FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
How long does it take a coral to start to show signs of bleaching? I've had a plating montipora in my tank for about 3 weeks and it was looking pretty good for the first 2 weeks, but isn't looking so good over the past few days. I decreased the intensity of my lights last week when I thought my Australomussa was having trouble and then noticed that my monti was starting to show hints of white around its edges. I moved it higher in the water column to see if that helped but the white seemed to be progressing so I moved it back down to the bottom. In the process of moving it I accidentally dropped it and it landed upside down on the bottom of the tank, causing a few more white areas on top - I figured that was from injury, but it has continued to look worse over the last two days getting more white around the edges and getting cobweb like structures on top of it. I don't know if the cobweb structures are from the coral or from stuff in the water column catching on it. My turbo snails and urchin also keep moving it (my urchin practically flipped it over an hour ago). I am wondering if it is bleaching and if so what I can do to save it? My lights (AI Sol) now are never above 80% combined of all colors; I have them closer to 60-75% for only a few hours in the afternoon, and then ranging from 30-50% during the other hours of the day, with moon lighting to start and end the day. I have no idea at this point whether the coral is getting to much or too little light, since bleaching can occur in either condition.