Teresa Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Hi, My rose millie was doing fine - then the day after a 25% water change it was completely bleached! Why would that have happened? Some other info: I started feeding my mandarin enriched live brine shrimp and then the cyano bloom took off - hence the water change. I also stopped feeding the live brine shrimp about two days ago to cut back on the bioload. In addition, the temps have been swinging wildly all over the place while I await the arrival of my aquarium fans in the mail (up to 85 degrees). I have since turned off the lights and my tank is right at 80 degrees. What else can I do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mel in Elgin Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 If you have a stand up or box type fan you could remove the hood temporarily and just let the fan blow over the top of the aquarium water. It really does make a big difference...just make sure you keep it topped off with freshwater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I'd blame the temperature swing more than anything else but I'm sure everything you mentioned was a contributing factor. Make sure when you do cool the tank, I'd only do a couple of degrees of cooling a day. The shock of the temps rising quickly is bad, but the shock of temps cooling too quickly could have the same results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 Thanks for all the feedback. Yeah, I'm assuming it's the temp too Does anyone know if my sps might grow back or is it a lost cause? Is it problematic to leave the bleached sps in the tank (i.e. does it decompose)? Or is the damage already done? Should I do another water change - even though I just did one yesterday? Oh it's a sad day for that tank. On the other hand - my two gallon nano is now home to five dwarf sea horses!! They just arrived yesterday and are super cute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I'm sorry to hear about your sps It's always such a bummer to have anything in your tank not do well. I would love to see pics of your dwarf seahorses!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I'd blame the temperature swing more than anything else but I'm sure everything you mentioned was a contributing factor. Make sure when you do cool the tank, I'd only do a couple of degrees of cooling a day. The shock of the temps rising quickly is bad, but the shock of temps cooling too quickly could have the same results. +1 If the polyps are still expanding after a couple of days I'd say there's a fair chance of it recovering. It may take weeks to before you see any improvement so I'd suggest doing smaller more frequent water changes while it's recovering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don duncan Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Was there a alk swing with the water change? Large water changes can cause alk swings if you don't match alk of the new water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 yeah - so there is the other thing I don't do too well - test levels. I have all the tests - I've mostly been lucky and lazy. I've only just recently started with SPS. All of my previous polyps or soft corals have done great in good or fair water conditions. I suppose this is a lesson learned. Too late for me to test tonight but I'll work on that for tomorrow. So far only the millie has bleached (I've got 3 other frags that are doing ok - not great, but still have color). I'll post again tomorrow with testing updates - . . . . the moment of truth . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 If your water in the tank was 85 degrees and the water change water was much cooler then this also could have contributed too. Maybe there was a large temperature swing, you have to consider that too when doing water changes. I could have also been a difference in ph. I can see stress in my tank if my water gets up to 81...I didn't think any sps would live in 85 degree water! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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