Leptoseris tissue damage?
- Thread starter AFHokie
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OP
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AFHokie
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Well, looks a bit worse today. Could be from blowing it off and messing with it yesterday. No pic at moment but I’ll get one in a little.
Any other ideas as to what is happening to it? I fear it will spread and get the whole thing. Should I try fragging off the top part and see?
Any other ideas as to what is happening to it? I fear it will spread and get the whole thing. Should I try fragging off the top part and see?
MikeDesjean
Active Member
I believe the white spots are spirobid worms.
If you didn’t rule out vermatid I agree with others who have said that (hard to tell from the photos). I had a vermatid growing next to a stylococoniella (or however you spell that) - I got similar spots and then I removed the snail and it grew back. Then I bought some bumblebee snails
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I've had one get stung by palys previously and it turned white and then dark just like that. It healed quickly though. Also, Leptos don't like a lot of light. My friend had one that was at about mid level in his tank and it bleached and started dying after a couple of weeks. I keep mine in almost full shade and it has explosive growth and PE. He moved his down and behind a shady area in his tank and the bleaching healed and it started growing. Could be too much light. Do you know the par you've got it at?
OP
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AFHokie
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I've been thinking about doing this. Part of the coral has grown off the plug and onto adjoining rock which is why I haven't tried that yet. Now, however, the new growth appears to be large enough that I could safely frag it off of the main plug and it would still survive.
I'm confident nothing is stinging it but have considered the light issue. Per above, I haven't moved it yet but after i return from vacation next week I might go ahead and try and move it.
My lights have been gradually ramping for the past couple months and there has been some slight worsening of the damaged areas. The odd part is that the worst of it is on the front edge, away from direct light.
I don't have a proper PAR meter but use the Photone app on my phone and it reads about 150 PAR where the lepto is. From my research that doesn't seem to be too much but definitely on the high end of the lepto range. That being said, however, it did seem to grow faster and fare better overall when my lights were still dim.
At this point my best theory is that it was originally damaged by my hawkfish perching across it and the higher light has slowed/prevented proper healing........ if not the hawkfish something else I can't identify. Perhaps a vermetid was below it but if it was big enough to sting across the whole frag I'd definitely remember removing it.
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AFHokie
Active Member
Been a while since I’ve posted on this thread with any info. Not a ton has changed on this lepto with the exception of the bottom front area that clearly has a bare skeleton spot.
Today after doing some tank maintenance I saw this…
The hawk’s pectoral fins are running exactly where the damage is. I feel much more confident in my original thought that the fish was causing the damage. Other areas of the lepto are still good and growing well.
Today after doing some tank maintenance I saw this…
The hawk’s pectoral fins are running exactly where the damage is. I feel much more confident in my original thought that the fish was causing the damage. Other areas of the lepto are still good and growing well.
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