melev

While a number of corals look okay, there are some that were hit really hard. One was a little SPS that never really did anything in the nine months it was in the tank, but decided to take a nosedive during the bacterial overdose. I watched it and a few others turn white, and just left it alone. When checking on this particular acropora (A. milleopora) I noticed that some life did survive even though about 70% perished.

Wit the image on my monitor, I spotted another insult. A red bug?! Yes, that little yellow thing that looks like a flea in the living tissue on the left of the branch is a red bug. They chew on acropora tissue like fleas.

While most of the birdsnest in the tank looks semi-awful right now, this little twig has retained its color and seems to be doing okay. I may be using it to reseed what was lost later. You may note the dead fungia plate behind it. I'll leave that to see if any babies bud out of it later.

The LPS corals aren't too happy. Usually the heads of the hammers make a blanket, but currently I see individual heads.

This Montipora looks terrible, but there are specks of green reappearing. If all goes well, it will recover once more. Looking at this stuff is sad, but I refuse to give up hope.

By comparison, this was what it looked like before the damage.

The anemones have been quite content, and seem immune to the issues these other more sensitive corals have displayed. Here's the Sebae I put in the 400g a few months ago.

The fish seem to be doing fine, including the new addition of the white tailed Kole tang. He's sort of visible in this next picture, just behind Spock's tail.

Water parameters are being monitored. While I was out of town, the tank sitter noticed the alkalinity level had dropped and dosed some product to buffer it back up. I'm awaiting more calcium reactor media to replenish the reactor. This time I'm going to use ReBorn by Two Little Fishies.

Probably due to the quick buffering actions, I'm seeing some atypical reactions by some chalices now. They look kind of scuffed, as it they got burned by the sudden rise in pH after dosing alkalinity buffer. A section of Sunset Montipora got hit head on, but other areas seem unaffected. This montipora looks patchy, rather than one solid color.

The strangest part of what I've observed was the loss of green pigmentation in many corals. The big birdnest was vivid green. Most of it turned brown, but small areas are slowly getting the green back. The montipora I posted a picture of way above was vivid green, not quite yellow. All that is gone but a few patches of green are returning. The green Pagoda lost most of its color and looks drab, still. Fungia plates lost some color. The red acros both lost their color, but I'm seeing some pigment return. A Hollywood stunner chalice lost color, but the green is returning. Some vivid green chalices are colorless now, but alive. A couple of chalices turned brown and have retracted enough to show some skeleton around their perimeters. Some stuff still looks pale.

But one deepwater acropora that I bought back in December was green and turned brown for most of this year. It is now turning green again. Goofy stuff, because I'm not seeing absolute consistency which would be easier to grasp. The Nephthea coral is still green, as is Pavona and Psammacora. The Lithophyllum didn't change. Kryptonite candy canes are still green and seem fine, although some polyps perished.

Running a big tank can be frustrating when things go wrong, but I guess seeing unhealthy corals is better than seeing total destruction. My patience continues to be tested; my mood definitely is affected since there's little I can do to speed this process up. I'm doing water changes and testing parameters to provide stable water quality. The new eels are fun to watch and feed, which helps balance out my frustration. The new tang is doing well. Heck, the unknown acropora has turned more purple and while a lot of it died, what remains may actually turn into a gem.