how dead is dead?

[ilektrik22]

This might seem like an odd question, but I need to determine how dead is dead in regards to sps's.

So here's the story.
I had 4 frags that were given to me, they all seemed happy and were growing.
Last friday I added a sump to my display, 30g display with 25g sump, I let the water age, cloud from the sand settle etc. and then hooked up the 2 tanks. I recently learnt that I lightly shocked the tank. Now, 3 of the 4 sps are looking horrible ( completly white) and one is green but the polyps are not out. I was wondering how long i should give them to "revive" and if there is anything i can do. Are they just dead, or are they dead DEAD?

thanks
here's a tank pic, one is in the top right( still geen looking), top left( still purpleish looking), other mid left ( totally white, slight green ting)and bottom right( was green tinged this morning, now white). (my candy cane is also doing terribly, everything else has recovered) ( just after i hooked it all up, cloudyness has now gone)


here is a pic from before the addition of the sump (locations: top leftish, top far left barly visible, mid left bottom right)


thanks

 

[Curtswearing]

To quote the movie, the Princess Bride.....they are only mostly dead.

Bleaching does not equal death. Sometimes death follows bleaching but not always. Right now the main problem is that they are going to possibly starve as there's very little zooxanthellae left to feed them. As a result, you are going to want to try to target feed them very small meaty foods until the zoox population reestablishes itself.

When a coral bleaches, it rarely 100% bleaches. There's usually a small contingent of zoox left behind so unless the corals start sliming up, don't remove them.

 

[ilektrik22]

thanks

So feed them ( i've never really feed them before) so if i just really crush up some of the gobies defrosted frozen food ( brine/mysis/formula 1/ cyclo) and target them they should be okay, any tricks i should know or is any food alright? phyto helpfull in this case?

thanks

 

[Curtswearing]

Phyto is useless for 99.9% of the corals out there. The vast majority of them do not eat it....they are meat eaters. (As well as bacterioplankton eaters, DOM eaters, etc. The key to remember is that they aren't plant eaters).

 

[kevinpo]

Hello,
The best thing is to wait and see if they recover. Even if they die it will not release enough matter in to the tank to be much of a problem. SPS corals have very little tissue mass. They can recover even when totally white. The way to determine if they are totally dead is to look for polyp extension at night with a flashlight when the tank lights are off. Even during the day some SPS will have polyp extension at the coral tips although usually not as much as at night. They will also quickly grow algae on the skeleton.
The bleaching could be caused by several factors such as a sudden change in water makeup, increase in water clarity, temperature, etc.

I hope they make a full recovery.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[ilektrik22]

I wasn't sure if they would negitively effect anything in the tank, So since they won't i'll just leave them in there and see what happens. I really do like them, and I was so suprised that I've been able to keep them alive and growing ( until now) as this is my first tank, but the massive water addition and the live sand throw everything off, and my poor sps's have taken it worst.

So i'll keep them in there, and feed my fish in there general areas so they can catch something if there hungry. And hopefully they'll pull through.

thankl you, I was getting worried that I killed them and was polluting my tank!

 

[scytale]

Some coral can survive amazing things.....

I bought a whole reef (used) and a very small (1.5 polyp) frag of candycane coral was apparently orphaned in a rubbermaid bin while the tank was broken down, moved, and rebuilt.....

This frag spent 3 days/nights hidden in some sand at the bottom of a rubbermaid tub IN MY GARAGE without any light, heat, circulation, or aeration!

It was only discovered when I was dumping the bins outside and saw a speck of bright green slosh onto my driveway!!!

Now 3 months later, it has doubled (has 3 very healthy polyps) and I have recently found another VERY TINY candycane polyp
(smaller than a pencil eraser) on my sand bed right below my original driveway colony"

In other words, it ain't over until that fat lady sings!!!
(and sometimes she comes back for a second encore!)

 

[SueT]

also try to keep your tank parameters as stable as possible so giving the frags a chance to regain their zoox. If they are going to this stability will help them in doing so. With sps frags sometimes it'll shock you to see what they can pull through.

 

[ilektrik22]

Will do SueT

thanks everyone for responding so quickly, parameters are stable ( had a bit of pH swing at nights after the sump addition but that's dealt with already) so I'll just have to see.

 

[ilektrik22]

so my sps's/what were sps's are starting to get algea on them( their turning brownish, I haven't seen any polyps opening at night, but i'm still waiting for the miracle recovery, only other coral that hasn't recovered so far is the frogspawn, and i was told their hardy.... the exception us green sps his polyp's open at night very slightly, so i think he might pull through.

 

[SueT]

wow, I sure hate to hear that. When they stop extending polyps any time and then get algae growth on them I'm afraid that they may not pull through. You should see some positive signs by now if they were going to make it.

 

[ilektrik22]

that was what I was expecting to hear, well atleast they were free frags, I was kinda attached to them.

thanks though

 

[ilektrik22]

Okay, so now that I am SPSless, I think my lights are expiring ( i'm getting alot of greening on my rocks and tank) I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good bulb for me. I really know nothing about lighting except that it's needed.

I have a
Aqualight Advanced Series - Hang-on Tank Mount

The Coralife Aqualight Advanced Series Hang-on Tank Mount fixture Features

- Hang-on tank HQI metal halide fixture
- 150 watt 20,000K double-ended HQI metal halide lamp
- External HQI metal halide ballast with on/off switch, 12-foot lamp cord and 6-foot power cord
- Three points of articulation for multiple lighting positions
- Sleek, anodized black-aluminum housing with ventilation grill
- Highly-polished reflector
- Built-in cooling fan
- Glass HQI lens cover
- Heavy-duty mounting bracket

and now I need to replace the bulb, any recommendations? ( I would like to have LPS and SPS's once I can get my tank rebalenced)

thanks
Yvonne

 

[ilektrik22]

maybe I should have posted this in the coral forums?

 

[kevinpo]

I have the same fixture and am running a 14,000K bulb in it over a 40 gallon breeder tank. The color is white with a bluish tint. The bulb is available from Coralife.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[ilektrik22]

do you run anyother lights? my worry is that my only light is a moonlight that i use for my dusk/dawn, only really so my fish don't get startled. With 14k I won't need a actinic? ( I really don't want to be bying anymore light fixtures)

I've also heard about these XM bulbs that are suppose to be good, can the fixture hold one or is it only setup for the corelife one?

 

[william holland]

I've had great luck with 10k ushio's, good color and great growth

 

[SueT]

I was going to suggest, if you think you may stick to sps corals and lps, going with a 10k. That will help in growth and color too. Then you can still use actinics and everyone should be a happy camper.

 

[kevinpo]

The 14,000K bulb looks good by itself with just the right amount of blue. The fixture will hold any brand of DE (double ended) 150W halide bulb. The XM bulbs are too yellow/white to run by themselves IMO. Not for the corals but for my eyes

Regards,
Kevin

 

[SueT]

my eyes too. I hated that bulb, got awesome colors but I'd get a headache if I looked in the tank for very long.