Montipora Hirsuta

[hotashes]

Recently collected this from a fellow hobbyist and put it into observation tank. It was cut from mother colony in front of me and I attached to a frag plug. Prior to attachment I dipped the coral and slightly scraped part of the underneath which looked like it had no flesh (common having no flesh on bottom of monti’s but this looked suspect or maybe I was being over cautious). I also gave the coral a light scrub using a toothbrush during dipping..

It’s been with me a month now in observation and it’s very slowly losing tissue on top (above the place I scraped the underneath part. Maybe I killed the below part and now it’s showing on top)?

So as I’m new to keeping sps, I would like some info on next steps.. My main display is ready for sps as I’ve got a Tropic thunder monti frag already on display doing well since addition 2 weeks ago. Hence I don’t want to add the Hirsuta in case it’s a pest.....

So as a recap no rock or coral frag plug was placed into observation tank, I placed the monti onto a new frag plug with superglue. Could it be from possible glue spillage upon the flesh?

My only visual concern of pest is a tiny (hair strand) 2mm long worm like creature seems to be right next to the frag but looks to have made its home on the egg crate next to it.. The egg crate is up against the tank glass and the worm looking creature is between glass and egg crate... Could this be anything to do with coral slowly receding?

I’ve only renewed this water in observation tank once, totally cleaned the tank fully and used new fresh salt water to re fill.

For now I think my best choice is to cut away the dead skeleton using my dremel and seeing if this helps?

Thanks,

A.

 

[Mjrenz]

You'll probably cause more damage using a dremel. I'm not sure about the critter but what are your water parameters?

 

[hotashes]

You'll probably cause more damage using a dremel. I'm not sure about the critter but what are your water parameters?

My water parameters are not being checked as such other than salinity and temp. My salt I’m using is same as on my main display, only variation is my main display I’m dosing :)

Please take this lightly as I’m not being ignorant in this question you ask, however it’s only during observation and I do not expect new growth just survival of the coral.. However this appears to have a problem!!! I really want to add the coral to my display, however it’s the critter nearby that I’m questioning!!!

A.

 

[Mjrenz]

My water parameters are not being checked as such other than salinity and temp. My salt I’m using is same as on my main display, only variation is my main display I’m dosing :)

Please take this lightly as I’m not being ignorant in this question you ask, however it’s only during observation and I do not expect new growth just survival of the coral.. However this appears to have a problem!!! I really want to add the coral to my display, however it’s the critter nearby that I’m questioning!!!

A.

I understand being concerned about the critter but it is essential to the survival of the coral that you check the water parameters

 

[Mjrenz]

Even a short time in less than ideal conditions can kill it within hours

 

[hotashes]

The coral is under a TMC tile, the observation tank has other sps frags all came from same tank. Others are slimmer and stylo both holding out looking fine... The Hirsuta colouration seems the brown/green hue with bright green polyps which appears like others I’ve googled. I would imagine under my radion on my display it would look more vibrant etc.. On the healthy part of the Hirsuta, polyp extension is good!!!!! As pictures show.

A.

 

[Mjrenz]

I do see that but it's still extremely important to know. Without any of that info the only thing I can suggest is an iodine dip to try and stop the flesh from dying back any more, the tissue death may be from trauma. I would be more concerned about the critter myself if I saw it on the coral

 

[hotashes]

Do you know of any worm like critters causing this kind of damage? Other than nudis? I know the magnification isn’t great, however I have a microscope if need be for identification.
You may question why I put the corals in observation, simply as it came from a sps dominant tank (which had ozone running) and like expected the Achilles had white dusting so I was being cautious.... Although I’m led to believe it’s very unlikely ws cannot encyst on sps coral as such, more so the rock or frag plug.. Hence why I mentioned these frags were cut from their mothers in front of me so none came attached to rock or frags ;)

A.

 

[Mjrenz]

I'm not an expert at all on pests, but I'm almost certain anyone that's on here that is an expert won't offer any advice without knowing water parameters. We're a nice group here but there's so many things that can be wrong or go wrong if we don't know that information that it's almost impossible to suggest an effective treatment without it

 

[Mjrenz]

@DSC reef

 

[Sabellafella]

Do you know of any worm like critters causing this kind of damage? Other than nudis? I know the magnification isn’t great, however I have a microscope if need be for identification.
You may question why I put the corals in observation, simply as it came from a sps dominant tank (which had ozone running) and like expected the Achilles had white dusting so I was being cautious.... Although I’m led to believe it’s very unlikely ws cannot encyst on sps coral as such, more so the rock or frag plug.. Hence why I mentioned these frags were cut from their mothers in front of me so none came attached to rock or frags ;)

A.

