Has anyone seen this Pink Skeleton "Disease" before?

[nickman]

I have seen this a number of times over the years in many Genera of corals. To my recollection I have only seen it on LPS (Goniopora, Micromussa (Acans), Symphyllia, Favites/Favia, Goniastrea).
I have no idea what it is despite a rather drawn out search (Some sort of Cyanobacteria?) and have had limited success treating it with Chemiclean baths.

Pictured above is the skeleton of Goniopora that slowly lost tissue revealing the red skeleton underneath. This was well after it had been fragged and was actively growing. You can see the older growth is white on the profile shot which leads me to believe it was infected after fragging.

I have also noticed that it tends to pop up in isolated specimens along side otherwise healthy frags from the same colony and does not readily infect other corals. In this particular system it was in a lower flow/light area. It popped up on the opposite corner of the tank in a Favites/Favia colony but the other corals seem unaffected.

Notice the "mutated" coloration of the colony below and the hints of pink skeleton showing through the tissue. There are two other colonies of the same coral (same source, same "age" in this system) in another tank showing no signs of this issue.
I have done 2 Chemiclean dips so far on the colony and am keeping a close eye on it for changes.

These are frags of the colony pictured above. They are housed in a separate tank in the same system and are not exhibiting any issues with health or coloration.


Has anyone else seen this issue before and do you have any information as to what it is and how it might be treated? I'm not a fan of full-system use of antibiotics as I see that as a slippery slope towards bigger biological issues but I'm willing to experiment on an isolated tank.

 

[RyanTurner]

NICK! Maybe this?

Pink-line syndrome, a physiological crisis in the scleractinian coral Porites lutea - Marine Biology

Coral diseases are one of the major factors that alter coral cover and their diversity. We have earlier reported the “Pink-line syndrome” (PLS) in the scleractinian coral Porites lutea wherein a colored band appears between the dead and healthy tissue of a colony. About 20% of the P. lutea...

link.springer.com

 

[encrustingacro]

I remember reading about a similar disease in Porites species.

 

[nickman]

NICK! Maybe this?

Pink-line syndrome, a physiological crisis in the scleractinian coral Porites lutea - Marine Biology

Coral diseases are one of the major factors that alter coral cover and their diversity. We have earlier reported the “Pink-line syndrome” (PLS) in the scleractinian coral Porites lutea wherein a colored band appears between the dead and healthy tissue of a colony. About 20% of the P. lutea...

link.springer.com

Well hey there, buddy! Funny you should reply. That Red/Orange Symphyllia you picked up in FL way back when was the first instance of this I can recall.
I have looked into Pink-line Syndrome as a possibility but it doesn't seem to impact or progress through an LPS colony as described/shown in the papers I have read. It could very well be a similar pathogen that impacts SPS corals differently than LPS corals. The main difference is that the condition doesn't usually kill the coral outright despite infecting the entire skeleton. I have observed both slow and rapid decline in the health of the coral. Often, the rapid decline involves the tissue peeling away from the skeleton and complete death of the colony/frag within 24-48 hrs.
Color changes may or may not occur to the tissue and in some instances there was no sign of an issue at all until the coral died suddenly exposing the pink skeleton.
Really hoping we can figure this one out!

 

[ScuttleBug]

I had this come through and kill every acan and favia in my tank, almost made me quit. I couldn't keep any in my tank after for a very long time. Link to my thread in 2021. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/pink-line-disease.861447/

 

[nickman]

I had this come through and kill every acan and favia in my tank, almost made me quit. I couldn't keep any in my tank after for a very long time. Link to my thread in 2021. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/pink-line-disease.861447/

I was actually one of the last comments on your thread back in 2021.
It's been a long and unfruitful search since then in finding info on this issue!

What did you end up doing as far as treating the tank since then?

I am planning on reaching out to AquaBiomics to see if they are able to isolate this Cyanobacteria(?) strain in a water sample or a fresh skeleton of an infected coral.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

I remember reading about a similar disease in Porites species.

This is actually a disease? I have a favities skeleton in my tank (that I just took out) that has that exact thing. Does it spread?

 

[Kerbash]

Huh never knew this was a disease, one of my bubble coral heads just drop dead out of nowhere too. Slowly receded, showing this pink skeleton. The other head (that was attached) seems fine no pink skelly.

I tried treating him in cipro/amox/bactrim mixture and peroxide bath, basically everything I got but nothing seems to reverse it i think he is too far gone at this point. His clone (the other head) had flesh that was connecting the two of them, and it was starting to peel off too but I cut around 5 mm ahead of that and it seems to stopped it from spreading.

 

[encrustingacro]

This is actually a disease? I have a favities skeleton in my tank (that I just took out) that has that exact thing. Does it spread?

How long has it been dead? Might just be coralline.

 

[ScuttleBug]

I was actually one of the last comments on your thread back in 2021.
It's been a long and unfruitful search since then in finding info on this issue!

What did you end up doing as far as treating the tank since then?

I am planning on reaching out to AquaBiomics to see if they are able to isolate this Cyanobacteria(?) strain in a water sample or a fresh skeleton of an infected coral.

