Acropora becoming brown and dying

[meermann]

Hi guys, about 1 month ago my acropora started turning brown and now I see it lost some tissue (STN?)

The tank is 10 months old.
Water parameters is stable:
Temperature 76-77, PH 8.2-8.3, NO3 5ppm, PO4 0.06-0.08ppm, Alk 7.7-8.0, Salinity 35, Ca 420ppm.
Light: Hydra 32 in Aquaticlife T5HO fixture, PAR around this acropora is about 300.
Water changes 10% per week (TM Pro Reef) + TM All-For-Reef + Acropower + Brightwell Microbacter7 (once a week).

Well, I moved recently with my tank and changed up to 60% of water (salt is the same TM Pro Reef), but it should be a case. Other acroporas except Spathulata (that also has marks of STN - but it progresses much more slowly) look fine. And I had the same case with Goldfinger acropora 5 months ago - it suddenly became brown and died from the base to tips.

Now it looks completely brown and has marks of necrosis

About 3 month ago: completely green and tissue is OK

Mid February: first signs of brown coloration, but the base is still OK (the acropora is in between yellow milli and spathulata in the top-right corner)

I think I need act quickly and urgently to save (if it's possible) the acropora, what's the steps should I take?

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Is your tm pro salt from Germany (metal handle) or Turkey (plastic handle)?
Ppl have had sps issues with the turkey salt.

 

[meermann]

Is your tm pro salt from Germany (metal handle) or Turkey (plastic handle)?
Ppl have had sps issues with the turkey salt.

I live in Germany thus the salt is local I believe.
Also I use 4kg boxes, there's no handle. But I checked an empty 10l bucket of TM Bio Actif that was bought last year and it has plastic handle and it still made in Germany. Have they changed design recently?

 

[scottj6]

Following as I am having the same issue right now. I believe mine is due to high nutrients from everything I've been reading. My nitrate is at 15 and phosphate at .12. Had a bacteria bloom a few weeks ago after adding a piece of dry rock and now have cyano that popped up on the sand. Going to start dosing NoPoX today to see if that helps things

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I live in Germany thus the salt is local I believe.
Also I use 4kg boxes, there's no handle. But I checked an empty 10l bucket of TM Bio Actif that was bought last year and it has plastic handle and it still made in Germany. Have they changed design recently?

The issue was specific to tm pro from turkey and it had a plastic handle. The German made pro version has a metal handle.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Brown “dried” out looking corals does not mean high nutrients or low light or anything specific. It means they are stressed. Happens with low and high nutrients. Acros in lower nutrients usually have lighter colors and higher nutrients usually have darker/richer colors….but not doo doo brown.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Alk swings don’t matter either

 

[meermann]

Brown “dried” out looking corals does not mean high nutrients or low light or anything specific. It means they are stressed. Happens with low and high nutrients. Acros in lower nutrients usually have lighter colors and higher nutrients usually have darker/richer colors….but not doo doo brown.

Awesome corals BTW.

But my nutrient level is +/- the same, 3-10ppm NO3 and 0.03-0.1ppm PO4. Trying to figure out what could cause stress.
As it happened approx. 3 weeks after moving, maybe water was so clean due to 60% change? Previously I fed with frozen brine shrimp and the sump was so dirty despite of a fleece filter. I pulled the fleece filter offline once I've moved and switched to pellet food instead of brine shrimp.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Awesome corals BTW.

But my nutrient level is +/- the same, 3-10ppm NO3 and 0.03-0.1ppm PO4. Trying to figure out what could cause stress.
As it happened approx. 3 weeks after moving, maybe water was so clean due to 60% change? Previously I fed with frozen brine shrimp and the sump was so dirty despite of a fleece filter. I pulled the fleece filter offline once I've moved and switched to pellet food instead of brine shrimp.

That was more for the other poster thinking 0.12 Po4 was too high.

The move could of stressed them….or it could of been a coincidence. Anytime something looks off I check for pests (any bug/pod on acro flesh is a bad bug) and send off an icp test for contaminats

 

[meermann]

That was more for the other poster thinking 0.12 Po4 was too high.

The move could of stressed them….or it could of been a coincidence. Anytime something looks off I check for pests (any bug/pod on acro flesh is a bad bug) and send off an icp test for contaminats

OK, so quick update
Last Wednesday or Thursday I dipped all the frags/colonies at first in Brightwell Koral MD, then in TM Coral Clean
Some "guests" were discovered, including flatworms

Next day the acropora felt even worse and lost much more flesh :mad:

Initially I put it onto lower place than before, but after I measured PAR it was around 380, like it has in previous place. So I put it into spot with around 200 PAR.

