Bleaching montipora

Discussion in 'SPS Corals' started by Blarghensplargh, May 21, 2014.

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  1. Blarghensplargh

    Blarghensplargh Astrea Snail

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    Six days ago I got in an order from East Pacific Aquaculture. It was mostly softies and a couple LPS and since this is a young tank I only got one SPS coral which is a "blue polyp montipora". Most of the corals are adapting well except this montipora which has slowly lost color since I got it. The tissue seems to be healthy and intact so luckily there's no tissue narcosis.

    Here's a picture of it under the Radion 12k preset with a 7k white balance.

    [​IMG]

    Params:
    Temperature usually stays between 79 and 80.
    p.H. usually ranges from 7.9 to 8.1.

    (All salifert tests)
    Nitrates: almost undetectable
    KH: 8 dKH
    Calcium: 440
    Magnesium: 1350

    Is the coral just stressed after being in a box for 18 hours? I don't want to assume that and then lose it because I wasn't on top of things.
     
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  3. Dyonopses1

    Dyonopses1 Skunk Shrimp

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    SPS can take a LONG time to acclimate. Just keep a close eye on it.
     
  4. rcflyer1388

    rcflyer1388 Bubble Tip Anemone

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    how do you check your PH? Reason I'm asking is because this has become my new thing I look out for with PH probes. My tank was showing a consistent 8.2-8.4 PH and my SPS started looking pale and dying. First sign was coming from my Monti's and I couldn't figure it out because all my other params were looking fine. Then one day out of the blue I decided to recalibrate my probe and come to find out that my PH was actually off by .4. I didn't have a PH test kit to check the water with and was solely relying on the probe to measure PH.
     
  5. Blarghensplargh

    Blarghensplargh Astrea Snail

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    It's a digital aquatics probe. It's only about week old so it hasn't been long since I calibrated it. That doesn't mean it's accurate. Should I go out and get a cheap test kit and see if I get similar readings?
     
  6. DSC reef

    DSC reef Giant Squid

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    It's always a good idea to have a test kit to compare your probe too.
     
  7. dcmartinpc

    dcmartinpc Plankton

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    A test kit can help to verify. But a properly calibrated pH probe is usually pretty close. My pH dips to 7.8 sometimes briefly. My tank runs in the neighborhood of 7.9 - 8.1 on average and my SPS are colored up nicely. A couple questions...

    How far away from the Radion is the monti?
    How long has it been in the tank?
    What intensity is your radium set to?

    SPS can take a LONG time to adjust to any tank, specifically one with LEDs IMHO. The visual intensity versus the perceived intensity is vastly different with LEDs compared to other lighting technologies.

    Don
     
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  9. civiccars2003

    civiccars2003 Great Blue Whale

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    I think it looks good. I'd give it some more time. I have had sps look terrible for long periods of time, then for whatever reason, they take off and get huge.
     
  10. Blarghensplargh

    Blarghensplargh Astrea Snail

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    The monti is on the bottom of the tank which is 2' tall and the light is about 10" above the water. Last Thursday I set a 2 week acclimation period starting at 40% going up to 100%. It probably runs at about 65% right now. The peak is at 3pm which is the 14k preset and for most of the morning and evening the white red and green channels are pretty low. I'm thinking the acclimation is too fast so I might restart the two week acclimation period starting from 50% going up to 75% or something. The montipora has been in there for exactly a week.

    Something else I'm worried about is that maybe my refractomerer is off. I have it zeroed to RO water, but does that necissarily mean it's accurate?
     
  11. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    I do not think 2 weeks is a long enough acclimation period for that specific fixture/type.

    Unfortunately is difficult and inaccurate to calibrate with RO water, you need a solution with a know SG of 35 ppt as target/ or whatever the manufacture uses.
     
  12. Blarghensplargh

    Blarghensplargh Astrea Snail

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    The montipora seems to be losing some tissue, so I'm not sure if there's much hope for it.

    I've set a 4 week acclimation period going from 40% to 80% on the Radion. I also got out my old API pH test kits and read 8.1ish on both of them while the probe read 7.9. The test kits never worked very well and are also around 3 years old, so I'm not counting on their accuracy. I'm also really worried about my refractometer being miscalibrated so I've order calibration fluid for that and pH calibration fluid for the probe.