Sps question ??????

[BHAMR6]

Please some body help me before I stress completly out a couple of months ago I posted that I had a jelly bean size white spot on a sps that just popped up over night .. Someone said it sounded like Acro eating flat worms I dismissed it at first but when I look at pics n damaged coral w/th aefw it does look that way..

Here is my debate on why it couldn't be AEFW tell me what everyone thinks....

1) I have not added a coral in over a year and every coral I have started as frags and the people I got them from are not having a problem

2) If it is aefw they have had to be in the tank for over a year wouldn't you see more damage than that ( pic is from today so its about 2 jelly beans by now took a few months from when I last posted )

I have 2 coral now w/th a spot like that the pic is the first and its been on there a few months the second I just found on the other end of the tank tonight..

If it is AEFW I need some good ideas because removing the SPS is not a option all 27 + pcs are encrusted and have been there years

 

[BHAMR6]

Full tank shot just to show how hard it would be to remove coral

 

[swannyson7]

Might just be die off from lack of flow as things have grown out.

 

[nikesb]

if it appeared overnight and that large, i would not suspect AEFW right away.

you can try fragging a part of it and dipping it to see what comes out

 

[greg0385]

thats terrible news to hear, especially on such a great looking acro colony. is it only on the base and not anywhere else? is it on any other bad spots on any other coral? what kind of fish do you have? whats water params. hopefully its nothing too serious but my opinion is as said above lack of flow or something in your tank(fish or invert) got hungry and took a bite. lets hope i am wrong, which i usally am so, best of luck to you. keep up updated.
greg

 

[BHAMR6]

1) Yes it is only on the base of the coral ( found a small spot tonight across the tank on the under side base of the coral )
2) I have a Hippo tang which completly ate a 200$ scoly so I thought about that too ( I have seen the hippo pick up a red planet frag on a plug ans shack it so hard the frag came off )
3) params are good I did have a alk drop for a short period got lazy on my maintenance

@nikesb I have not seen anything die like this I had sps RTN and you could see dying tissue peeling away this was like you dropped kalk on a spot and it instantly died off ( and I have kalked a few aptasia lately )

I feel better because all of your ideas are things I can fix without taking the tank down

 

[greg0385]

well i am far from a expert and these are just my thoughts, i really hope its nothing serious. good luck
greg

 

[dakotasreef]

It could be lack of flow due to coral growth like stated above. Is it possible to pull either of the colonies that show damage and dip? If not, you could try and use a turkey baster and see if anything comes off.

 

[sullyman]

I have it happen a lot. Morning comes and there's a spot that wasn't there the day before. I think sometimes slime from a stronger stinging acro can wind up landing on or coming in contact with a weaker coral and end result is dead tissue. If the coral continues to stn further may be looking at a pest, it's a valida isn't it? Stupid worms love valida but I don't think you have them at the moment. Do you dip?

 

[Troylee]

Dude that's the number 1 one coral they attack....:( hate to say it... Take a turkey Bastet and start blasting it and see if any fly off there...

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Might just be die off from lack of flow as things have grown out.

I tend to think along the same lines. After everything you have said I don't think it is bugs either but you need to monitor.

 

[toddmh]

I have it happen a lot. Morning comes and there's a spot that wasn't there the day before. I think sometimes slime from a stronger stinging acro can wind up landing on or coming in contact with a weaker coral and end result is dead tissue. If the coral continues to stn further may be looking at a pest, it's a valida isn't it? Stupid worms love valida but I don't think you have them at the moment. Do you dip?

This would be my guess,But I also have a hippo tang that has a appetite for sps polyps..Green slimmer though

 

[Tabasco1]

Man, that is tough. Have you looked at how long flatworms can stay dormant to see if it is possible since you haven't added any new pieces in a year?

 

[BHAMR6]

@ troylee thats what scares me after reading post I see they go after valida first and both coral I think are both in that family..

@ tabasco.. The only thing added was that scoly that the Hippo destroyed the sps are all over a year old since our last frag swap I have not been able to find a answer on how long they would take to start finding damage from them .. Thats my point if it is aefw they came in at least a year ago and other than that spot on that one and a spot on another across the tank thats it ..

Both spots are on the under side of the coral only, there is no damage to the branches or tops of the sps but the spot is bigger today then it was 3 months ago.. Also if it was aefw and we knew they were on the colony after 3 mos wouldnt the colony be completly dead are real close to it?????

 

[Troylee]

Blast the valida with a turkey Baster see if anything comes off... If it does I'm Terribly sorry but if it don't you should be safe and clear.....

 

[Aquaph8]

It could be a lot of things. Since its happening on the under side I would suspect its just an area not getting the flow or light that it wants. I would start basting the corals once in a while just to see if anything blows off, just to be sure. Good luck

 

[dakotasreef]

They don't always come in on acros. They can come in on anything.

When I had aefw, I would catch them and put them in a cup. They would lay eggs all over it. They could easily lay them anywhere.

 

[Kevinw]

This happend to me. I tried a new salt and found out it was low on magnesium which I have never checked. I ended up loosing most of my sps. They all started with a white spot at the base.

 

[Troylee]

Yeah I forgot to mention that if you added Any rock, chateo, or any coral aefw could have hitchiked in on it.... I believe it was mark poletti who had a tank of the month got them from a zoa frag he added to his sps reef.... Gotta be super careful man!!!!!! I'm not 100 percent aefw are your problem because normally I see the colony suffer by having poor pe and lousy color then you see flesh missing.... That doesn't look like the case here so it could be somethig else.... Hit it with a turkey Baster and let us know what you come up with....;)

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Yeah I forgot to mention that if you added Any rock, chateo, or any coral aefw could have hitchiked in on it.... I believe it was mark poletti who had a tank of the month got them from a zoa frag he added to his sps reef.... Gotta be super careful man!!!!!! I'm not 100 percent aefw are your problem because normally I see the colony suffer by having poor pe and lousy color then you see flesh missing.... That doesn't look like the case here so it could be somethig else.... Hit it with a turkey Baster and let us know what you come up with....;)

Geez even Chaeto...that would suck to be so careful with corals and rock to let macro algae slip through. I am still holding out hope that it is just some die off from low light.