FAQs about Acroporid Coral Disease/Health,
Parasites, Pests 6
FAQs on Acroporid Disease:
Acroporid Disease 1, Acroporid Disease 2, Acroporid Disease 3, Acroporid Disease/Pests/Predators
4, Acroporid Health
5, Acroporid Health
7, Acroporid Hlth.
8, Acroporid
Hlth. 9, Acroporid Hlth. 10,
FAQs on Acroporid Disease by Category:
Diagnosing,
Environmental (Pollution/Poisoning, Lighting...),
Nutritional, Social (Allelopathy),
Trauma,
Pathogenic (Infectious, Parasitic,
Viral)
Predatory/Pest
(see below), Treatments
FAQs on Pests of Acroporids:
Montipora Munching Nudibranchs,
Flatworms,
Red/Black "Bugs"
Acropora Munching Copepods,
Related Articles: Coral Pests and Disease; pests, predators,
diseases and conditions by Sara Mavinkurve, Acroporids, SPS
Corals,
FAQs on Stony Coral Disease by Type: Brown Jelly Disease, RTN,
|
|
Bleaching Acros 6/7/08 Hi guys,
<Mmm, and gals> I have a 90g reef, the setup is: The tank has
been up a year, it has 110-125lbs of live rock, an outer orbit 2x150w
halide with actinic t5's, pH is at 8.2, Alk is at 9dkh, calc
410-450, nitrates 0, nitrites 0, a 30g fuge with a PhosBan reactor,
<... might be removing too much...> protein skimmer and
calc reactor, the fuge has some GARF grunge <... just old broken up
rock...> in it, as for livestock, I have a few tangs, a couple
damsels, a maroon clown, and assorted crabs/snails, and now to the
problem, my sps are all bleaching, no matter the placement in the tank
they bleach, and I can't figure out why they are doing this, I
tried placing them on the bottom of the tank so they can get accustomed
to the lighting, and that didn't work so I tried moving them up a
bit and that didn't work either, you guys are the experts, what do
you think I should do? I'm stumped. Thanks, Rob <... something/s
not right here... How long has this tank been up, running... What is
new? Water quality supplement use? Addition of livestock-wise? Please
read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/CnidIndex2.htm the second to bottom
tray... on SPS... Acroporids in part., health/disease. Bob Fenner>
Suffering Montipora capricornis 5/6/08 Greetings, I have
a Montipora capricornis that has taken a turn for the worse and
I'd like to solicit your thoughts. Three photos are attached...
one of the top, one of the bottom, and one for comparison taken
prior to the onset of the current condition. Coral was acquired
from fellow reefer about 4 months ago. The symptoms began appearing
about a month ago, have gotten progressively worse, and include
what appears to be a bleaching condition as well as dark areas at
the fringes and underneath. Tank environment is: 110g tank, 55g
sump, 40g refugium in separate vessel with 5" DSB, live rock,
and Chaeto, 8 x 54w T5 lighting (4-10K, 1-14K, 2 actinic and one
reddish spectrum lamp) AquaC EV-240 skimmer, 200lbs live rock,
Phosphate reactor running Phosban, and another running carbon.
Circulation is provided by two Koralia 3 power heads and two Mag 12
return pumps running below capacity given small overflow (1-1"
line and 1-3/4" line to sump) Water changes are 10% weekly
using RO/DI water. Fish in the system are 2-percula clowns, Foxface
Rabbitfish, Royal Gramma, Neon Goby, Flame Angel, Melanurus wrasse.
Inverts are two sea stars, crocea clam, coral banded shrimp,
various snails. Corals include a half a dozen Xenia's, a number
of Capnella imbricata's an Alcyonium sp., Pachyclavularia,
several Zoa and Paly colonies, Encrusting Gorgonian, <Are any of
these nearby/adjacent to the Montipora?> two Trachyphyllia's, Galaxea, Heliofungia (yes I know, not the best
choice), Caulastrea, Favia, Euphyllia divisa, Blastomussa merleti,
Lobophyllia, Scolymia, Acropora, an encrusting Montipora, another
Montipora capricornis, and a couple unidentified sea pens/rods. PH
ranges from 8.0 at night to 8.4 during the day, Salinity is 1.026,
ammonia and nitrite are undetectable, nitrate is about 20, calcium
runs around 350 mg/l, with Alk at 3.5 mEq/l. I dose one of the
commercially available two part solutions for CA and Alk. Placement
of the coral in question in the tank is about half way up and in a
high flow area with closest other coral (the Euphyllia and
Acropora) being 3"-4" away. Lighting is on for 12
hours/day. Do you sense that the whitish look is in fact bleaching?
