Help with ORA Coral - Bird of Paradise

[bhbbhb]

I may have the actual name of this coral wrong - but I need some advice on what be causing it to loose some of it's color. You can see from the photos where the "bleaching" or whitening is taking place. This relatively new. I have had this coral for several months and it started off pretty small and has grown nicely. The readings in my tank have not changed much. Tank with sump 175 Gallons - Temp 78.5 - 1.26 SG - PH 8.1-8.25 phosphate less than .1 - nitrate less than 4 PMM. There is moderate to high flow in this area. Any suggestions - comments or even criticism would be appreciated ......
thanks
Bruce
PS - thanks to the folks who put on Saturday's frag demo and meeting - nicely done !
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[hiimsean]

Looks like it's RTNing. How quickly has this happened? RTN usually happens from the base up IME. It's not bleaching because that is skeleton showing at the bottom. Something could have stung it if there's a nem or LPS under it. You can try fragging it if it gets worse.

 

[declanisadog]

HiImSean;934520 wrote: Looks like it's RTNing. How quickly has this happened? RTN usually happens from the base up IME. It's not bleaching because that is skeleton showing at the bottom. Something could have stung it if there's a nem or LPS under it. You can try fragging it if it gets worse.

Agreed. It actually looks like you can cut most of the dead part off and save what's left on the frag.

 

[raz0945]

The coral is a pocillipora, mine likes med high flow and does better under higher light (top 1/3) of the tank. I have both green and deep pink and one that is a mix of both colors. What kind of light is it under? How old are the bulbs? It could be chemical warfare going on between corals. I would look at lighting first! Holley

 

[picoreefguy]

i agree with sean it looks like either stn or rtn either way i would go ahead and frag it and dip the frag just to be safe as there could be a creature behind the stn/rtn

 

[bhbbhb]

Thanks for the input. The lighting is new - T5 - 10 80 watt bulbs. It is located in the top 1/3 of the tank.
Ok - I do not know what RTN or STN stand for. Stung ?
Bruce

 

[heathlindner25]

Picoreefguy;934540 wrote: i agree with sean it looks like either stn or rtn either way i would go ahead and frag it and dip the frag just to be safe as there could be a creature behind the stn/rtn

Dipping to me seems like an extremely violent thing to do to a already stressed out coral....jmo

 

[bhbbhb]

There has been no brown slimly stuff. Yes seems to be coming from the bottom up. Have not tested alk and Cal today - but last reading Sunday was cal - 420-440 and dKH was 9 using my Red Sea test and 7.5 using the Hanna. These two testers are always are different.
Thanks
Bruce

 

[bhbbhb]

I appreciate all the input and suggestions. Being "iced" in today - I paid close attention to the tank today. I did note that the coral has not gotten any worse and actually may be slightly improving. I did however, notice that my Flame Angel - seems to at times nibble on the coral. I decided to not take any action - except to increase water flow and extend the time under lights. Again thanks.
Bruce

 

[bhbbhb]

I took the advice of fragging - it is doing much better.
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[declanisadog]

Good news! i just had one of my favorite acros do the same thing out of nowhere. It was fine one day, and the next day when i came home from work, almost half of it was dead. I cut it and dipped it. hope it pulls through...