Coralline die off or bleaching

[Walter White]

So after the little incident I had a week ago which turned out to pretty much being the equivalent of overdosing my nano with Kalk I came home to something strange last nice. My coralline algae that had begun to cover my marco as well as the really nice stuff on my seed rock has turned white in several spots. I don’t think is spreading or getting worse though and there is still allot of coralline patches present.

I researched on this for at least 4 hours last night and what I found was there is ton of people out there who like to act like they know the reason for it when in reality there are probably several reasons and there are far too many factors usually taking place in each person’s tank for any of these people to really know for sure based on a couple measly clues someone posted or should I say admitted to.

I found nothing conclusive. Most stated that is because calcium is either too low or that the light has changed some way. Neither was my case in fact it was quite the opposite. My calcium had spiked to above 600ppm, how far over I do not know because the test kit doesn’t even go any higher, my alk dropped 1.5 dkh from 9.5 to 8 not out of tolerable ranges but still a hefty drop in a short time, and ph was low at 7.8-7.9 At a time when it typical should be on the high side for the day.

Long story short I believe I just had some coralline die off or bleaching due to such a huge and almost immediate swing in my Calcium levels. (note I never saw it precipitate in the tank) but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. After a week of slowly correcting the issue with 20% water changes my chemistry is back in balance again CA:440ppm Alk:9-9.5dkh MG:~1400ppm, and PH: 8.1-8.2.

I lost a few corals and some inverts but everything else is recovering nicely. So my question does anyone here (know) if high calcium swings can cause coralline to turn white?

 

[Cake_Boss]

I don't know anything, but that could be an issue. Mine would turn color depending on lighting.

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[Walter White]

I don't know anything, but that could be an issue. Mine would turn color depending on lighting.

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Already said there was no change in lighting. But thanks!

 

[miwoodar]

I wouldn't expect a single event Ca/alk/pH swing to cause acute die off of coralline.

AipX, like kalk paste, will kill coralline 100% on contact. It will turn stark white. Are there still healthy looking patches elsewhere in the tank? If so, I really wouldn't worry about it a bit.

If you had a PPT "snow storm" event, you would know it even if you didn't see it happen. The glass would have a milky haze that would need to be wiped off. Your Ca and alk would also end up much lower than NSW. I can't say for sure but I think I ended up at ~300 /

 

[Walter White]

Thanks Mike! Then that is most likley what happened. I imagine the die off are the patches where the the aiptaisia-x settled after I truned the pumps back on. There are plenty of good spots left and my chemistry is all back in line so I would expect to see it start coming back. It might even be cool to see if it comes back another color. I read a Q&A with Bob Fenner where he has said that somtimes after the cloraline dies off it will come back in one of its other forms either purple ,pink, yellow, green, brown etc. Hopefully not brown though.

This day forward lesson learned dont always trust what the package says especially when your gut tells you differently. The only reason I had even bought the aiptasia-x in the first place was for the applicator to use with kalk paste. It wasnt untill I read all the instructions and claims on the box that I decided I would give it a try and used it per there instructions. Based on the claimes made on the packaging I thought it had to be better than staright up kalk paste. Had I used kalk paste like I originally planned I would NEVER have used the ammount I did and would have only treated one or two pests at a time for such a small volue of water.

 

[miwoodar]

WWM is awesome, eh? I wish I had even half the wit and tact of Fenner et al...and those guys are SMART. I didn't know coralline could come back differently. Do you mean actual color morphing of the same coralline or a different strain becoming dominant upon regrowth?

You should see my rocks - they are half white right now. I am taking them out of the tank one-by-one and applying the kalk paste directly....squirt bottle, tooth brush, and/or knife. I've even given up on a few rocks and banished them to the bleach bin. I'm determined to be 100% aiptasia free from now on. No more reliance on CBB, pepp shrimp, or berghia, kalk/aipx. I want them gone for good. Given that I'm prepping for the rebuild, I have a unique opportunity to do so.

 

[Walter White]

The way I interpreted the Fenner discussion is that its not a morph but rather a less or more dominant strain taking the place of what was originally there. It was also stated however that purple is more dominant and that eventually odds are it will become purple anyway. So yes iIthink you are pretty much correct.