Algae on tips of sps

jfenton954

Member
Hi I got home from work yesterday to see brown algae on my blue acro. It's in high light at top of tank with high flow.
The polyps don't come out anymore I've noticed. Not sure if that's good or not I'm guessing not but not sure.
Nitrate 0
Amm: 0
Phos: 0
Alk : 7
PH: 7.8
Cal: 450
Mag: 1200

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1428499151.383367.jpg
 

frisbee

Well-Known Member
That's definitely not a good sign. How long have you had the coral? Has it always been in that same spot? IMO you might want to move it down to the bottom for two or three weeks and see how it responds.
What else do you have in the tank?
 

jfenton954

Member
Had it for about 3 or so weeks. Have some Zoa's, 2 small acans, 1 small hammer, small leather, Pom Pom Xenias
 

frisbee

Well-Known Member
When you first got the coral, did you put it right up under the lights like that? While most sps corals do seem to appreciate the intense lighting, sometimes you have to acclimate them to that. I'm assuming you have LED's? If so, these can be very powerful. If you did just put that coral up top like that you could very well be burning it up so to say. Like mentioned above, you might want to move the coral down to the bottom for awhile and see what happens. GL.
 
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Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
It is still alive?

Usually you can just clip off the algae growth on the tips, but this frag is so small, that option may not work in this case. I'd bring it down lower in the tank as @frisbee suggested. I'd also try to blow off the algae. And continue to blow off the algae daily (maybe couple times a day or as needed anytime the algae regrows back). Allowing the algae to stay on it can allow the algae to spread. Use a baster or something similar to blow off the algae. Since it is an sps it has a very thin layer of tissue on it, so blowing off the algae does less harm then getting it off in another way (don't scrape it off with some tool).

In the future allow all new sps to sit in the sand bed for a week. This allows them to acclimate to the tanks chemistry and light levels. Then slowly, I mean very slowly, move them up a little in the tank. Do this on a weekly basis. Then move them up a little more. Continue to slowly move them up to the spot you want them to be in. This allows the sps, particularly the more sensitive sps, to acclimate to the light levels in our tank.

Keep us posted on its progress. Hope it can make a come back. Sometimes the come back can takes weeks to months, so be patient. Sps can be finicky.
 
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