NEED HELP CORALS DYING FROM UNKNOWN CAUSE

[Reebo100]

So as you can see in the pictures provided I have recently started to lose most if not all of my lps coral, specifically torches and hammers. No matter where I put them in the tank in the span of a couple days or weeks they all seem to shrivel up and melt away. Some of the hammers and torches I’ve had for a while and done fine but in the last couple weeks everything just started dying off. I haven’t had any noticeable difference in my parameters other than a slight ALK and nitrate swing but I have added hammers after the swing was taken care of and they still died pretty quick. However, I have other corals that are doing perfectly fine since the beginning and even growing quick such as the Acan in the pic which is even growing new heads fast and looking plump and healthy. So I have no idea why it’s only affecting my hammers and torches and why they are dying off so quick. Here are my parameters:
I run 2 Ai Prime 16HD 10 inches above water
Salinity- 1.025
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 20
Ph- 8.1
Alkalinity- 8.6
Phosphate- 0.03
Calcium- 420
Magnesium- 1470

 

[blaxsun]

It could be BJD with the euphyllia. If there's slime/mucous in the heads they could be infected. If you remove the corals and they stink to high Heaven - it's probably BJD. The only recourse is dipping and cleaning the infected areas - but it's a 50-50 proposition at best.

 

[Rmckoy]

torch and hammers are notorious and once one head starts to die most times the only way to save them is to remove it , cut the dead head and prey the rest are not infected .
This is the exact reason why I refuse to purchase a torch coral , I have never been able to keep them alive

elegance and trumpet are the same for me

 

[ryanjohn1]

Bjd sad day my friend. Could infect all the others.

 

[Pistondog]

If bjd, you can do an in tank treatment of cipro at 0.5mg per gallon, dose days 1,3, and 5 after lights out. I did a doulbe dose on day1. Some dose more, but this is 'safer'.
Stopped my progression.
Bjd is exacerbated by coral stress, so dipping, which is another stressor, may or may not help.

Search for "in tank cipro dosing" for more opinions.

 

[Pistondog]

So as you can see in the pictures provided I have recently started to lose most if not all of my lps coral, specifically torches and hammers. No matter where I put them in the tank in the span of a couple days or weeks they all seem to shrivel up and melt away. Some of the hammers and torches I’ve had for a while and done fine but in the last couple weeks everything just started dying off. I haven’t had any noticeable difference in my parameters other than a slight ALK and nitrate swing but I have added hammers after the swing was taken care of and they still died pretty quick. However, I have other corals that are doing perfectly fine since the beginning and even growing quick such as the Acan in the pic which is even growing new heads fast and looking plump and healthy. So I have no idea why it’s only affecting my hammers and torches and why they are dying off so quick. Here are my parameters:
I run 2 Ai Prime 16HD 10 inches above water
Salinity- 1.025
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 20
Ph- 8.1
Alkalinity- 8.6
Phosphate- 0.03
Calcium- 420
Magnesium- 1470

And hey reebo,
Welcome to the forum.
Sorry for your trouble, but we have all been there and can share our experiences.
Hope they help.

 

[Reebo100]

It could be BJD with the euphyllia. If there's slime/mucous in the heads they could be infected. If you remove the corals and they stink to high Heaven - it's probably BJD. The only recourse is dipping and cleaning the infected areas - but it's a 50-50 proposition at best.

Thanks for the response I have since then removed the affected corals in attempt to prevent it spreading to my other corals, I tried dipping some in iodine dips and hoped for the best but like you said it’s a 50/50 and most of mines still couldn’t recover or make it.

 

[Reebo100]

torch and hammers are notorious and once one head starts to die most times the only way to save them is to remove it , cut the dead head and prey the rest are not infected .
This is the exact reason why I refuse to purchase a torch coral , I have never been able to keep them alive

elegance and trumpet are the same for me

Yea I tried removing the infected ones in hopes I can later on add some more after and just hope I don’t have the same problem, it really sucks though because torches are one of my favorite corals and one of the main reasons I really got into the hobby.

 

[Reebo100]

If bjd, you can do an in tank treatment of cipro at 0.5mg per gallon, dose days 1,3, and 5 after lights out. I did a doulbe dose on day1. Some dose more, but this is 'safer'.
Stopped my progression.
Bjd is exacerbated by coral stress, so dipping, which is another stressor, may or may not help.

