Acropora help appreciated

[Hellybell80]

Morning,
I had a large acropora for next to nothing a while back. It had browned out from not being kept in much light.
I had it in my old tank for a while before I put it in my new system, as I had a leak in the old one.

After being in the new system for a month or so it has started to finally show green polyps. It never did before. It's still brown but had started to get a little paler in the brown colour.
The last week or so the tips have gone white. (Only change I've done is turned the lights down a little bit as the par level was over 550 now at 450)
The only parameters that have changed is nitrates. Gone from 5ppm to 25ppm. Which I'm working on bringing down.
Po4 is 0.04
Alk 8.6
Calcium 450
Ph 8.2
Should I frag what is good and move it down or just wait it out?
First pic before

What it looks like now.

It's a shame that I finally got the polyps to show only to loose it.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[dwest]

It looks like somethings might have taken a couple bites of it. My pencil urchin will do that occasionally. I would try to provide as consistent water parameters as possible and wait.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Pic a little fuzzy but either it got nibbled on or its growth

 

[Hellybell80]

Yea pic isnt good quality. I'll see if I can get a better pic with dslr.
I dont think I have anything that would eat it.
I have two more brown ones. Again got them because they were extremely cheap and uncared for. I like to see things come back to life. I do the same with the bargain section of half dead plants lol.
It reasonably stable for the last cpl of months. Apart from obviously nitrates.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Just make sure they don’t get worse and they start to heal soon. That’s a tough acro to start out with especially since it seems to have darkened up and probably shut down new growth. If it won’t perk up you could try cutting a tip off after these spots heal up and see if it grows from the cut area. As long as it’s turning into a green color from being brown before that’s good. It should turn green and then start new growth where you will see some new colors coming out.

 

[Hellybell80]

Battery on my camera is out , so tried to get a better pic. Looking at the pic closer I think I can see white lines of bites.

I cant get a crisp shot of the white area as the light is bouncing off of it.

 

[Hellybell80]

Just make sure they don’t get worse and they start to heal soon. That’s a tough acro to start out with especially since it seems to have darkened up and probably shut down new growth. If it won’t perk up you could try cutting a tip off after these spots heal up and see if it grows from the cut area. As long as it’s turning into a green color from being brown before that’s good. It should turn green and then start new growth where you will see some new colors coming out.

Yea I had got it that colour. I only had it because of a good deal. Literally a cpl of £s. Not trying to buy acros yet. But at the prices I got them for I thought I'd give them a go.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

I saw those white scratch mark looking spots. Just hit it with a baster and make sure no flatworms come off. Other than that I don’t know what would cause those marks other than a crab messing with it. You could do a quick dip and make sure it’s clean if you wanted. It should be a nice looking acro if you can get it healthy.

 

[Hellybell80]

I saw those white scratch mark looking spots. Just hit it with a baster and make sure no flatworms come off. Other than that I don’t know what would cause those marks other than a crab messing with it. You could do a quick dip and make sure it’s clean if you wanted. It should be a nice looking acro if you can get it healthy.

Thanks for the support. I think I will dip it and see. I have wrasse so hopefully any flatworms may get eaten.

 

[JCOLE]

I second what @Pedoconfuego said. I first noticed that circle of what looks like bite marks. Can you remove it easily? If so, then I would remove it and dip it with an iodine type solution like Seachems Reef Dip. It will knock off any bugs or pests and help heal it at the same time.

Good luck and good job! It is a nice looking piece and you are doing the right things to help keep it alive and healthy.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Just don’t dip if for long maybe 3 min tops just to see what’s on there. That coral will stress easily with an iodine based dip if left in too long or too much is used. I like using revive for the same amount of time but as long as you don’t use a lot of dip you should be ok with an iodine based dip. That’s why I suggested a baster just to see what’s on it because it would be much easier on the coral and it’s kinda halfway hanging in there to start.
It dose look like it could be acro eating flatworms. I see local stores with them all of the time and they love to discount corals that have them just to get them sold and out the door before they loose money. In the center of this pic is the evidence of bites and the skin that’s discolored is another sign. Is this your only acro? If so just dip it once a week for four weeks and you should be good. If that’s what I am seeing at least.

 

[Hellybell80]

I have fauna marin The Dip. Will that work?
I've not long bought it, and have dipped corals. Nothing came off on my newer corals. Maybe there was nothing on them. Or the dip isnt that good. It has no smell either, not like previous dips I've used.

 

[Hellybell80]

Just don’t dip if for long maybe 3 min tops just to see what’s on there. That coral will stress easily with an iodine based dip if left in too long or too much is used. I like using revive for the same amount of time but as long as you don’t use a lot of dip you should be ok with an iodine based dip. That’s why I suggested a baster just to see what’s on it because it would be much easier on the coral and it’s kinda halfway hanging in there to start.
it dose look like it could be acro eating flatworms. In the center of this pic is the evidence of bites and the skin that’s discolored is another sign. Is this your only acro?

I have two other acros I got about a week ago. Browned out and a bargain. But this one started before the introduction of those. And I did dip them.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Not familiar with it but it should if fm made it, give it a shot. That acro should color up to be bueatiful if you succeed with it. If it is aefw then just dip all three each week and make sure no eggs were laid anywhere. Also please do not freak out if it is aefw it’s not a big deal since you only have a few pieces. It will very easy to deal with them and get rid of them for good with a few dips.

 

[Hellybell80]

Done the dip and aprt from pods, quite large, no worms dropped off and I couldn't see any on the coral.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

I have seen large pods irritate acropora in this way as well so it makes sense, I would clip any dead spots off that would invite pods to live in the coral and hope it recovers. Maybe look over the other acros for any bite marks just to be sure.

 

[Hellybell80]

Will they affect montipora as well? I had nudi on there which I have dipped regularly over the last month. It seems to have stopped on them. But I can see that on the monti when they have them. I could not see them on the acro. It was the first thing I looked for.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Wow! Amazing photo! Those will not affect acropora although there are nudis that affect acropora they are just rare to see. Last time I saw one was from an Aussie colony and they are smaller than the monti nudi.

 

[JCOLE]

Done the dip and aprt from pods, quite large, no worms dropped off and I couldn't see any on the coral.

Did you check the base for eggs just to be safe?

 

[Hellybell80]

Wow! Amazing photo! Those will not affect acropora although there are nudis that affect acropora they are just rare to see. Last time I saw one was from an Aussie colony and they are smaller than the monti nudi.

I took it with a microscope a little while a go.
Good to know it's not these as they did take out a cpl of frags of monti.