Red Planet issue

[Troylee]

You’ve got me thinking…. I don’t have any wrasses in the tank. I had ordered a few but all were doa. I wonder if I put in a yellow corridor, Melanurus and, a pink streaked fairy if they would keep the population in check? These bugs are so small, would they even see them??
Could be an alternative to tearing down and setting it back up with new rock.

any thoughts anyone?

Yellow corris or six line are pest destroyers.. I’m sure they would help but don’t know how much they could keep them in check.. or how many are in your tank… I mean it’s worth a shot.. cool fish either way

 

[sculpin01]

I absolutely would not buy any Florida live rock unless you are prepared to treat it for SCTLD. Your risk of at least one SCTLD bacterial species being in your rock at this point is extremely high. I would consider getting Australian live rock from UC though.

Did the fish deaths occur post ivermectin? I wasn't clear on that in your post.

 

[Syntax1235]

I absolutely would not buy any Florida live rock unless you are prepared to treat it for SCTLD. Your risk of at least one SCTLD bacterial species being in your rock at this point is extremely high. I would consider getting Australian live rock from UC though.

Did the fish deaths occur post ivermectin? I wasn't clear on that in your post.

I lost one chromis so far, another seems to be hanging on. The deaths occurred about 24 hours after an extreme dose of milbemycin, four 23mg pills. I have not used ivermectin in the tank.

I ordered a few wrasses from dr. Reef and will try those next. All corals will be moved to a qt tank and I will observe to see if the bugs die off with no coral in the tank.

I don’t want to dose any more medication, the fish have had enough, and frankly I’m fairly exhausted from this battle. Time to sit back and see if the wrasses can clean this up, or if the bugs die without coral.

edit: what is SCLTD?

 

[sculpin01]

Thanks for the update.

Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease. Actually worse than what you are dealing with (if you can believe it). It's a collection of essentially super pathogenic bacteria that are decimating corals throughout the Caribbean. There have been numerous reports of it getting into reef tanks and destroying all of the corals therein. It originated from Florida (Biscayne Bay) and comes in on live rock and live sand. I promise that you absolutely do not want this.

 

[Justdrew]

One benefit of intercepter…. This guy came in on some tbsw rock….. never saw him.

Not necessarily a bad crab. Notice the flat pincers. From the Mithrax family, same as emerald crabs. the flat pincers are for picking at algae.

 

[sculpin01]

Not necessarily a bad crab. Notice the flat pincers. From the Mithrax family, same as emerald crabs. the flat pincers are for picking at algae.

I sumped one of these recently for having the gall to mosey on top of a stag and starting eating polyps right in front of me recently, so I would assume omnivore with potential for corallivore.

 

[Syntax1235]

Update: ive added a couple wrasses and the population of the bugs has decrease; however, I still can’t put acros in the tank without them being slowly bitten to the point where the succumb to stn.

Aquabiomics test has come back negative and Icp tests don’t show anything that could lead to my issues.


I’m finally done waiting for these things to go away. I’ve decided I either need to restart or stick with an lps softie tank. I started this tank for acros, it’s built for this single task. I’m still so remaking with the wife to decide on a course of action, but could use some information regarding what a restart could look like.

Can I keep my fish and clam? Or is it too risky due to the possibility of reinfecting the tank?

I would move fish and inverts to a 40 breeder while I cook my rock. These bugs are benthic, they eat more than just acros….. transferring the fish from the 40b to the display could possibly reintroduce them? Getting rid of my fish and clam would be tragic for me…. I have an eating Copperband and three absolutely gorgeous bartletts….. the Deresa clam is at least 6 inches.

I’m frustrated and heartbroken….

 

[Troylee]

Update: ive added a couple wrasses and the population of the bugs has decrease; however, I still can’t put acros in the tank without them being slowly bitten to the point where the succumb to stn.

Aquabiomics test has come back negative and Icp tests don’t show anything that could lead to my issues.


I’m finally done waiting for these things to go away. I’ve decided I either need to restart or stick with an lps softie tank. I started this tank for acros, it’s built for this single task. I’m still so remaking with the wife to decide on a course of action, but could use some information regarding what a restart could look like.

