Small black holes in Nepthea

ZipAdeeZoa

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Hello Everyone!

I was recently giving my Nepthea a look over (my porcelain crab has moved into it so I've been checking to make sure its not to upset) and Noticed these two small black holes in its trunk. I did a quick search but couldn't find anything that looked similar online. This coral was in QT for nearly a year before being added to the main tank with pretty much daily checks so I'm unsure how a pest could have snuck by without my noticing but I suppose anythings possible. All other corals and tank residents are fine. Has anyone seen this before? I know the pics aren't great but clearer ones don't give you much more information although I'll try and get one- it looks as pictured. The only thing I can think would be that it might have gotten stung by my pom pom crabs anemone. Livestock is 1 pom pom, 1 scarlet hermit, 1 dwarf blue leg hermit, 1 fire shrimp and one porcelain crab. The closest corals are some zoas and a blasto about 6-8 inches away. Thanks in advance!
IMG_0938.jpg
 
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ZipAdeeZoa

ZipAdeeZoa

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So the black hole has grown into one larger black blob that now protrudes from the coral... It also appears to have antennae. I'm thinking this might not be crab damage... Anyone have any guesses? The nepthea is still opening just fine. I'm starting to think I should poke it with some teweezers next time I do a water change and see if it reacts.
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ZipAdeeZoa

ZipAdeeZoa

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Was a creature extracted?
Sorry! This thread slipped my mind, work has been keeping me on my toes! Unfortuantely I have more questions than answers... I went to remove it with some tweezers and only lightly grazed it before it just fell off revealing a relatively healed looking underside. It kept coming out further the days before I did this and it doesn't seem to be alive. My best theory (albeit quite baseless) at this point is that it was something along the lines of a scab and what I thought were antennae appear to be sclerites. Here is a photo of what it looked like before I removed it, couldn't really get a better photo after I got it out. Corals are strange... I did a lot of reading on neptheas before I got mine and never came across an account of this.
 
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ZipAdeeZoa

ZipAdeeZoa

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Alright... The situation has evolved a little and I am back to having no idea whats happening. Yesterday I saw my Nepthea flopped the opposite direction of how it usually does which I thought was odd. Upon closer inspection whatever was happening to is continuing to expand so I think its time to call in the big guns... @Dr. Dendrostein have you ever seen anything like this?
IMG_1046.jpg
 

Dr. Dendrostein

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Alright... The situation has evolved a little and I am back to having no idea whats happening. Yesterday I saw my Nepthea flopped the opposite direction of how it usually does which I thought was odd. Upon closer inspection whatever was happening to is continuing to expand so I think its time to call in the big guns... @Dr. Dendrostein have you ever seen anything like this?
IMG_1046.jpg
No, but cut it out, clean it. It will heal quick. Use some activated carbon after. In case coral slims. My thinking
 

Jonddk

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I agree with you that those are sclerites in the picture. Definitely looks like the coral is having some type of necrosis. Like the doc said cut the black pieces out and let it heal. I've seen it before and it will be fine.
 

Scorpius

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I had this happen on my Sinularia coral. I had algae issues with a decent size clump of algae growing at its base. The black infection like stuff ending up traveling several inches up the Sinularia burrowing just underneath its tissue. Very weird. I kept up on water changes and dealt with the algae and just recently most of the black infection is gone.
 
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ZipAdeeZoa

ZipAdeeZoa

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Thanks for all the responses!
No, but cut it out, clean it. It will heal quick. Use some activated carbon after. In case coral slims. My thinking
I agree with you that those are sclerites in the picture. Definitely looks like the coral is having some type of necrosis. Like the doc said cut the black pieces out and let it heal. I've seen it before and it will be fine.
When you guys say cut it out do you mean some along the lines of a shallow cut just under the affected area? This will be the first time I've cut one of my corals so I'm a bit nervous. I do have carbon running although I was about to remove it to treat the tank with chemiclean, shouuld I postpone that until the coral heals a bit? Should I pick up an iodine based dip and dip after cutting?
I had this happen on my Sinularia coral. I had algae issues with a decent size clump of algae growing at its base. The black infection like stuff ending up traveling several inches up the Sinularia burrowing just underneath its tissue. Very weird. I kept up on water changes and dealt with the algae and just recently most of the black infection is gone.
That is very strange. I wonder if this was triggered by the cyano growing near the corals base, it did pop up around the same time.
 
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