SPS stripping itself of color? HELP!

[bct15]

OK I have 16 frags coming in the mail tomorrow, mostly zoas. They should arrive by noon. I am going to set up a QT tank ASAP. But, what do I do to my existing tank? I am pretty sure it came from one coral that bleached already. So, form what I'm reading, the infection must have spread through the water column. How long will it be "active" or "alive"? What can be affected? Are my LPS in danger? Any soft corals? Do I have to treat the entire tank now? Does anyone have any recommendations?

I am just so broken-hearted over this.

It isn't an infection or virus, it is a reaction of a sensitive coral to a change in parameters. An alkalinity of 12 is very high, I keep mine at 7.8-8.1, when it gets close to 9 my sps start to look bad. Anything over that and they will start to die. What is your magnesium, zoas are sensitive to magnesium and when your mag gets low (in my experience) coral become extra sensitive to high alk and calcium levels. Lps are sensitive to high alk and will start to slowly recede after a few days but can quickly recover, they usually will not die as fast as sps and the aquarist may not even notice the damage an recovery because it is so slow.

With your new coral, acclimate them very slow and put them on the bottom of your tank (measure the alk, cal, and mag of the shipping water my guess is they will be a lot lower than yours). After acclimated let your alk and calcium slowly come down by not adding anymore to a better level. Shoot for 8.1 alk, 400-430 cal, and 1260-1280 mag. After your parameters have reached that, maintain them there. You may want to bring your salinity up to 1.026 (34ppt) measured with a refractometer. After three days of the coral sitting in the sand AND your lights are at the intensity you always plan to run them you can start moving them around the tank but don't move them higher than about four inches every three days. If you need to, use a frag rack to light acclimate them.

Good luck


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[Chameleon]

OP, I would be careful about setting up a quarantine immediately for corals coming in. It wont have cycled properly that fast unless you do it right. Use water from a water change is your best bet. That way parameters will match your tank. Also sticking in some live rock from your sump or display never hurts. I hate to advise against quarantining because it is a great practice, but you may have better luck with a coral dip and then putting in your main tank if you dont already have a quarantine tank that is ready for coral. For SPS like acros I will often frag them off the plug and put them on a new one to avoid pest.

With the RTN issues, your best bet is to do a little reading on the big 3 calc, alk, mag. Google Randy Holmes-Farley and you should find some good articles. I might hold off on getting more SPS type corals until you have a handle on testing for these and keeping things stable. The zoas you are recieving will be a lot more tolerable and forgiving, but still good husbandry practices benefit them as well.

Remember, only bad things happen fast....

 

[MelissaKathryn]

ok there was no swing in alk! lol think the other person posting on here got everyone confused! everything has been stable lately but i am about to re-test everything. the SPS were new from jason fox and the first night one of the chalices started to bleach out so thats why i thought it might be contagious somehow.

sorry i am just now getting back. this past weekend my little sister graduated from receiving her masters through a very rigorous program and we all caught her cold. i have been realllyyyy sick. but i will post all my light specs, the current parameters, etc.

 

[Chameleon]

are you sure about the no alk swing? Jason Fox's corals are rocks...they take a lot to kill for the most part. They have been aquacultured in aquariums and are usually fairly hardy. If it is RTN (rapid tissue necrosis), which from your description I think it is, then you are almost guaranteed it was alkalinity related. We will wait for your readings, to know what they are though. Measure your parameters before and after a water change and at the begining and end of your photo period. This will give you a better idea of possible parameter swings. Also check your phosphate. High phosphates are more likely to lead to browning or STN (slow tissue necrosis) from the base, but you are going to want to know what they are too.

feel better and congrats to your sister!