Duncan Coral Issue

[Tom800]

I have a 180 gallon reef tank. I’ve had three growing Dunkins in my tank for about seven months.

One of which all of a sudden started losing its skin and looks virtually dead, see attached picture. I figured this may have been an isolated incident as someone who managed my tank, who doesn’t anymore, did knock it down and it never really came back from that and I figured that might’ve been the reason why, although I have knocked down some a few times and never had that happen

Now I see one of the other Dunkins starting to lose its skin at the top if you look at the picture of one of the branches.

Any idea of what is going on here?

My current alkalinity is 8.3
My current is 460
And my current magnesium is 1320.

My third Duncan is doing great as of now and he’s in the middle of the tank and their heads are a lot bigger, see picture.

All other corals in the tank seem to be doing fine from what I can see.

Let me know your thoughts.

These pictures were taken at night by the way.

 

[Clowning_Around72]

I have a 180 gallon reef tank. I’ve had three growing Dunkins in my tank for about seven months.

One of which all of a sudden started losing its skin and looks virtually dead, see attached picture. I figured this may have been an isolated incident as someone who managed my tank, who doesn’t anymore, did knock it down and it never really came back from that and I figured that might’ve been the reason why, although I have knocked down some a few times and never had that happen

Now I see one of the other Dunkins starting to lose its skin at the top if you look at the picture of one of the branches.

Any idea of what is going on here?

My current alkalinity is 8.3
My current is 460
And my current magnesium is 1320.

My third Duncan is doing great as of now and he’s in the middle of the tank and their heads are a lot bigger, see picture.

All other corals in the tank seem to be doing fine from what I can see.

Let me know your thoughts.

These pictures were taken at night by the way.

Before anyone with more experience with this chimes in,

Any fish/inverts that might be picking at them?

Maybe a rogue emerald crab or something like it?

I'd think if a fish got a taste for Duncan then all of them would be picked at.

 

[LPS Bum]

I’ve had a lot of success dipping my LPS corals in iodine when they’re showing tissue recession. I mix it up pretty dark and give it 15 min. Duncan’s respond well to iodine dips.

Other that that, as mentioned above, are there any fish or inverts nipping at it? Are they being hammered with linear flow?

 

[Tom800]

Before anyone with more experience with this chimes in,

Any fish/inverts that might be picking at them?

Maybe a rogue emerald crab or something like it?

I'd think if a fish got a taste for Duncan then all of them would be picked at.

I’ve never seen the fish touch any of the corals and I don’t have any invertebrates other than snails.

 

[Tom800]

I’ve had a lot of success dipping my LPS corals in iodine when they’re showing tissue recession. I mix it up pretty dark and give it 15 min. Duncan’s respond well to iodine dips.

Other that that, as mentioned above, are there any fish or inverts nipping at it? Are they being hammered with linear flow?

Never did that before corals, could you tell me what to buy and what the procedure is and what it does?

Don’t see any livestock nipping at it, I don’t think the flow is causing an issue, I’ve had the same flow generator for months with no issues.

 

[LPS Bum]

Never did that before corals, could you tell me what to buy and what the procedure is and what it does?

Don’t see any livestock nipping at it, I don’t think the flow is causing an issue, I’ve had the same flow generator for months with no issues.

Iodine acts as a disinfectant for corals, just as it does with your skin. It will help with bacterial infections, as well as fungal infections and will even cause some hitchhikers to detach (LPS corals can be particularly susceptible to bacteria infections).

I use Seachem ReefDip, but there are plenty of other iodine coral dips on the market. Heck, you could even use iodine from a Walgreens or grocery store.

I fill a plastic container with enough tank water to cover the coral, and add enough ReefDip to the tank water to make it dark but so that you can still see the coral (about 1/2 a capful to say 2 cups of tank water). I remove the coral and place it in the dip container for 15 min. During that time I gently blow off the coral with a pipette. Once the 15 min are up, I rinse the coral in a separate container (with tank water) and place the coral back in the display tank.

That's all there is to it.

