Bleaching

[+KimP]

I'm trying to figure out why some of my corals look somewhat bleached. I've been recovering from a sudden alk dip over Christmas and going through some algae phases, but things have been really stable besides. Nearly all the algae has cleared out and overall the corals look good and I'm seeing some growth. I check my parameters frequently and the tank gets weekly water changes. This is happening in a couple brightly colored mushrooms and a few montiporas. Besides lighting, what else could cause bleaching?

[FarmerTy]

Temperature is another possibility Kim that I can think of off the top of my head.

[+KimP]

Temperature is another possibility Kim that I can think of off the top of my head.

Thanks for the idea. Hmmm, unless my apex is acting up I can rule that out. I have a notification set up for a pretty tight window. I do get a little cooler right after a water change, like 1-2 degrees cooler for less than an hour. Think that's enough?

[FarmerTy]

Temperature is another possibility Kim that I can think of off the top of my head.

Thanks for the idea. Hmmm, unless my apex is acting up I can rule that out. I have a notification set up for a pretty tight window. I do get a little cooler right after a water change, like 1-2 degrees cooler for less than an hour. Think that's enough?

Not at all... Hmmm... Your lighting schedule hasn't changed at all?

[+KimP]

Temperature is another possibility Kim that I can think of off the top of my head.

Thanks for the idea. Hmmm, unless my apex is acting up I can rule that out. I have a notification set up for a pretty tight window. I do get a little cooler right after a water change, like 1-2 degrees cooler for less than an hour. Think that's enough?

Not at all... Hmmm... Your lighting schedule hasn't changed at all?

Not at all. The only thing I can think of is I started weekly water changes without missing a week, and it used to be every other week-ish, so maybe it's a nutritional thing? My phosphate is the same as always and I don't test nitrates frequently because I always have a negligible amount, so even that doesn't seem likely. I feed the same as always. These corals just look sort of clear, but you can still see their color, if you know what I mean. They look florescent or something and it's not getting better. My pH has done some fluctuating. Any idea if that could cause something like this?

[jestep]

Delayed reaction from the alk issues?

I've had monti's specifically bleach on me a bunch of times when the rest of the coral in the tank are completely fine. Never figured out why though. Usually it was red and purple caps that were more prone to doing it. Green cap doesn't seem to care about anything.

[FarmerTy]

Temperature is another possibility Kim that I can think of off the top of my head.

Thanks for the idea. Hmmm, unless my apex is acting up I can rule that out. I have a notification set up for a pretty tight window. I do get a little cooler right after a water change, like 1-2 degrees cooler for less than an hour. Think that's enough?

Not at all... Hmmm... Your lighting schedule hasn't changed at all?

Not at all. The only thing I can think of is I started weekly water changes without missing a week, and it used to be every other week-ish, so maybe it's a nutritional thing? My phosphate is the same as always and I don't test nitrates frequently because I always have a negligible amount, so even that doesn't seem likely. I feed the same as always. These corals just look sort of clear, but you can still see their color, if you know what I mean. They look florescent or something and it's not getting better. My pH has done some fluctuating. Any idea if that could cause something like this?

Remind me of your system Kim. Are you carbon dosing? Skimmer? What are your nutrient levels? Do you know your par levels?

Like Jestep mentioned, monti caps just have their own temperament sometimes and perhaps like he said, a delayed reaction to the alk dip. That wouldn't explain your soft corals looking pale either. I only see those looking pale when there isn't enough light or not enough nutrients in the system.

[+KimP]

Temperature is another possibility Kim that I can think of off the top of my head.

Thanks for the idea. Hmmm, unless my apex is acting up I can rule that out. I have a notification set up for a pretty tight window. I do get a little cooler right after a water change, like 1-2 degrees cooler for less than an hour. Think that's enough?

Not at all... Hmmm... Your lighting schedule hasn't changed at all?

Not at all. The only thing I can think of is I started weekly water changes without missing a week, and it used to be every other week-ish, so maybe it's a nutritional thing? My phosphate is the same as always and I don't test nitrates frequently because I always have a negligible amount, so even that doesn't seem likely. I feed the same as always. These corals just look sort of clear, but you can still see their color, if you know what I mean. They look florescent or something and it's not getting better. My pH has done some fluctuating. Any idea if that could cause something like this?

Remind me of your system Kim. Are you carbon dosing? Skimmer? What are your nutrient levels? Do you know your par levels?

Like Jestep mentioned, monti caps just have their own temperament sometimes and perhaps like he said, a delayed reaction to the alk dip. That wouldn't explain your soft corals looking pale either. I only see those looking pale when there isn't enough light or not enough nutrients in the system.

No carbon dosing, undersized skimmer, nitrate always negligible, phosphate always seems to be 0.092 tested with elos professional kit. I have tested par a few times but with the Kessils I've read that the par meter isn't accurate, so I've just used the numbers to move coral from one tank to the other, under the same lights.

I think jestep may be onto something with the mushrooms. I can easily move them into brighter light and see how they react. Maybe the monti's are reacting to the alk fluctuations? It's noticeably the setosa and red cap. Then not as bad on the warp speed and Jedi mind trick I got from you Ty, and an unknown Monti. No problems on the German blue.

[FarmerTy]

Yeah, setosa and red cap will show lighter colors in low light as well but my jedi mind trick always looks the same regardless of high or lower light.

[FarmerTy]

Maybe we can get someone in the club to buy one of these!

https://reefbuilders.com/2016/02/19/apogee-sq-mq-500-quantum-meter-par-sensor/

[BornToHula]

I'm actually experiencing a bit of color loss on my corals as well. Turns out my calcium test kits were wonky and the levels were pretty low. I've been slowly raising it back to 400 to 450 ppm but haven't seen any colors come back yet. Don't know if that's the cause of the color issues but may be worth a look.

Maybe we can get someone in the club to buy one of these!

https://reefbuilders.com/2016/02/19/apogee-sq-mq-500-quantum-meter-par-sensor/

I was eyeing that the other day. Hard to justify a $500 purchase when it would only be used a few times a year though.

[+KimP]

I'm actually experiencing a bit of color loss on my corals as well. Turns out my calcium test kits were wonky and the levels were pretty low. I've been slowly raising it back to 400 to 450 ppm but haven't seen any colors come back yet. Don't know if that's the cause of the color issues but may be worth a look.

My calcium has been low. I actually just pulled out the stuff to start dosing last night. Thanks for the idea. I need to test the level again and get started.

[FarmerTy]

I wish I had input but my calcium levels have never dropped below 380 ppm so I can't say if any lower would cause loss of color in coral.