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asylumdown
06-26-2012, 07:30 PM
Does anybody have any tips on how to recover a bleached LPS? When I started my tank I had all 8 radions running at 100% for 6 hours a day and I put in all my 'tester' LPS pieces that had been in my 5 gallon pico.

I have a decent sized chalize colony that has gone from red and blue to pale pink and white, and an elegance coral that is so bleached it's practically translucent.

I reduced the max power on the radions to 70% for a few weeks (increasing from 65% over the course of 6 hours), and when I added some SPS frags I upped it to 75% (increasing from 70% over the course of 6 hours). The SPS loves it, everything that was browned out when I got it is now exploding with colour, and an open brain I bought when the lights were at 70% hasn't bleached at all, but the pieces that bleached at the beginning aren't improving at all.

Should I move them under a rock in to the shade completely, or are they toast?

sphelps
06-26-2012, 07:35 PM
It just takes time and the more you change things the longer it will take as well as less chance of recovery. You've already reduced the power to acceptable levels so the best you can do is wait. The LPS I bleached took over a month to regain color.

ScubaSteve
06-27-2012, 07:54 AM
If the coral will take food, feed it. The zooxanthellae use some of the coral's metabolic wastes to grow, so if you keep the coral's metabolism up it may recover faster. More importantly, feeding will also help keep the coral healthy while it recovers. Don't force feed or over feed. Take it slow and easy and give'r time.

It's funny you should ask this today. I spent much of the day reading scientific papers on coral feeding, bleaching resistance and recovery... you know... instead of doing real work (writing PhD a paper sucks...)

monocus
06-27-2012, 06:28 PM
www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/coral-recovery-from-bleaching-is-highly-dependent-on-food-availability corals by feeding them rotifers

found this while surfing-one of the reasons i feed my display and frag tank daily with rotifers and phyto culture

reefermadness
06-28-2012, 03:12 AM
havent had the best of luck with bleached LPS myself. Feeding would be my only suggestion.