SPS bleaching and loosing flesh :(

Sdiesel77 · Mar 2, 2017

Hi All,
It seems I have an issue for the last 3 weeks. My birdnest and pocilopora are not doing so good.
The green neon birdsnest started to loose flesh 3weeks ago and this week the pocilopora seems to have bleaching tips.
Any idea where it can come from?
The only thing I could have in mind is a sudden raise of KH (from 8 to 11.5) due to a salt change (Red Sea standard to pro) over last water change.

reef lover · Mar 2, 2017

Yup any sudden large change in alk will do that. Best to get parameters stable and cut off all the dead . good luck.

taintstick · Mar 2, 2017

Yup, I did that when I needed to lower my levels. Had them sky high and everything grew like crazy but didn't have the greatest color. Dropped the nutrients, stopped dosing and WC quickly and Monti's had a big issue with that. I dipped them and they survived. But looks like you might be too far along. Sorry bud, as suggested try to cut off good pieces but may not survive the shock.

ReeferBee · Mar 2, 2017

Huh ^^

If there is still polyp and flesh they're not gone. I've seen acro come back from a single polyp. Alk swings or alk too high for nutrient level are the culprits. Go slowly and good luck

taintstick · Mar 2, 2017

IME and observance of others issues, when a coral is in this shape the flesh and polyps can still be visible, doesn't mean it isn't peeling off. I have seen flesh and polyps waving off the skeleton, doesn't mean you can bring it back to life.
As I said, and as mentioned by reef lover, try cutting it to save what can be saved. If you'd rather wait to see what happens, go for it, if it turns complete white it's dead.
Btw, I'm not denying things can come back, I've had RTN and STN happen and been able to save pieces. Good luck buddy, sorry to hear the troubles.

Sdiesel77 · Mar 2, 2017

Thanks Guys

taintstick · Mar 8, 2017

How's the coral doing?

Sdiesel77 · Mar 9, 2017

KH seems now to be stable at 10. The birsdnest is not looking worst, dunno if I can say it's better. The pocilopora has all its tips bleached, hopefully it won't get worst.
I'll try to post a photo today
Thanks for asking

taintstick · Mar 9, 2017

Anytime!
Sometimes, putting in a low flow and low lit area may help. Has helped me with many recovering frags and mishaps in the past.

Sdiesel77 · Mar 20, 2017

After seeing my 2 birdsnests, pocilopora, montipora slowly dying candy cane receeding I think I found out the cause of the issue: Switching to Red Sea Pro Salt.

2 months ago I decided to switch from Blue Red Sea salt to the Pro version, thinking it'll be better.
But actually it's creating too big KH spikes.

reefwiser · Mar 20, 2017

Switching to a higher Alk salt is not a great idea. It can take a couple of months before corals show the effect of an alk swing. Keeping alk between 7 and 8 will always give you good results. Alk swings is perhaps the largest cause of SPS coral death.

zachtos · Mar 20, 2017

I too have saved corals on the brink of death by cutting into multiple pieces and relocating all over the tank. I've had a few come back from one polyp even, though VERY long time. I usually try to trim dying tips, but only so so success rate.