Bumpy skin on acro

impur · Sep 13, 2013

This acro has been growing well for me. Recently the skin has started to get bumpy. I tried to get a picture of it here. I have 2 small frags of this acro growing on a frag rack on the other side of the tank and they have smooth skin. Does anyone know what causes this? I also have about 5 frags of Oregon tort, and 2 of them have this bumpy skin while the other 3 do not.

Here is a picture from a month or so ago

stylaster · Sep 13, 2013

wierd only thing that comes to mind is maybe the coral is doing that to slow down the rate of water traveling over it.. I know in some montis they will get more ridges and bumps in my tank if the water flow is high

Chameleon · Sep 13, 2013

low calcium...double check your test kit

impur · Sep 13, 2013

I have 3 kits actually, 2 brand new Salifert (I accidentally bought 2) and an older Elos. All testing at 450ppm.

I did have high calcium (510ppm) and magnesium (1500) about a month ago. But that has been under control and back to normal levels for a couple weeks.

Also why would it affect this small colony and not the frags?

impur · Sep 13, 2013

wierd only thing that comes to mind is maybe the coral is doing that to slow down the rate of water traveling over it.. I know in some montis they will get more ridges and bumps in my tank if the water flow is high

Hmmmm that would make sense but the flow isn't really high right there. But I am going to try moving the frags from this coral around to different places and see if flow has something to do with it.

jservedio · Sep 13, 2013

Could it be forming new corallites? Check some of the bumps for polyps - it could just be new growth. If some of those bumps have little teeny-tiny polyps coming out if it, you have your answer. I've seen ridges and thicker branches from high flow, but never extra bumpiness.

bct15 · Sep 13, 2013

This happens from high magnesium, it may or may not end in total polyp bail out. When my coral did it, it eventually rtned, my magnesium was high due to a faulty test kit.

impur · Sep 13, 2013

bct15 said:
This happens from high magnesium, it may or may not end in total polyp bail out. When my coral did it, it eventually rtned, my magnesium was high due to a faulty test kit.

That would make sense with my records on my params. I had high mag, over 1500 for about a week while I brought it down with WCs. I just tested 10min ago and its still coming down.

Alk: 8.6dKH
calcium: 430
mag:1425

Hopefully I won't lose this guy :/

impur · Sep 13, 2013

jservedio said:
Could it be forming new corallites? Check some of the bumps for polyps - it could just be new growth. If some of those bumps have little teeny-tiny polyps coming out if it, you have your answer. I've seen ridges and thicker branches from high flow, but never extra bumpiness.

Definitely not new corallites, though i wish!! haha There are just too many for it to be that.

Graffiti Spot · Sep 17, 2013

I thought high calcium made acros look a little funny like that, not low calcium and not high mag.

impur · Sep 18, 2013

Sorry I moved the pics. Its gotta be either high calcium or high mag. I wonder why the coral does this though? Does anyone know?

Jimbo · Jun 13, 2014

Ever find out the cause of this ?

msderganc · Dec 27, 2014

I'm curious too, I have a similar issue with my Hawkins.

jackson6745 · Dec 27, 2014

As soon as i read this post I thought about my Oregon tort because that did the same thing to me. I am almost certain that it had something to do with the addition of vinegar. At the time i was dosing zeo sponge power (smells like vinegar), and increased the amount of vinegar in my kalk. I backed off on both and the skin returned to normal. Could be coincidental but that's all I could come up with

My magnesium is 1250 on 2 different kits. Is anyone having this problem dosing a carbon source?

msderganc · Dec 27, 2014

jackson6745 said:
As soon as i read this post I thought about my Oregon tort because that did the same thing to me. I am almost certain that it had something to do with the addition of vinegar. At the time i was dosing zeo sponge power (smells like vinegar), and increased the amount of vinegar in my kalk. I backed off on both and the skin returned to normal. Could be coincidental but that's all I could come up with

My magnesium is 1250 on 2 different kits. Is anyone having this problem dosing a carbon source?

Well, I'm using biopellets, but I didn't see any correlation to that. I believe it started around the time I had calcium and alkalinity swing. Noticeably, though, most of the bumps are on the side of the coral in direct light.

Dosing carbon could clarify the water somewhat and increase the amount of light reaching the coral, so it could be a knock on effect (if light is the culprit). Most of the corals with this issue that I've seen are the deeper water varieties.

jackson6745 · Dec 27, 2014

So we have a carbon source in common, I didn't have any parameter swings when I noticed this issue.

msderganc · Dec 29, 2014

jackson6745 said:
So we have a carbon source in common, I didn't have any parameter swings when I noticed this issue.

Yeah, everything I've seen basically says no one knows why it happens. I've seen carbon dosing, alkalinity swings, high magnesium, low magnesium, high calcium, low calcium, bacteria, algae, and high light as possible causes.

Jimbo · Dec 29, 2014

I've had this happen to Oregon Tort, Cali Tort and Hawkins Echinata. Never was able to find a cause. My last theory was that the cause was too much flow, I had been running an MP40 and an MP10 on 100% in a 30"x30" tank.

jackson6745 · Dec 29, 2014

msderganc said:
Yeah, everything I've seen basically says no one knows why it happens..

Agreed!

Jimbo said:
I've had this happen to Oregon Tort, Cali Tort and Hawkins Echinata. Never was able to find a cause. My last theory was that the cause was too much flow, I had been running an MP40 and an MP10 on 100% in a 30"x30" tank.

Jimbo do you dose a carbon source?