Now I use FM RTN/STN X. Hard to say if it really works, but at least the tank itself smells like good perfume
But I guess it stopped loosing tissue

Against pests I use FM AEFW X, as I heard it works, will see

And ICP tests also was done. But I have no idea why it shows 0.16 PO4, I use Hanna HI774 and water in the both vials almost the same. For sure I'd noticed color difference if there was values close to 0.16. Well, the samples were taken on Saturday and on Sunday there was 0.06 PO4 (measured with Hanna HI774)

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

OK, so quick update
Last Wednesday or Thursday I dipped all the frags/colonies at first in Brightwell Koral MD, then in TM Coral Clean
Some "guests" were discovered, including flatworms

Next day the acropora felt even worse and lost much more flesh :mad:

Initially I put it onto lower place than before, but after I measured PAR it was around 380, like it has in previous place. So I put it into spot with around 200 PAR.

Now I use FM RTN/STN X. Hard to say if it really works, but at least the tank itself smells like good perfume
But I guess it stopped loosing tissue

Against pests I use FM AEFW X, as I heard it works, will see

And ICP tests also was done. But I have no idea why it shows 0.16 PO4, I use Hanna HI774 and water in the both vials almost the same. For sure I'd noticed color difference if there was values close to 0.16. Well, the samples were taken on Saturday and on Sunday there was 0.06 PO4 (measured with Hanna HI774)

Did the fm aefw x work?

 

[meermann]

Did the fm aefw x work?

Good question.
I use complex treatment. 4 weeks of using AEFW, then switched to adding KZ Flatworm Stop continuously and also I bought 1 Fairy wrasse and 1 Flasher wrasse. Have seen them inspecting my acros only once though.
Anyway, since I dipped my sticks I saw a flatworm only once, around 3 weeks ago. And there are no more bite marks.
I think at least one of FM AEFW, KZ Flatworm Stop and wrasses works, or they do it together.

 

[PompanoBeach]

Following as I am having the same issue right now. I believe mine is due to high nutrients from everything I've been reading. My nitrate is at 15 and phosphate at .12. Had a bacteria bloom a few weeks ago after adding a piece of dry rock and now have cyano that popped up on the sand. Going to start dosing NoPoX today to see if that helps things

your SPS will not look the the OP if you had nitrates at 15. can you post a pic ?

 

[2Wheelsonly]

It looks like you're buying maricultured sps corals and larger wild colonies. I know it's so tempting to buy larger wild colonies but it means you're going to eventually get pests as most hole in the wall LFS don't have a good setup for dipping. Those larger frags and mini colonies also are very very picky and often STN.

Switching to smaller frags grown in captivity from reputable vendors was a game changer for me and made keeping SPS easy too. Also, contrary to popular believe they grow extremely fast...start small and within a year you will not have room in your tank for more if you play your cards right.

Not to be a downer but based on the corals in your tank and the latest pictures I would honestly mentally prepare yourself for a total loss of SPS and fallow period before starting fresh. I've been down that road before, AEFW are very very difficult to overcome and almost impossible to beat when the system isn't healthy.

 

[meermann]

Did the fm aefw x work?

After 2 outbreaks of AEFW in my tank I would say it definitely works

But it's extremely important to follow the manual thoroughly, at the first time after I saw no signs of flatworms I stopped the treatment, and it was a mistake. Manual says: continue at least 3-4 weeks.

So, in the middle of May I found those pests again. Dipped my sticks two times and immediately started with FM AEFW X. Two weeks ago I had no signs of AEFW while dipping in Coral MD, today the same
But I will continue to use FM AEFW X till the bottle emptied, around 1 month.

The treatment really works, but I guess it prevents the flatworms from breeding or somehow breaks their lifecycle rather than killing the adult flatworms. So it's important to perform 1-2 treatment with Coral MD or another dip as well.

In addition to above mentioned, KZ Flatworm Stop also works - but not all my sticks were affected. Some sticks previously shown signs of bites or so on, and now (I think) they're not to tasty for flatworms thanks KZ Flatworm Stop. But my favourite Solar Flare milli unfortunately has suffered flatworms attacks. So not all the acroporas were protected in my particular case.

 

[meermann]

It looks like you're buying maricultured sps corals and larger wild colonies. I know it's so tempting to buy larger wild colonies but it means you're going to eventually get pests as most hole in the wall LFS don't have a good setup for dipping. Those larger frags and mini colonies also are very very picky and often STN.

Switching to smaller frags grown in captivity from reputable vendors was a game changer for me and made keeping SPS easy too. Also, contrary to popular believe they grow extremely fast...start small and within a year you will not have room in your tank for more if you play your cards right.

Not to be a downer but based on the corals in your tank and the latest pictures I would honestly mentally prepare yourself for a total loss of SPS and fallow period before starting fresh. I've been down that road before, AEFW are very very difficult to overcome and almost impossible to beat when the system isn't healthy.

Thanks FM AEFW X, I last time I saw flatworms 1 month ago. Last 2 weeks I haven't been seeing any signs of flatworms while dipping my acros, even the millis which were extremely attractive for AEFW have no signs of pests.