<Yes> Is the dark areas tissue dying off or algae growing on
it? <Both> All other corals seem to be doing well with no
visible problems. I did replace some of the lamps at about the same
time as the symptoms started which may explain the bleaching if
that is what it is. <Yes> I did try to acclimate the system
to the new lamps with reduced photo periods and raising the pendant
mounted light fixture up an additional foot for a few days. What
are your thoughts on what I am experiencing? Any other info that
would help you understand conditions? Thanks, Russell <... What
you relate seems to be okay... I do think there might be a
combination of light shock and allelopathy going on here. At this
juncture, there is little to do but hope. I would not move this
colony. Bob Fenner> |
|
Help with SPS - 05/01/08 Good morning Crew.
<<Evening now 'hello Andy, Eric here>> I hope
you're all doing well. <<Speaking for myself,
yes 'thank you>> I hope you can help me. <<I
shall try>> I have recently started to focus on SPS corals
and am experiencing some problems with a few of my additions. I
have a 110g display (48" x 30" x 18"). Lighting is
2x250W HQI (12,500K and 14,000K--I'm currently experimenting
with bulbs, but haven't made any changes during the time that
these problems arose). <<Okay>> I employ a 30g refugium
with Chaetomorpha (reverse daylight cycle), about 12lbs of LR, and
a 5" DSB. <<Excellent>> My Chaeto grows very
well--I thin it every 2 weeks. <<Mmm, yes 'is doing
as it is intended 'but continuous vigorous growth may
indicate an "excess" of organic compounds. Merely an
observation'¦>> Circulation is 2 x Koralia 3s and 2
x MaxiJet 1200s, plus a Little Giant 1,325 gph return pump.
Filtration is via a wet-dry filter and a Coralife Super Skimmer
that pulls about a cup of dark green skimmate every 2 days or so.
<<Hmm, hard to gauge this output (I do not think much of
these skimmers)>> I run carbon in the sump that I change out
every other week, and I also run a bag of PhosBan in the sump that
I change out every month or so. My numbers are as follows: specific
gravity is 1.0265; ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are 0 ppm; pH is
a steady 8.3; calcium is 450 ppm; magnesium is 1,125 ppm (a little
low--I'm working on this with Brightwell Aquatics Magnesium-P);
phosphate is somewhere between 0-.015 ppm (Salifert test kit--these
are difficult to read); and alkalinity is 3.5 mEq./L. All
mixing/top-off water is RO/DI with a TDS of 0 ppm. My tank
inhabitants are (I'll leave out the fish, since I don't
think these problems are fish-related): <<I see>> SPS:
1 very nice purple Acro millepora; 1 frag Acropora that my LFS
calls "Marshall Island Acro"; 2 frags purple tipped Acro
(don't know the name 'problem coral--see attached pic
"Acro bleaching.jpg"); 1 very nice piece of Montipora
capricornis or Merulina ampliata (WWM Crew thinks it's a Monti
cap, but others on Reef Central think its Merulina--it does have
1" sweeper tentacles at night--see attached pic "monticap
2.jpg"); <<Note the thin valleys spreading fanwise from
the center'¦I think this might be Merulina
scabricula>> 1 medium Montipora capricornis (problem coral);
1 branching Acro (again. . . ); and 1 neon green tipped Acro (again
. . . see attached pic "neon acro.jpg"). All the SPS are
placed in the upper half of my tank, about 20" from bulb to
coral. <<If they weren't "acclimated" to this
placement under the lighting, this may well be the/part of the
issue>> LPS: 2 Trachyphyllia (maroon and neon green); 1 nice
piece (5 polyps) Caulastrea; and 3-4 polyps Blastomussa merleti
that I had given up for dead but have started to take off. Softies:
2 very nice and thriving Capnella; 1 very nice and thriving
Dendronephthya; 15 or so various Corallimorphs placed throughout
the lower portions of my tank away from LPS and SPS (several green
and purple Rhodactis, one Ricordea, several Green Hairy).