I waited for a year or so before taking the risk of adding another coral. During that time I treated the tank 2 times with chemiclean to knock down cyano on sandbed and prazipro 2 times as well to kill a couple monstrous leopard polyclad worms that were killing all my snails. Also added algaefix as the bubble algae had completely taken over. These are the only treatments to the tank. Once I had everything stable I risked adding a war coral and a green acan, both survived so I added an echinata and bowerbankii. The green acan is just kinda hanging in there while the other 3 are thriving. Another thing, I removed the skeletons from the tank and they remained pink, I did eventually soak in peroxide and they bleached white. I really liked the corals so I kept them for display

 

[ScuttleBug]

Huh never knew this was a disease, one of my bubble coral heads just drop dead out of nowhere too. Slowly receded, showing this pink skeleton. The other head (that was attached) seems fine no pink skelly.

I tried treating him in cipro/amox/bactrim mixture and peroxide bath, basically everything I got but nothing seems to reverse it i think he is too far gone at this point. His clone (the other head) had flesh that was connecting the two of them, and it was starting to peel off too but I cut around 5 mm ahead of that and it seems to stopped it from spreading.

I had a hammer and frogspawn that lived in the tank when I lost my acans. They were fine for me, not saying they aren't susceptible or anything, just an observation.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

How long has it been dead? Might just be coralline.

No, not coraline, after the tissue died, it soon oxidized into that colour, soon as within a day, not cyanno either. Idk why it died, though it did get surrounded in sponge...

 

[nickman]

Huh never knew this was a disease, one of my bubble coral heads just drop dead out of nowhere too. Slowly receded, showing this pink skeleton. The other head (that was attached) seems fine no pink skelly.

I tried treating him in cipro/amox/bactrim mixture and peroxide bath, basically everything I got but nothing seems to reverse it i think he is too far gone at this point. His clone (the other head) had flesh that was connecting the two of them, and it was starting to peel off too but I cut around 5 mm ahead of that and it seems to stopped it from spreading.

Unless you already tossed this coral I'd say give treatment another shot. I have seen them come back from nearly nothing and reform tiny little colonies from little bits of live tissue. I gave the Favites a good long soak (1-2 hours) in a strong Chemiclean solution. 2 scoops in a half gallon of water didnt negatively impact the coral. That being said the colony I have been dipping is in a bit better shape than this one.

Its hard to say but I do think the Favites is showing signs of improvement. Some of the bare spots seem to be healing and I am seeing a bit more of the green pigment coming back.


Luckily I have not seen any other corals in the system showing signs of infection and I'm working on bringing the Nitrate and Phosphate levels up slowly as they had begun to drop a bit.

 

[rtparty]

A little more than 15 years ago I fought all of my micromussa lords (acan lords back then) getting pink skeletons and would die off. I took pictures and sent them to Eric Borneman. He said he had seen it before but did not know what it was but a soak in hydrogen peroxide would work.

Sure enough, I took out frags of the corals and dipped them in hydrogen peroxide. They did not like this and many lost tissue between the polyps. However, the pink skeleton went away and all the corals survived. In time they would bounce back for me.

All of this was going on back when lords had their moment and got super expenisve! I was willing to try just about anything to save them.

 

[Kerbash]

Unless you already tossed this coral I'd say give treatment another shot. I have seen them come back from nearly nothing and reform tiny little colonies from little bits of live tissue. I gave the Favites a good long soak (1-2 hours) in a strong Chemiclean solution. 2 scoops in a half gallon of water didnt negatively impact the coral. That being said the colony I have been dipping is in a bit better shape than this one.

Its hard to say but I do think the Favites is showing signs of improvement. Some of the bare spots seem to be healing and I am seeing a bit more of the green pigment coming back.


Luckily I have not seen any other corals in the system showing signs of infection and I'm working on bringing the Nitrate and Phosphate levels up slowly as they had begun to drop a bit.

Yeah I left him in the tank, oddly enough he does not seem to be getting any worst, crossing my fingers.

 

[nickman]

I think its safe to say this coral is on the rebound! This is after 2 dips total and I plan on performing more dips in the coming days/weeks to ensure the infection is kept on its heels while the coral recovers further. I am skeptical that the treatment is able to completely remove the Cyanobacteria(?) from the skeletal structure but hopeful that the coral will be able to regain strength to the point where it can start laying down new healthy skeleton. I may sacrifice some of that new growth later on to examine the condition of the skeleton and see if it also has the tell-tale red coloration.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I think its safe to say this coral is on the rebound! This is after 2 dips total and I plan on performing more dips in the coming days/weeks to ensure the infection is kept on its heels while the coral recovers further. I am skeptical that the treatment is able to completely remove the Cyanobacteria(?) from the skeletal structure but hopeful that the coral will be able to regain strength to the point where it can start laying down new healthy skeleton. I may sacrifice some of that new growth later on to examine the condition of the skeleton and see if it also has the tell-tale red coloration.

Did you dilute the H2O2? How long did you dip?

 

[nickman]

Did you dilute the H2O2? How long did you dip?

I usually aim for a 50:1 Water to H2O2 ratio.

 

[Tezzie]

I’m not sure if I have the same thing or not. Recently bought a scoly and noticed the Skelton was pink. Weird part is that it looks like a baby scoly is growing on the bottom and I can’t decide if that is the reason it is pink. What do you think I should do?