Hey! I dont think that little fella can do some damage like that, definitely not a montipora pest. The frag looks very close to the glass, is it possible for a snail to wack into it?

 

[Sabellafella]

I cant really tell by the photos if it's montipora pest related, but it sorta does look that way. I think the dremel is 100% your best bet, it will promote growth anyway. Just need to paste your eyes on it for a little bit just to make sure theres no nudis. They can do quite a bit of damage in a short amount of time.

 

[hotashes]

Hey! I dont think that little fella can do some damage like that, definitely not a montipora pest. The frag looks very close to the glass, is it possible for a snail to wack into it?

There are no inverts in the observation tank.

If it’s not the little fella, I suspect it’s from where I did the attachment using superglue to the frag plug. Would the whole coral frag die? It’s something I noticed as soon as I put it into the OT and have kept a close eye on it. It once looked although it was not getting worse, but only recently it seems although it is... Admittedly I’ve not been watching it every day, simply as I thought it would not recede any more!!!!

A.

 

[hotashes]

I cant really tell by the photos if it's montipora pest related, but it sorta does look that way. I think the dremel is 100% your best bet, it will promote growth anyway. Just need to paste your eyes on it for a little bit just to make sure theres no nudis. They can do quite a bit of damage in a short amount of time.

I would have thought the tank it came from would have been suffering if it was pest related, the mother colony ‘looked’ fine but not being my tank I guess I just had a glimpse. I’ve no reason to believe the previous owner needed to lie, it’s just never a certainty.. Would it ‘only be nudis if it were a pest doing it? Would they have done much more damage in the month I’ve had the coral?

A.

 

[Sabellafella]

There are no inverts in the observation tank.

If it’s not the little fella, I suspect it’s from where I did the attachment using superglue to the frag plug. Would the whole coral frag die? It’s something I noticed as soon as I put it into the OT and have kept a close eye on it. It once looked although it was not getting worse, but only recently it seems although it is... Admittedly I’ve not been watching it every day, simply as I thought it would not recede any more!!!!

A.

So from what I've learned over the years of hard corals - once receding, they usually almost take quite some time to recover. If I ever get receding, I usually just try my best to cut it out, if not just tap some superglue onto it. If the piece is healthy, will always resume growing very very quickly.

If the flesh is receding fast, I would dremel it.

 

[Sabellafella]

I've personally never had nudis, but I've seen tons of threads along with a couple of friends had gotten them. Starts out kindove looking like what you have pictured. If it's a big infestation, that piece would go pretty quickly, theres some people that have them, that dont even know about it, or see any decline in their montipora health. I'm sure theres some optimistic little creatures that would enjoy a treat now and then, the worm pictured looks like a peanut or spinoid worm.

 

[hotashes]

So from what I've learned over the years of hard corals - once receding, they usually almost take quite some time to recover. If I ever get receding, I usually just try my best to cut it out, if not just tap some superglue onto it. If the piece is healthy, will always resume growing very very quickly.

If the flesh is receding fast, I would dremel it.

In the month I’ve had it, it’s certainly not receded fast. Imagine the frag is 1” squared and the receding is 5mm from edge inwards during this time... I’d say that’s not fast. I’m just not sure how superglue will fare, considering it could be that which started this problem ;)

I’m happy to take your advice as I know you’re trying to help, however I’m doing my best to explain ;)

I’d be more comfortable dremel the dead skeleton and seeing if it heals (do I superglue the fresh cut). Rather than just flying over the dead tissue.

A.

 

[Sabellafella]

In the month I’ve had it, it’s certainly not receded fast. Imagine the frag is 1” squared and the receding is 5mm from edge inwards during this time... I’d say that’s not fast. I’m just not sure how superglue will fare, considering it could be that which started this problem ;)

I’m happy to take your advice as I know you’re trying to help, however I’m doing my best to explain ;)

I’d be more comfortable dremel the dead skeleton and seeing if it heals (do I superglue the fresh cut). Rather than just flying over the dead tissue.

A.

If it's possible, would you be able to provide a top down photo, flow off, of the tissue.

 

[hotashes]

Apologies in advanced if I seem a PITA, however I’m still learning and know there are plenty of people with a wealth of knowledge here who I can take from and gain experience..

If I have to then I will just toss the frag. Would my others mentioned above now be a risk to my display also? Do I just throw all the frags in observation tank away :/

A.

 

[hotashes]

If it's possible, would you be able to provide a top down photo, flow off, of the tissue.

Yes it’ll have to be when lights are on as here in uk it’s 02:45. One thing I can say I’ve noticed is what appears to be a kind of blistering/bubbling at the edge of flesh where it’s now dead skeleton. Maybe that’ll help navigating to this issue, until I can get the top down picture.

A.