Gifted an almost bleached acro, how can I color it up?

Tripod1404 · 11/16/2017, 12:05 PM

Hey guys,

I bought some nice acros and montis from my LFS last weekend. He also gifted me a very pale (almost bleached) acro. I am not sure what exactly it is but it looks like an acropora millepora. Maybe a pink one but I am not sure? The polyps of the coral still retain their color but the rest is almost white to very light pink/yellow. It has complete polyp extension all around the coral so I am sure it is not necrosis. Actually the coral looks quite healthy except the color. If you touch it, polyps immediately retract and come out again in ~5 mins.

So I was wondering what should be my course of action for coloring it up? Right now I put it to a place with good flow and moderate/high light.

My parameters are;

Alk; 8.3dKH
Ca; 475ppm
Mg; 1400ppm
NO3; 1ppm
PO4; 0.06ppm

mcgyvr · 11/16/2017, 12:08 PM

If its bleached I would not put it in high light..
I would start it low and see how it does..

Tripod1404 · 11/16/2017, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

If its bleached I would not put it in high light..
I would start it low and see how it does..

I placed it in low light first. But it showed very little polyp expansion and only at the parts that get more light (mainly tips). So I moved it up a bit which
improved the PE all around the coral. Since the polyps are still colored, I wast sure if I should put it in low light or high, so I placed it something in between.

der_wille_zur_macht · 11/16/2017, 12:28 PM

Get it healthy and stable first. As long as it's not dying or getting worse, don't change a thing for several weeks. If at that point it hasn't colored up, you can start worrying about little tweaks.

11/16/2017, 12:05 PM	#1
Tripod1404 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 1,821	Gifted an almost bleached acro, how can I color it up? Hey guys, I bought some nice acros and montis from my LFS last weekend. He also gifted me a very pale (almost bleached) acro. I am not sure what exactly it is but it looks like an acropora millepora. Maybe a pink one but I am not sure? The polyps of the coral still retain their color but the rest is almost white to very light pink/yellow. It has complete polyp extension all around the coral so I am sure it is not necrosis. Actually the coral looks quite healthy except the color. If you touch it, polyps immediately retract and come out again in ~5 mins. So I was wondering what should be my course of action for coloring it up? Right now I put it to a place with good flow and moderate/high light. My parameters are; Alk; 8.3dKH Ca; 475ppm Mg; 1400ppm NO3; 1ppm PO4; 0.06ppm Last edited by Tripod1404; 11/16/2017 at 12:13 PM.

11/16/2017, 12:08 PM	#2
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	If its bleached I would not put it in high light.. I would start it low and see how it does.. __________________ Who me?

11/16/2017, 12:28 PM	#4
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	Get it healthy and stable first. As long as it's not dying or getting worse, don't change a thing for several weeks. If at that point it hasn't colored up, you can start worrying about little tweaks. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)