Acropora frag bleaching

Hi guys,

I bought this acropora frag this weekend at an LFS out of town. I did not notice until on the way home that it was bleached on the back side. And, they didn't bother to tell me. Anyway, since I have gotten it home I have fragged a couple limbs off of it. It had began to spread onto its frag plug so I left that part there and took what was left of the bleaching part that I didn't frag and left in the tank. Is there anything else I can do, as most of my purchase appears to have gone down the drain? It is a blue acropora.

 

Ok, I will try to explain this scenario to you as simply as I can without getting to verbous.
Many stony corals, you will find, have a bleached or somewhat subdued appearance on the underside of the branches etc. as a direct correlation with subdued lighting. The employment of a dark colored substrate will only increase this scenario unfolding. A white or light colored substrate will help to reflract the light from your lights back up to offer the zooxanthellae(symbiotic corals) in your stony corals beneficial light where the light is normally not as strong. Possibly try repositioning your Acropora within your tank!
This can be compared simply to how burnt we get by standing in water as the suns rays deflect off the water's surface. Also, if you have ever gone snorkeling and wonder why your face gets burned, again it is a result of the sun's rays bouncing off the surface of the water.
This can be taken one step further and directly correlates to the fact that the deeper the water depth, the less of the spectrum from lights or the sun is able to penetrate below, hence the reason the ocean looks blue to dark blue with depth. The spectrum of light starting with the red then orange and yellow becomes refracted back as the water depth increases!

 

I am not sure what kind of lighting the frag was under before I bought it, but it is under a 250w MH in my tank. Where should I put it? I am attempting to post pictures once I figure it out. I have them in my album but haven't figured out how to get them in this thread yet.........

 

A couple things I was told:
1. with MH lights you really need to light acclimate your corals unless you know specifically what type of lighting they were under, or else they will bleach out. You start at the lowest part of the tank, leave the light off for the first day, then turn it on for a couple hours next day, increase it a couple hours next day and so on until you have full day. You then gradually move the coral to where you want it in your tank.
2. Many acros are bleaching for some reason globally. Somebody told me this, and honestly I can not remember what he said the reason was...but it is a very common thing that is happening. I will try to look it up and repost..but it is very common.

If you just bought it this weekend, I would try to talk to the LFS and see if there was anything they can do...because they should have seen that it bleached out in the back...they strategically placed it so you could not see it more then likely!

 

sorry, missed the part that it was out of town

 

Is it Bleaching problem or RTN that is going on ? If Bleaching then more light and it will color up in a few months if its a condition called RTN = {Rapid Tissue Necroses} , a iodine dip may help knock the infection out ? I always dip a coral experiencing a RTN problem .

 

is there a way to find out the lfs's water parameters and the par rating of their sps tanks? many lfs's dont have good water quality and when you take it home to a better enviroment things go hay wire. can you check your parameters and your par rating? acclimation is a must. also piggy back on what tangster stated.

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/members/share-reef-albums-acro-frag-position-picture40-100-1475.html

Ok, here is a link to my acro frag picture as well as its placement in my tank. I am assuming that they did strategically place it so I didn't notice the back was white.

Tangster ~ can you tell if this is that infection you were talking about?

What should I do now? Move it lower? Iodine dip?

 

par? Ca? dKH? Mg? temp? salinity? tanks internal water flow?

 

My tank readings are Ca 460, dKH 10, pH 8.2, Mg 1160, Phosphate ~ Nitrate ~ Nitrite ~ Ammonia all = 0, Temp 82 (Mid day), Sal 1.025

I don't know what the par rating is or how to find it or how to determine the internal water flow. I have 2 korillia 4's (one in each corner), 1 korillia 1 (center), and the 120 gallon tank is powered by a Mag 12. Is that enough flow?

One thing I didn't do what light acclimate the coral. Retrospect, I messed up. Also, it hasn't bleached since I got it. I noticed it on the way home from the LFS, so I got ripped....I did do the iodine dip during acclimation, before putting it into my tank. I have since moved it down to the lower 1/3 of my tank but still under the MH.