<<Some quite noxious neighbors to the Acroporids>> I
realize that the Corallimorphs are not compatible with the SPS and
LPS. <<Depending on "ratios" 'it can be
managed>> They were my first inverts, and I plan to sell/give
new polyps away as they split. Okay, so here are my problems. Most
of my SPS are doing very well, show full coloration and full polyp
extension, and are growing. I feed them every 3 or so nights with
Eric Borneman's famous fish food and DT's Oyster Eggs.
<<I am a big proponent of feeding your inverts well (and
vertebrate life too!), but you must also take steps to allow for
the added nutrients to the system 'and broadcast feeding
corals adds a LOT of nutrients. I see you employ carbon and
PhosBan, but I would also suggest adding the use of Poly-Filter
with these 'preferably in a small canister filter. I also
think your skimmer is not performing as needed and your tank and
its inhabitants would greatly benefit from an upgrade to a quality
piece of gear>> The two Marshall Island Acro frags, the
polyps of which are fully extended at night, did something very
strange when I introduced them to my display. I drip acclimated
them in my sump for 2.5 hours. They were a deep maroon color, with
a fully encrusted, emerald green base. I placed them in semi-shaded
areas of the tank to minimize any light shock (they were under 400W
SE 20,000K bulbs at the LFS and 108W of 10,000K HO T5s in my QT)
with plans to slowly move them into full light over time.
<<Ah'¦very good>> Within 30 minutes of placing
them in my display, however, the emerald green bases completely
faded and portions of the frag turned a bland cream color.
<<A reaction to your water chemistry and/or noxious chemicals
from the soft corals/Corallimorpharians>> I spoke with my LFS
and it said that this quick fading was really unusual, but I assure
you it did happen. <<I believe you>> As I said, these
frags do have completely extended polyps at night and seem to be
regaining the maroon color they originally had, but I am wondering
why this happened and what I might do in the future to prevent this
from happening. <<Mmm'¦is hard to say for
sure 'but my thought is, a reaction to allelopathy>>
The attached picture shows you what these corals look like now.
<<Yes, I see>> My LFS said it could be subtle
differences in alkalinity between the LFS system and my tanks,
<<Would need to be more than "subtle" I
think 'and even then, not likely with good/slow
acclimation as you describe>> but this even did not happen in
QT so I am leaning towards a conclusion that it is somehow related
to my lighting (although I haven't ruled out possible
allelopathy, but with carbon, good spacing and the fact that my
other SPS are doing well, I don't know about this).
<<Could be any or all these things 'differing
species collected from differing niches of the reef can
react'¦well'¦differently. There is also the
chance these specimens were "already damaged" before you
acquired them>> The second problem is with one of the Monti
caps. I've noticed over the past few days that it is slowly
bleaching from the base up. It is green and cupped, and I lose
about 1/16" of color per 24 hours. <<A bad sign>>
The edges appear to show signs of growth, but obviously something
is amiss. <<Indeed'¦fragging the healthy portion
away from the base is likely in order here>> If you need a
picture, I will send one but I hope/think my description of the
problem should suffice. <<It does>> The other Monti cap
is doing great, has developed deeper, brighter coloring and has
grown about 1/2" since I got it about 1.5 months ago. I was
considering whether an iodine dip using a coral dip product by
Brightwell Aquatics might help, but have read mixed feelings about
such dips here on WWM. <<Can be beneficial as a prophylactic
treatment 'but also has some risk, in my opinion>>
Any thoughts on what is going on with these corals? <<As
stated>> Thanks so much.
Andy
<<Happy to assist. EricR>> |
|
|
|