 

[Tom800]

Iodine acts as a disinfectant for corals, just as it does with your skin. It will help with bacterial infections, as well as fungal infections and will even cause some hitchhikers to detach (LPS corals can be particularly susceptible to bacteria infections).

I use Seachem ReefDip, but there are plenty of other iodine coral dips on the market. Heck, you could even use iodine from a Walgreens or grocery store.

I fill a plastic container with enough tank water to cover the coral, and add enough ReefDip to the tank water to make it dark but so that you can still see the coral (about 1/2 a capful to say 2 cups of tank water). I remove the coral and place it in the dip container for 15 min. During that time I gently blow off the coral with a pipette. Once the 15 min are up, I rinse the coral in a separate container (with tank water) and place the coral back in the display tank.

That's all there is to it.

Ok - I will buy it today. Is it worth me dipping the one that looks fully dead? I have read in a few places they can come back.

 

[LPS Bum]

Ok - I will buy it today. Is it worth me dipping the one that looks fully dead? I have read in a few places they can come back.

Absolutely. What do you have to lose?

 

[Uncle99]

I would have some concern you don’t mention nitrate and phosphate levels, both of which if not available and/or stable would starve Duncan’s over time.

 

[Tom800]

I would have some concern you don’t mention nitrate and phosphate levels, both of which if not available and/or stable would starve Duncan’s over time.

Sorry for the late reply, I was away from the tank.

Just tested nitrate and phosphates and I’m pretty sure this is the issue

Phosphates is between 0.12 and 0.16
Nitrates is around 4PPM

Never had this issue before.

So am I correct in assuming this is the reason why the Dunkins are having an issue?
Secondly, what is the best way to reduce nitrates and phosphates? Have not encountered this nitrate/phosphate spike yet so just wanna make sure I counter it the right way.

 

[Uncle99]

Sorry for the late reply, I was away from the tank.

Just tested nitrate and phosphates and I’m pretty sure this is the issue

Phosphates is between 0.12 and 0.16
Nitrates is around 4PPM

Never had this issue before.

So am I correct in assuming this is the reason why the Dunkins are having an issue?
Secondly, what is the best way to reduce nitrates and phosphates? Have not encountered this nitrate/phosphate spike yet so just wanna make sure I counter it the right way.

I think those levels are fine for all corals if they are steady.

Since all other corals look fine, I would not attribute the problem to water chemistry.

Duncan is a very resilient coral.

Can you rule out someone bothering them like shrimps maybe crab, maybe. The first pic looks like zero polyps.

Bit strange.

 

[Tom800]

I think those levels are fine for all corals if they are steady.

Since all other corals look fine, I would not attribute the problem to water chemistry.

Duncan is a very resilient coral.

Can you rule out someone bothering them like shrimps maybe crab, maybe. The first pic looks like zero polyps.

Bit strange.

I have not seen any one bother any of these corals whatsoever. I don’t have any invertebrates other than snails in this tank and I did dip the corals in reef dip as someone had mentioned. you can see in the attached picture that it is receding a little bit more.

 

[Shirak]

Top left picture looks to be gone. I see the 2nd picture at the top of the skeleton looks brownish? Maybe a disease? I have had BJD hit Duncans before.

Regarding nutrients. Your PO4 is a little high but not that bad. 4ppm NO3 is low.. quite low for LPS IMO They could be starving for nutrients. With low N they can't make use of the P

My Duncans were always happy when they were catching food circulating through the tank or when I dropped some frozen mysis or LPS pellets to them.

 

[BryanM]

I tend to agree, nitrates are lowish, but if they've always been there, then I doubt this is part of the problem.

I keep trying if I see any signs of life.... but that one looks quite dead to me, and I'd personally toss it :(

 

[Tom800]

Well, I really don’t know what to do then – I have dipped them both in reef dip. I’ll keep the one that looks dead in the tank, I don’t think there’s a downside and I have read sometimes they come back, but we’ll see and the other corals recession is slowly continuing, and the third Duncan is thriving and coral seem normal