What could cause a chalice to BLEACH?
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OP
OP
TCK Corals
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I am not saying that running GFO will cause chalice to bleach. Now running TOO MUCH GFO could cause them to bleach. I was running 3 time the amount recommended so it could be a factor in my bleached chalice.
gonewild34
Active Member
i am also running 3 times the amount im whent back to the normal amount today
Bio-nut
Active Member
In a lot of instrumental methods for analyzing calcium content in solutions, Magnesium is used as an additive to celate phosphate and other anionic substances to prevent it from binding with Calcium cations. (competivite binding) Therefore; when your magnesium levels drop off it allows more phosphate to bind with the free calcium which only prevents calcarious growth of the coral. So I don't think that Magnesium levels are causing bleaching. I think it is the the addition of GFO to a system causing a reduction in the Alkalinity.
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so the cause then would be low (or perhaps instable) alkalinity - not gfo. i see gfo blamed for a lot of things, and it really bugs me.
lol not sure why, as i'm certainly not a bulk gfo sales person or anything like that, but to blame gfo is just not logical imho. i have personally never had an issue with generous amounts of gfo lowering alkalinity. i have read enough forums to see folks reporting this, but it just hasn't been my experience - even on small systems. :shrug
Bio-nut
Active Member
I adimately agree with you that it is not the GFO itself causing the bleaching. It is the fact that GFO or FeO2 is designed to bind phosphate PO4(3-). But with the addition of the GFO to tanks that have not been running GFO it can consume higher levels of anions such as Carbonate CO3(2-) leading to a reduction in the alkalinity.
For your case Benny Z, I am guessing that you have been running the GFO for a while and you have stablized you system with that in mind. Meaning you have at some point dosed alkalinty to replinish a loss in alk. Wheither it was directly attributed to the addition of GFO or if it was what was sceen as consumption from the livestock you have supplemented to balance levels. I hope that came out with out sounding like a jerk!
For your case Benny Z, I am guessing that you have been running the GFO for a while and you have stablized you system with that in mind. Meaning you have at some point dosed alkalinty to replinish a loss in alk. Wheither it was directly attributed to the addition of GFO or if it was what was sceen as consumption from the livestock you have supplemented to balance levels. I hope that came out with out sounding like a jerk!
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OP
OP
TCK Corals
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Benny i am not say that GFO causes bleaching, but if you use TOO MUCH GFO at one time it could cause bleaching. I had 3x the amount recommend so a few things were starting to bleach. Sorry for all the confusion. I have start up a whole new system to hold the corals that are bleaching and they seem to be doing very well.
dbartkow
Community Member
Anybody had any luck with the color coming back after a partial bleach? It has been a couple of weeks on mine and it doesn't seem to have changed much. But mine is a Tyree Pink Watermelon which is a very slow grower. I hope others are having some luck.
Dave
Dave
Macropora
Well-Known Member
I did a 20% water change on my 500 gallon system and the yellow tint in the water cleared and I forgot to scale back the MHs. It caused 3 of my chalices to bleach in some spots, so I moved them to a lower place in the tank. Still waiting to see what happens.