Search for "in tank cipro dosing" for more opinions.

I believe my lfs recommended this same thing and they even gave me the pill to cut into pieces to add to my tank everyday after the lights go off for at least 3 days. Since then I have noticed it stopped the progression so I will hopefully add some corals in the near future to see how they do.

 

[BruceLeyrer]

Maybe I'm wrong here, but am I seeing a bunch of hair algea, and maybe cyano too? Wouldn't that point to high phosphates?

 

[MischiefReef]

Hey Reebo, sorry to hear about your tank struggles. I agree with the diagnosis of BJD. As an avid euphyllia coral lover, I have seen it strike many tanks before. Did the sick corals seem to strand off into slime strings? If so and it progresses from head to head at random, then my bet would absolutely be BJD. Can be treated with cipro as others have mentioned, chemiclean is also another product I have had success with. You will definitely want to treat. Left unchecked it will be nearly 100% loss of euphyllia and even some other LPS too. But don’t be discouraged it can be beaten to at least save healthy coral!
Below is a pic of one of my 45G frag grow out tanks that was 100% wiped out by BJD, disease started when I recklessly tossed in a colony from a swap because I didn’t have my other QT running. Total progression time was 1 week. Most pieces were already mini colonies rather than frags, but everything infected died, nothing regrew. Thank goodness it wasn’t my display tank.

 

[MischiefReef]

Maybe I'm wrong here, but am I seeing a bunch of hair algea, and maybe cyano too? Wouldn't that point to high phosphates?

Yep you are right. If I were to venture a guess, I’d say coral die off probably spiked nutrients and kicked off algae bloom that then lowered the PO4

 

[Reebo100]

Maybe I'm wrong here, but am I seeing a bunch of hair algea, and maybe cyano too? Wouldn't that point to high phosphates?

Correct it is mainly hair algae, I had a nitrate spike during it which I’m assuming was the main cause because I never really had phosphates higher than 0.03 before the algae, during, and even after I managed to remove a lot of it. My nitrates on the other hand had jumped a considerable amount and left were left unchecked due to me being out for work. Many of these corals were already starting to recede way prior to the hair algae which was my main concern.

 

[Reebo100]

Hey Reebo, sorry to hear about your tank struggles. I agree with the diagnosis of BJD. As an avid euphyllia coral lover, I have seen it strike many tanks before. Did the sick corals seem to strand off into slime strings? If so and it progresses from head to head at random, then my bet would absolutely be BJD. Can be treated with cipro as others have mentioned, chemiclean is also another product I have had success with. You will definitely want to treat. Left unchecked it will be nearly 100% loss of euphyllia and even some other LPS too. But don’t be discouraged it can be beaten to at least save healthy coral!
Below is a pic of one of my 45G frag grow out tanks that was 100% wiped out by BJD, disease started when I recklessly tossed in a colony from a swap because I didn’t have my other QT running. Total progression time was 1 week. Most pieces were already mini colonies rather than frags, but everything infected died, nothing regrew. Thank goodness it wasn’t my display tank.

Wow sorry to hear that, must’ve been really discouraging losing that many coral. A few of mines did in fact string off into slime, but there were a few others who just bleached a bit and then slowly shriveled and receded to the point of nothing over the span of a couple days/weeks. I did try the cipro and have noticed no further progression so I believe it worked. I have since added one torch coral to monitor it inside my tank and it seems perfectly healthy after a week.

 

[Reebo100]

Yep you are right. If I were to venture a guess, I’d say coral die off probably spiked nutrients and kicked off algae bloom that then lowered the PO4

Yes a lot of this hair algae started appearing after many of my torches had already died and some were dying during the hair algae bloom. It did cause a nitrate spike but my phosphates would always test low during and way before the hair algae.

 

[MischiefReef]

Wow sorry to hear that, must’ve been really discouraging losing that many coral. A few of mines did in fact string off into slime, but there were a few others who just bleached a bit and then slowly shriveled and receded to the point of nothing over the span of a couple days/weeks. I did try the cipro and have noticed no further progression so I believe it worked. I have since added one torch coral to monitor it inside my tank and it seems perfectly healthy after a week.

Thanks, yea was definitely a disappointment. Luckily it wasn’t the main display tank. Although I would have fragged and tossed corals more proactively if it were the DT. Glad to hear the coral is doing better!