Can I keep my fish and clam? Or is it too risky due to the possibility of reinfecting the tank?

I would move fish and inverts to a 40 breeder while I cook my rock. These bugs are benthic, they eat more than just acros….. transferring the fish from the 40b to the display could possibly reintroduce them? Getting rid of my fish and clam would be tragic for me…. I have an eating Copperband and three absolutely gorgeous bartletts….. the Deresa clam is at least 6 inches.

I’m frustrated and heartbroken….

Wish I could help ya… I have no clue how them pests work… :smirking-face:

 

[LOVEROCK]

Have you seen these bugs on healthy acro skin ? Or just dead parts it may be even just eating algae or what not on dead part

 

[Syntax1235]

Have you seen these bugs on healthy acro skin ? Or just dead parts it may be even just eating algae or what not on dead part

That’s a fair question. I’ve seen them on the rocks, on the edge of dead skeleton and under frag plugs that are attached to rocks. They seem to always be in the area of live and dead tissue. I can’t say for certain it is them, but I’ve eliminated just about everything else that seems possible.

I’ll post a couple pictures tomorrow of a frag that seems to have been eaten quite a bit.

 

[Syntax1235]

Here’s a video of the critters on a coral.

Black bugs on acro

 

[Max93]

Holy hell, I am in shock scared. Hope this is not what I have, and I’m wondering if this is what’s making the rounds for hobbyists now. It almost seems like AEFW have been at bay for a while and now the new trend is these guys. Mine don’t move like yours though, I think… I don’t have a microscope.

 

[sculpin01]

Here's some nightmare fuel for you:

 

[Syntax1235]

Here's some nightmare fuel for you:

Video isn’t there.

 

[sculpin01]

Video isn’t there.

It shows up on computer but not phone.

In a turn of fate, I ended up getting similar halacarids in my big system. They (or more likely their eggs) made it through my ivermectin bath. Mine aren't associated with slow tissue loss, but rather with a very rapid coral-wide tissue loss that is unstoppable (possibly representing the White Syndrome disease known in the Indo-Pacific). I assume the mites bite the coral and the whole coral dies. These are loose in a 420 gallon Acropora system and I have very few options for in-tank treatments.

What ended up happening in your tank? Did you restart?

 

[Syntax1235]

@sculpin01 I’m sorry to hear about your troubles, that’s awful.

I’ve given up on getting rid of the mites. I simply don’t have the energy to keep trying the get rid of them, it’s virtually impossible. Another reefer reached out to me several weeks ago to share his experience with these bugs. He shared a picture of the bugs from his tank along with a fts of a beautiful reef full of healthy acros. He has these bugs but doesn’t seem to have a problem with them eating his acros. This gave me hope that maybe I’ve been going about this under false pretense.

I started a conversation with Dong Zhou, an acropora vendor and chemist (a favorite guest on Reef Bum), I shared pictures and he immediately said it looked like a water quality issue. He said that the tissue recession included skeleton recession that a pest would not cause. The most likely cause of the skeleton recession was an issue with salt, most likely related to quality control. I have no reason to question him as he is an expert in growing and cultivating acropora.

So, I changed salts and performed several 25% water changes and things seem to be rebounding. I have no idea if the progress will continue, but I’m crossing my fingers.

If for some reason things turn for the worse then I’m going to restart.

Maybe you should request an aquabiomics test to eliminate the possibility of pathogenic bacteria as the cause?

 

[Max93]

I’m sorry to hear about your troubles, that’s awful.

I’ve given up on getting rid of the mites. I simply don’t have the energy to keep trying the get rid of them, it’s virtually impossible. Another reefer reached out to me several weeks ago to share his experience with these bugs. He shared a picture of the bugs from his tank along with a fts of a beautiful reef full of healthy acros. He has these bugs but doesn’t seem to have a problem with them eating his acros. This gave me hope that maybe I’ve been going about this under false pretense.

