Need your help with new Montipora 12/23/09 Folks, I am hopeful, but scared. <Mmm...> I bought a small Montipora frag online - the coral came on time, about 16 hours after being mailed, packed very well in Styrofoam box, with heater pack, etc. It looked great in the bag (see picture Monti 1). <Okay> I acclimated it the best way I know how - floated the bag in the tank and poured tank water into the bag at regular intervals over approximately 45 minutes. <Umm, wait... Did you measure the pH of the shipping/bag water and adjust the acclimation water to it/this? Mistake otherwise> The tank water I put in the bag was dosed with Coral dip at the usual dosage. The coral seemed to tolerate the acclimation in the bag just fine. What I did not do is check the pH or salinity of the water in the bag before putting my tank water in. <A problem> At the end of the 30-45 minute acclimation process I took the coral out of the bag and placed it gently at the bottom of the tank. It bleached immediately, and has not a bit of color since (see photo Monti 2). <Is dead> Is it dead? What could I have done differently? Is there any way to save it? Its' been almost 24 hours since I put it into the tank and it remains completely white. Here is my setup: 6 gallon Nano tank - 11 inches deep with 36 watts of 50/50 PC bulbs. Water parameters at the time I put the coral in yesterday: Salinity: 35 ppt pH 8.2 Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0 Alkalinity 3 mEq/L Calcium 460 Magnesium 1395 Phosphate 0 As you can see, I put the Montipora at the very bottom of the tank, thinking I would move it up to the very top rock (which is about 3-4 inches away from the lights) over a couple of days. Should I move it to the top now? Again, it bleached immediately after being put in the tank (seconds). All of my other corals are OK, including the Birdsnest you see in the top right corner. The tank has been up and running for 2 months and has been very stable. The other inhabitants are: A few snails and a red-legged hermit as CUC Acan lord (1) head Candy cane (1 head) (Moseleya (1 head) Birdsnest (3 inch piece) One 1.5 inch purple Dottyback All the other tank inhabitants have been in there for one week or longer (tank stocked in stages). Please help - I really like the little Monti... BTW, I am new to the hobby, in case you can't tell. <Small volumes/systems are hard to keep viable... Please read here re acclimating: http://wetwebmedia.com/acclimat.htm in particular, the second piece on "Guerilla Acclimation" (or acclimating for the business, and organisms that have been "bagged" for long durations. Bob Fenner>

Re: Need your help with new Montipora 12/23/2009 Thanks for the response and the link, Mr. Fenner. Lesson(s) learned about correct acclimating. <Ah good> The coral certainly appears dead, doesn't it. I did not see any flesh floating away, but it is a very small frag. I am hoping against hope, so I will leave it in the tank for a month or so. <Good idea... no harm otherwise at this point, and one never knows... if even just a bit of tissue is alive, it might well regenerate> In case there are any live cells left in the rock that may decide to replicate, would it be better to move the piece close to the lights now, or will that just introduce more stress (to the otherwise dead) animal? <No worries. BobF>

New SPS Frags... Long Shipping... What To Expect? - 12/31/05 Hi all... <<Hello>> as has been stated by many, you have an awesome site, no fluff all info. <<Thank you>> I have read much, but not all of the site, haven't been able to find an answer. <<ok>> I just acquired  some Acro frags 1 yongei and 2 tortuosa (sp.?). <<Correct>> Thanks to shipping problems they were in transit about 40hrs. <<Uh oh!>> They arrived white, little or no apparent color, no polyps yet. <<Expelled their Zooxanthellae...or worse...have complete tissue loss.>> My fears about ammonia in bags and alkalinity of tank water led me to introduce them to the QT tank after temp adjustment. <<Smart>> I'm acclimating lighting using vinyl screen layers. <<Smart again>> On intro to QT tank frags had filaments of slime but no other indications of life. <<Not unexpected...>> Don't expect a miracle here but what if anything should I expect from these frags if water parameters, lighting and flow are optimal, which I think they are.  At what point should I give up on them in your opinion. <<Mmm...both species of coral have quite visible polyps, if you don't see any evidence of these after 48 hrs. I think you can assume the worst.  You might also try viewing the frags under some magnification (jeweler's loop/magnifying glass) to see if you can determine if there is any flesh on the skeleton.>> This is my first of many cracks at SPS so would like to not overreact. <<You're not overreacting...40 hours in transit/bleached condition is cause for concern.>> Steve <<Regards, EricR>>

Acropora injury Hi! I have 440watts of PC lighting and  a beautiful piece of purple >Acropora (5x4 inches in size) which is from my local fish store Purchased 2 months ago)- It has about 8 different large branches coming off it.  It did fine for the first 6 weeks. It still is doing fine but 2 weeks ago one of the branches started to turn white at the very tip of the branch. This particular branch is about two inches tall. For about a week, the whiteness worked its way down the branch. I became very worried the whole coral was going to di. But now it looks like the whiteness/it stopped progressing>down the branch. For over a week  it hasn't become worse. It only worked its way down about 1/4 inch of the 2 inch branch. The whiteness has now turned brown. <it is difficult to diagnose without seeing it or a photo, but it sounds like tissue became infected and denuded. The white corallum (skeleton) was exposed and has now been attacked by diatoms. The coral may reclaim or lose tissue. Hard to say. Do you really have the tank for SPS corals? Very stable Alk, Magnesium and Calcium? You test for these things regularly and dose daily? What have your parameters been specifically?> Are my worries over?   <I suspect this is a mixed garden tank too... mushroom anemones, LPS corals, soft corals. Going to be challenging to keep the SPS more than 1 year here> If not, What can I do to help this coral? I do have other Acroporas for over 4 months that had no problems- Should I consider cutting this tip off and allow the branch to grow back? <Definitely break this branch off... if is easier to regrow a branch than reclaim one with diatom algae> Please let me know.- Thanks Ron <you may want/need some more information before proceeding too much further with delicate SPS corals. I get the vibe that you are very new to at least this aspect of reefkeeping. Live animals here... not stereos or widgets. Perhaps you should get (or read) a good book too before buying another coral my friend. Let me suggest Eric Borneman's "Aquarium Corals". Covers corals diseases at great length too. Best regards, Anthony>