Stylophora bleaching from the bottom?

[derek12261984]

Hi all,
I’ve got a stylophora in my tank that I picked up a few weeks back. I did notice that there were some faded spots on the coral when I bought it, but for the most part, it looked pretty good. I am noticing some bleaching of the coral, but it’s at the bottom as opposed to the top where the light is hitting it. Any ideas of what might be up? It’s one of the few SPS brags I have in my tank. And sits relatively high. I run about 75% strength on my blues and less than 5% whites. Everything else is soft coral or LPS. It almost looks like the polyps are peeling off. There’s good amounts of flow through my tank, but it’s not sitting directly in front of a powerhead or anything.

 

[JGT]

0 PO4 is no bueno.

 

[derek12261984]

0 PO4 is no bueno.

I know, its been a huge struggle to keep nitrates and phosphates at even a low level. I am currently dosing neo nitro at five ml a day. My P04 does fluctuate a bit more than my nitrates but I may need to start doing neo-phos. I’m pretty unfamiliar with SPS. Are they a little more sensitive to those lower levels? I always thought SPS liked really low nutrient tanks?

 

[JGT]

Likely starving and will get worse over time. Low doesn’t mean none. You want in the .05-.10 range.

 

[Dburr1014]

I know, its been a huge struggle to keep nitrates and phosphates at even a low level. I am currently dosing neo nitro at five ml a day. My P04 does fluctuate a bit more than my nitrates but I may need to start doing neo-phos. I’m pretty unfamiliar with SPS. Are they a little more sensitive to those lower levels? I always thought SPS liked really low nutrient tanks?

They do just not zero. As JGT said, 0.5~0.1
Another thing to remember is with higher alk you should be on the higher of the nutrient scale.

Do you know your par?
You need high flow also.

 

[derek12261984]

They do just not zero. As JGT said, 0.5~0.1
Another thing to remember is with higher alk you should be on the higher of the nutrient scale.

Do you know your par?
You need high flow also.

I don’t know the exact par. If I’m looking at the manufacturers recommendation distance wise, it should be right about the 200 range.

 

[derek12261984]

They do just not zero. As JGT said, 0.5~0.1
Another thing to remember is with higher alk you should be on the higher of the nutrient scale.

Do you know your par?
You need high flow also.

It’s in an area that has quite a bit of flow also.

 

[Dburr1014]

Keep that algae of it also.
I would get in there with tweezers, looks like maybe that is irritating it.

 

[Dburr1014]

Do you know what Algae that is? It looks like bryopsis but need a better pic to be sure.

 

[derek12261984]

Keep that algae of it also.
I would get in there with tweezers, looks like maybe that is irritating it.

Definitely will do! That’s kind of where the battle in my tank has been since the beginning. I register almost no nitrates or phosphates in the water column yet I’m still getting green algae and turf algae growth. I know there’s nutrients in the tank, but things get absorbed just as quickly as I put them in.

 

[derek12261984]

Do you know what Algae that is? It looks like bryopsis but need a better pic to be sure.

I wish it were brio! This is the same stuff that grows on Satan‘s nut sack, and is impossible to remove lol. All jokes aside it is green hair algae, and turf algae. I will say my tang and cleanup crew eat the crap out of it, but it comes back just as quick as they can take it out.

 

[stewy14]

ahhh
the stylo bleach, it'll recover in around a week, you'll see it start to un bleach!

 

[derek12261984]

ahhh
the stylo bleach, it'll recover in around a week, you'll see it start to un bleach!

So that is normal for this kind of coral? The top part of it looks great, and the polyps are almost always fully extended.

 

[thedon986]

Mine did the same when I added it before I got my calcium and magnesium up from very low, 320 and 1150. Not sure why they were so low I thought they were test errors until I got a second set of tests. Whoops. And yes my phosphates have also been a low issue for me and I’m dosing NeoPhos now. The recession has halted so I expect it to start regaining tissue. I also had a bubblegum digi do the same and not it’s recovering and fighting back the algae. Stability is so important for any SPS. I knew they would probably get hit while I got my stuff in order.

 

[derek12261984]

Mine did the same when I added it before I got my calcium and magnesium up from very low, 320 and 1150. Not sure why they were so low I thought they were test errors until I got a second set of tests. Whoops. And yes my phosphates have also been a low issue for me and I’m dosing NeoPhos now. The recession has halted so I expect it to start regaining tissue. I also had a bubblegum digi do the same and not it’s recovering and fighting back the algae. Stability is so important for any SPS. I knew they would probably get hit while I got my stuff in order.

Thanks for the feedback! My magnesium and calcium seem to be pretty good. My calcium sits between 425 and 450. I’ll pick up some phosphates and see if that helps at all. Everything else in the tank is pretty happy but like I said, I am not really a big SPS guy. I enjoy my flowy coral such as Euphylia

 

[X-37B]

With 0 po4 and almost 0 n03, no3 .2, your alk should be lower-7-8.

I would deal with the algae issue before I added anything more!

Full tank shot will help.

How old is the system?

Fish, inverts, feeding schedule.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi all,
I’ve got a stylophora in my tank that I picked up a few weeks back. I did notice that there were some faded spots on the coral when I bought it, but for the most part, it looked pretty good. I am noticing some bleaching of the coral, but it’s at the bottom as opposed to the top where the light is hitting it. Any ideas of what might be up? It’s one of the few SPS brags I have in my tank. And sits relatively high. I run about 75% strength on my blues and less than 5% whites. Everything else is soft coral or LPS. It almost looks like the polyps are peeling off. There’s good amounts of flow through my tank, but it’s not sitting directly in front of a powerhead or anything.

Often due to lack of flow, shading from light and high phosphate level. The amount of algae not helping if advancing onto skeleton
Also assure Calcium not below 400

 

[derek12261984]

Often due to lack of flow, shading from light and high phosphate level. The amount of algae not helping if advancing onto skeleton
Also assure Calcium not below 400

This makes total sense (shading). It’s the part closest to the rock that would receive the least amount of light that is starting to do this. I haven’t noticed any algae growth on the coral itself.

 

[Dburr1014]

ahhh
the stylo bleach, it'll recover in around a week, you'll see it start to un bleach!

What does that mean? I'm scratching my head.

 

[derek12261984]

With 0 po4 and almost 0 n03, no3 .2, your alk should be lower-7-8.

I would deal with the algae issue before I added anything more!

Full tank shot will help.

How old is the system?

Fish, inverts, feeding schedule.

Here is the tank currently. I’ve got two clown fish, a lawnmower, bunny, a six line, several different types of snails and hermits, one C hair, a yellow tang and a mandarin goby, and two tuxedo urchins. The system itself is about six months old. I feed small amounts three times a day. I dose the tank currently with all four reef and Neo nitro. Water changes are 10% every other week.