Bleached Coral

[Jzhou]

Yesterday a friend of mine gave me a piece of war coral that has been so bleached that it is pretty much transparent to the tile that it is glued onto. I've dealt with some pretty bad cases before, but this has to be the worse. The piece still is able to feed on the mysis shrimp that I squirt towards it. But I don't think the coral has any algae inside it to ever recover. What are your opinions on this?

 

[marrone]

I've seen this with Lobo and other brain corals. I would keep the coral low in the tank, shaded somewhat, and then slowly start to give it more light each day. In time you should start to see it color back up.

 

[prattreef]

i've seen this with lobo and other brain corals. I would keep the coral low in the tank, shaded somewhat, and then slowly start to give it more light each day. In time you should start to see it color back up.

+1

 

[MIKE NY]

x2...bleached is not dead and I find that LPS have a higher recovery rate as well as recover alot quicker because they can be fed...

 

[Chris Jury]

Even severely bleached corals still have zooxanthellae in almost every case, and can pick zoox. up from the environment in any case.

In addition to the advice above, I'd stick with regular feedings, and maybe try some smaller food. Without much food coming from the zoox., the coral has to rely primarily on what it can catch. Feeding also enhances nutrients available to the remaining zoox., getting them to grow faster and getting the coral to recover faster.

cj