Cyphastrea bleaching

Discussion in 'SPS Corals' started by sen5241b, Dec 28, 2015.

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  1. sen5241b

    sen5241b Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2008
    Messages:
    71
    Cyphastrea has been growing like wildfire in my tank for the last two years. I bought two small frag's and it has grown fiftyfold across the rock. Recently it has stopped spreading and is looking a bit bleachy in some places. and now algae is gorwing in the pasts where it bleached.

    DKH 8
    Cal has been 380. Now for 410
    Mag 1400
    Trates low

    I have been dosing vodka although I do not think that is the problem. Anybody seen this?
     
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  3. Eco Marine Reef

    Eco Marine Reef Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2015
    Messages:
    37
    Hey sen5241b, what are your phosphate levels? The issue of nitrates and phosphates are usually the culprit of algae. How have you been handeling the algae issue on the coral? Do you scrape it or have you just left it alone? Normally with a good maintenance schedule you can clear up the algae relatively quickly.

    However, the bleaching issue of a coral that you mentioned had been growing quite well is another matter. The bleaching could be from a variety of issues: lighting, temperature spikes, alkalinity swings, the increased amount of nutrients, etc.

    To narrow it down, are any of your other corals experiencing similar stress related issues? If it is only the cyphastrea, then it could be the amount of light it is receiving in the areas that are stressed. Cyphastrea doesn't like it extremely bright, it could have just grown higher up on the rock and maybe receiving too much light. Do you see a gradient of color on your cyphastrea? This is a possible indicator of it growing toward a more intense area of your tank. It is also possible the coral has found a hot spot. Lights aren't perfect and can produce hot spots where the amount of PAR is significantly higher in a few millimeters to centimeters, which would cause many corals to stress and start bleaching.

    These are just a few ideas to get the wheels turning. Let us know some of the nitty gritty and we will do our best to help you.