Bleached SPS's

[Jimbo]

Hi here is a speciman that I purchased from a LFS. It has bleached out completely on me, except for some green. Still has good pulp extension though, been feeding dt's. Hopefully it will recover, I have not tried to move it, since the damage has already been done. Hopefully it will aquire new zooxanthellae or the green in it will take over. I'm also interested in what others have to say about bleaching --

[Casey]

Jim I have never had one recover that has bleached that far
please keep me posted as to it's recovery progress. Casey

[Piero]

That's too bad Jimbo. what's yer lighting and the frag's distance from bulb? maybe move it down a bit? looks kinda gone though...but ya neva know!

[Jimbo]

piero 200 watts actinic and 400 watt iwasaki. It's over to the side of the tank. Must be the spectrum, it is really bright in my tank. I can't complain to much out of the last 12 frags they are all growing except this one. I have not given up on it. still has pulp extension, not lost any tissue.

[cyberchef]

I had a few SPS and an anenomi bleach out due to a "tried" algae cure. 1 of the SPS did make a comeback after about 2 months (never stopped having polyp extension) and got it's color back and the anenomi made a full recovery as well... So as long as there is Polyp extension there is hope...

[Jimbo]

Thanks for the replies. It's "POLYP" extension is just great today, better than yesterday. My tank lights are on at night for heat purposes, plus I'm a night owl I'll keep feeding it dt's also.

[Piero]

hope it bounces back for ya.

[Jimbo]

Ok I was lucky, this guy came back nicely

[mapster]

Looks like a case of photo shock/adaptation. Corals will release their zooxanthellae and adapt new zooxanthellae more appropriate for the lighting. That may explain why the color seems more yellow as the coral is generating more UV protectionas well.

And people say stony corals are not hardy...Haa!

Also, from what I understand, sps corals will mostly reject plant matter and the DT's Phytoplankton may not be the best means for feeding them. Unless you have some sofies in the tank to feed on the DT's it may just be accumulating in your rock or be removed by your skimmer.

Does any of this sound right? (call for back-up)

MAP

[Jimbo]

Mapster you may be right about DT's, but they are almost at the lowest level in the food chain, so other animals will feed on it and multiply feeding other organisms.

I'm thinking food chain here.