Something eating at my torch skeleton.

[Isiah1820]

Like the title says I’ve had issues with something eating away at my torch skeleton, never the flesh. The first time it happened was a few months ago and I went through the gauntlet of trying to figure it out and never finding a solution. And no it wasn’t flatworms. So I noticed like 2 weeks ago it happened again to 2 of my torches. Reached out to some vets in the hobby and they couldn’t give me a clear answer other than watching closely and see if I ever catch it in the action. So today I seen something weird on one of my hammers. I seen it move ever so slightly. Pulled it and need pliers to get it off. It had a hard shell and almost like a type of calm piece of meat under it. And it left the same makings I seen on my other coral. Pictures below and they are bed but that’s the best I could do before i dipped it on revive.

 

[Isiah1820]

More pictures

 

[Spare time]

What fish do you have?

 

[Isiah1820]

Nano fish. Nothing know for eating the skeleton of corals. But if you want the list. Bi colored blenny, orchid dotty, royal gamma, maroon, watchman, cardinal, yellow coris wrasse.

 

[ryanjohn1]

Pretty sure that’s a barnacle. Destroy on sight. They will eat your noodles

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

It had a hard shell and almost like a type of calm piece of meat under it.

This description tells me it’s a mollusk of some variety, either a bivalve (like clams, oysters, cockles, etc.), a gastropod (snails, including limpets), or a chiton.

 

[Isiah1820]

This description tells me it’s a mollusk of some variety, either a bivalve (like clams, oysters, cockles, etc.), a gastropod (snails, including limpets), or a chiton.

This is what I’m leaning towards. Whatever it is, it’s definitely the culprit. It left behind the same markings I seen on the other two I had eaten. And the weird thing is. It leave the flesh and tentacles alone. Torches still look great.

 

[mermaid_life]

There are some species of chiton that can gnaw through rocks!

 

[Isiah1820]

Older picture of a damaged torch. It blended in well with the skeleton maybe that’s why I’ve been missing it. This is the 3 coral it munched.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Sounds like some sort of boring clam, I read a reef builders article about them, though this is a new one. @ISpeakForTheSeas I know you already replied to this thread but could that be a possibility? The boring/burrowing clams I've dealt with have created holes straight down through the skeleton though...


Edit: nevermind, whatever it is, it seems to be mobile..

 

[Isiah1820]

Sounds like some sort of boring clam, I read a reef builders article about them, though this is a new one. @ISpeakForTheSeas I know you already replied to this thread but could that be a possibility? The boring/burrowing clams I've dealt with have created holes straight down through the skeleton though...


Edit: nevermind, whatever it is, it seems to be mobile..

It’s done that to one of my torches. Right through it to the point when I pulled it to just broke apart. I glued what was left of the skeleton to a drag plug. And again. That torch still opens and looks great. Just the skeleton is affected.

 

[droblack]

Are you sure you don't have a parrot fish in there?

I wonder if a rogue crab or worm could do that? Break out the blue or red light and do some night recon missions to see what is cruising the tank when the lights are out. Was losing corals, super frustrated, so sat up in the dark and finally found the culprit; beady eyed demon crab. Had to tear the tank apart to get it out, but was totally worth it. Good luck!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

There are some species of chiton that can gnaw through rocks!

Sounds like some sort of boring clam, I read a reef builders article about them, though this is a new one. @ISpeakForTheSeas I know you already replied to this thread but could that be a possibility? The boring/burrowing clams I've dealt with have created holes straight down through the skeleton though...


Edit: nevermind, whatever it is, it seems to be mobile..

Yeah, lots of critters (and mollusks) can bore through/into rock - including limpets, chitons, piddocks, etc.; most of them wouldn’t go chopping/chomping through the stalks of corals like described, though, as most of them tend to move very little and leave hardly noticeable damage on the rock they pick (they typically live in/on the rock, so damaging it severely would put them at greater risk of predation/environmental issues).

OP, out of curiosity, what other critters do you (knowingly) have in the tank - both fish and inverts?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

This is what I’m leaning towards. Whatever it is, it’s definitely the culprit. It left behind the same markings I seen on the other two I had eaten. And the weird thing is. It leave the flesh and tentacles alone. Torches still look great.

Do the skeletons have anything growing on them at all - algae, sponge, tunicate, etc.?

 

[Isiah1820]

Do the skeletons have anything growing on them at all - algae, sponge, tunicate, etc.?

Nope

 

[Isiah1820]

Are you sure you don't have a parrot fish in there?

I wonder if a rogue crab or worm could do that? Break out the blue or red light and do some night recon missions to see what is cruising the tank when the lights are out. Was losing corals, super frustrated, so sat up in the dark and finally found the culprit; beady eyed demon crab. Had to tear the tank apart to get it out, but was totally worth it. Good luck!

I’m positive I don’t have a parrot fish lol. And that’s how I caught whatever it was that I pulled off the coral. It was a lighter color than the skeleton and I saw it move slightly. Almost like a clam. But it was attached to the skeleton like a parasite. And again as you see in the pictures it left the same marks as the others it’s eaten away at.

 

[Isiah1820]

Yeah, lots of critters (and mollusks) can bore through/into rock - including limpets, chitons, piddocks, etc.; most of them wouldn’t go chopping/chomping through the stalks of corals like described, though, as most of them tend to move very little and leave hardly noticeable damage on the rock they pick (they typically live in/on the rock, so damaging it severely would put them at greater risk of predation/environmental issues).

OP, out of curiosity, what other critters do you (knowingly) have in the tank - both fish and inverts?

Cleaner shrimp, coral banded, hermits, snails like turbos, Trochus, bumblebees. Emerald carb. All reef safe stuff. But check out my pics I believe it’s a chiton or clam.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Whatever it is, if you haven't already gotten rid of it, then I'd say to get it out of the tank in a bowl of tank water and get a bunch of good, clear, white light pics of all angles (I know you have a few at the top of the thread here, but pics in the water and from a variety of angles would be good) - this could help with an ID, and could give us a better idea of what kind critter is doing this/why.

Unfortunate behavior for a critter in a reef tank, but super unique behavior too, so I'd love to try and figure out what species is doing this.

 

[Isiah1820]

Whatever it is, if you haven't already gotten rid of it, then I'd say to get it out of the tank in a bowl of tank water and get a bunch of good, clear, white light pics of all angles (I know you have a few at the top of the thread here, but pics in the water and from a variety of angles would be good) - this could help with an ID, and could give us a better idea of what kind critter is doing this/why.

Unfortunate behavior for a critter in a reef tank, but super unique behavior too, so I'd love to try and figure out what species is doing this.

Yea I tried to get pictures after I pulled it off. And it was tough to pull it off. It was some flesh under the shell almost like what you see in the clams people eat. After that I put the coral in revive and didn’t get to take more pictures.