Newbie SPS Question

[ellebelle]

I got a really lovely piece of SPS a couple of months ago and subsequently had an ugly phosphate/nitrate spike and it browned out some (though continued to grow). Basically, it went from a pale yellow, to a golden brown. In response, I added a phosban reactor, cut back on my feeding, and did daily 2.5g water changes for two weeks. Current levels read nitrates as undetectable and phosphates as somewhere between 0 and 0.03 on the salifert kit (which I know is still waaaaay too high).

I noticed today that just behind the growth tips, the tissue on the skeleton is lighter than the rest of the body.

That's good, right? It's going back to normal, as opposed to dying, right?

 

[jhale]

yes, for the birds nest coral you have growth tips are always white.

 

[ellebelle]

No, the growth tips are white. It's the growth just behind the growth tips that is a little paler.

 

[DEEPWATER]

yes, growth tips are always white.

not all sps growth (tips) are white

 

[reefman]

u know what they say, a pic is worth.....

 

[jackson6745]

Sounds like it is bleaching. Could be from too much light. Is the color faded in that area? Is the whole coral still brown? Pics would be great.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

J was saying that for the birdsnest SPS the tips are always white, not for all SPS.

 

[Deanos]

not all sps growth (tips) are white

RIF

 

[jhale]

yeah that's what I said

:theyareon

 

[fritz]

Is the clam still available?

 

[ellebelle]

I'll try to get a photo of it - it's not the birdsnest frag, it's a stylophora.

I don't think it's bleaching as it's under power compacts right (upgrading to MH extremely soon, so the SPS police can put away their citations). I bought it from Mike (Slamajama) because it was bleaching in his tank from too much light. I can't figure out what color it's supposed to be.

Here is was when I first got it. Mike had it all the way down in some shade along the side:

Here it is now:

Though you can't really see the effect near the growth tips in this photo.

Does anyone know if the actual color of the color is supposed to be closer to how I got it, or closer to how it is now?

 

[DEEPWATER]

RIF

Whats RIF ?

Jhale ,nice to edit your post ,,

orig posted by jhale

Yes .growth tips are always white

J was saying that for the birdsnest SPS the tips are always white, not for all SPS.

aside from jhales edited post ,,where are you seeing brids nest

ellebelle posted that it is a lovely SPS coral :Starwars:

Mike got that coral from me ,Its actually the same color now when i got it a while ago .HTH

 

[prattreef]

Lissa,

It looks like a perfectly healthy Stylo to me.

 

[reefman]

me 2
nice piece
looks like pink stylo w green polyps

 

[tosiek]

The coral is dying or dead! Send it to me for nursing ASAP!

 

[loismustdie]

Can we have a better size comparison? I've never seen a stylo that color. Are we sure it is not a pocci? The first pick looks like a bleached pocci. Pic 2 looks like a normal pocci (the one I gave eric). But without a size comparison, it's hard to tell. According to your pics, the branches look thick (stylo) but without comparison, I think it is a poccilopora.
You and your PC's...:argue::fishhit:

 

[ellebelle]

Hey, I've got the MH ballast, I've figured out what bulb I want, Brett is drilling my new tank as we speak. The lights will be changing soon, so don't hit me with your fish!

A comparison... here you can see my SPS garden in the top left corner:

And here it a close up of the sinularia, but you can see a frag of your very own tan pocci (via Eric) on the left and the stylo on the right:

 

[loismustdie]

. According to your pics, the branches look thick (stylo)

yeah, now you got me thinking PO4, as you mentioned earlier. Lighting as well (you also mentioned that). IME, stylos are not as forgiving as poccis with water parameters or lighting. You're making your improvements, you'll get the colors back.
As for the birdsnest, it can be a another growth tip. Mine don't just grow up, they grow out. So you may see a growth tip up high, and another developing under it growing out. If that is not the case, than it is a water parameter issue that you already know about and as you make adjustments, it will get better

 

[reefman]

ok, now i'm a bit confuse a pocci n a stylo
any1 can tell me which is a pocci n which is a stylo below? thank you

 

[loismustdie]

pic 1 stylo
pic2 pocci