I started a conversation with Dong Zhong, an acropora vendor and chemist (a favorite guest on Reef Bum), I shared pictures and he immediately said it looked like a water quality issue. He said that the tissue recession included skeleton recession that a pest would not cause. The most likely cause of the skeleton recession was an issue with salt, most likely related to quality control. I have no reason to question him as he is an expert in growing and cultivating acropora.

So, I changed salts and performed several 25% water changes and things seem to be rebounding. I have no idea if the progress will continue, but I’m crossing my fingers.

If for some reason things turn for the worse then I’m going to restart.

Maybe you should request an aquabiomics test to eliminate the possibility of pathogenic bacteria as the cause?

This is a good update.

I think that you should send out an ICP test with moonshiners (please do not use ICP analysis) and see what you get. Get a fast growing acro and see what happens. Maybe those things are taking advantage acros that had a bad time for a bit then ended up going at everything at the same time?

Idk. Try to get a dragon face pipefish as well with one new frag and see what happens after the ICP test and you begin doing corrections.

 

[Syntax1235]

This is a good update.

I think that you should send out an ICP test with moonshiners (please do not use ICP analysis) and see what you get. Get a fast growing acro and see what happens. Maybe those things are taking advantage acros that had a bad time for a bit then ended up going at everything at the same time?

Idk. Try to get a dragon face pipefish as well with one new frag and see what happens after the ICP test and you begin doing corrections.

I just sent out an Icp test using “Reef Labs” (I had a test on hand).

I’ve added a stylo and a birdsnest a couple weeks ago, and more recently a green slimer and a couple other acros - so far things are going well. The few acros that were hanging on and have months of abuse are beginning to show signs of healing.

I tried a pipe fish, but it died in shipping. Unfortunately, I added a Lunar Wrasse (not my best move and a long story), so I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to add anything until I remove it. So far the fish is getting along with the others; however, that can change in an instant. The wrasse picks at the rocks quite a bit so maybe that is one of the reasons for progress? Who knows at this point.

Another issue that popped up is algae. I removed the sand bed in my sump, it was covered with algae. Algae and cyano are now everywhere, took about a month for the bloom to begin in the display. The oxolinic acid treatment that I performed a month ago shot my phosphates up to .27 and I’ve been working to get that down with the hopes of cleaning the display. Phosphate is around .15 currently, but I’m running some Rowaphos and checking levels regularly.

 

[Max93]

I just sent out an Icp test using “Reef Labs” (I had a test on hand).

I’ve added a stylo and a birdsnest a couple weeks ago, and more recently a green slimer and a couple other acros - so far things are going well. The few acros that were hanging on and have months of abuse are beginning to show signs of healing.

I tried a pipe fish, but it died in shipping. Unfortunately, I added a Lunar Wrasse (not my best move and a long story), so I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to add anything until I remove it. So far the fish is getting along with the others; however, that can change in an instant. The wrasse picks at the rocks quite a bit so maybe that is one of the reasons for progress? Who knows at this point.

Another issue that popped up is algae. I removed the sand bed in my sump, it was covered with algae. Algae and cyano are now everywhere, took about a month for the bloom to begin in the display. The oxolinic acid treatment that I performed a month ago shot my phosphates up to .27 and I’ve been working to get that down with the hopes of cleaning the display. Phosphate is around .15 currently, but I’m running some Rowaphos and checking levels regularly.

Sounds like a good start. That wrasse is probably helping a ton.

With your nutrients out of whack, test your alk constantly… like, 2x a day at least to be safe. Don’t mess with lights

 

[Syntax1235]

Sounds like a good start. That wrasse is probably helping a ton.

With your nutrients out of whack, test your alk constantly… like, 2x a day at least to be safe. Don’t mess with lights

I have a trident so I monitor alk obsessively. Lights are on a consistent schedule.

The “canary in the coal mine” seems to be the digitata and spongoides. Both types of coral have had full polyp extension, a good sign.

I’m monitoring nitrates and phosphates with Hannah checkers.

It’s tough not to want to fix things right away, but rushing leads to disaster.