked the day before the "bleaching" started. Third picture was when it first started.
Edit:
water parameters:
Calc: 435
Alk: 10.5
Mag: 1425
Nitrate:<3
Phosphate: undetectable

 

[Mal11224]

Could be your lighting and or nutrients. How are your no3 and po4 levels? How is your light schedule? Also, tank looks fairly new. I have a setosa that grew to the size of a small plate. Broke it in half and sold half of it. Still have 6” piece in my tank. They will grow in the right condition. The good thing is that they can recover and grow over bleached areas.

 

[mekesterson93]

I actually edited the post to add water params. But no3 is <3 and po4 is undetectable. All testing is done with salifert except for no3, its api . Here is my lighting schedule...

 

[mekesterson93]

And The tank is still fairly new, I just recently added the new base rock so I could have more shelving for coral placement.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Too many variables to pinpoint imo.

See how it goes really.

I’d keep in mind , coral are a long slow animal. A day means very little. That’s where patience comes in

 

[Mal11224]

Your lighting appears to be fluctuating at 80% for a good portions of the day. May need to check the par output. LEDs can be intense. Your Alk is a little high for your nutrient level unless you are feeding your corals from time to time. Generally, low nutrients should yield a lower alkalinity. That could be your issue along with the somewhat intense lighting.

 

[Triggreef]

With your alk at 10+ it could be due to a quick alk increase. The majority of reefers probably keep alk around 8 especially in most reef shops. I'm sure there are some that keep 10+ but I would say 8 is the norm. Certainly no sure thing, but could be from that. A sharp alk rise can definitely cause that in setosa and other sps. Alk going up too fast bleaches tips, going down too low or swinging will cause the base to bleach.

 

[mekesterson93]

Thanks for the replies and information. I do feed reef roids every 2 or 3 days, usually just spot feed the sps. Also spot feed mysis to my lps. The alk is stable at 10.5, I use coral pro salt and I'm assuming it has elevated levels of alk. I did do a 2 gallon WC the evening before I noticed the bleached spot, I didn't even think about that before I made this post.. I wreckon that could have caused a swing in params..?

 

[Triggreef]

I meant a sharp increase from where the setosa came from prior to your tank. If I read right you only just got it a week ago. Timeline matches up.

 

[mekesterson93]

Ohh, I got ya now. And yes, I've only had it for a week. I'm hoping it pulls through, should I put back on the rock where I had it or leave it on the sand bed for now??