Strange tissue development on SPS

[Alex11204]

Hello everyone,

A friend recently pointed out a strange phenomenon in my SPS corals after looking at some of my photos. All of them seem to be growing in an unusual way — forming what look like "balls" or "bubbles" on their tissue. This is especially noticeable on my Fox Flame, where the effect is more pronounced than on the others.

As for my tank maintenance, I don’t perform water changes. I dose trace elements based on consumption, following a method similar to Reef Moonshiners (which unfortunately isn’t available in Europe). My ICP test results are within acceptable ranges, and I follow RMS recommendations for corrections. The only anomaly is an elevated potassium level, around 480 mg/L according to an ATI ICP test, in a total system volume of 350 liters (about 92.5 gallons).

I’m reaching out because I feel this phenomenon might be affecting the coloration of my SPS. For example, I have several frags like a PC Rainbow, Lattistella, and Confetti that are completely green — even though we all know they should be much more colorful.

So my question is: could this be a chemical issue related to water quality? Or is it more likely due to lighting, flow, or something else? Does this phenomenon have a specific name that I could use to search for more information here on the forum?

I hope I’ve explained things clearly, and I really appreciate any insights or advice you can share.

 

[reefpanda]

Think there are some threads on this. Try searching for hyperplasia

 

[Slack Tide Reef]

Also search tulip polyp syndrome. Multiple theories on why it happens. I had it on a piece. I came to two possible reasons. First, I had white bugs and treated for those. The second, which is brought up in the tulip polyp thread is an imbalance of two part dosing. After reading that, I checked my dosing and my calcium doser wasn’t calibrated correctly and was indeed dosing differently than alk. Corrected that and treated the white bugs and the coral recovered. Not sure if it’s one of those or none of those but I would look into them as possible reasons.

 

[Alex11204]

Indeed, what you shared with me looks a lot like my issue. It’s quite strange. I got out of a major cyano outbreak two months ago, but I didn’t notice the changes in my SPS until the day before yesterday. The stability of my tank has been improving over the past few months, so I hope growth will resume properly, along with coloration. I’ll monitor the evolution over the coming months.

 

[Tahoe61]

RC used to have some good threads on the topic. Theories ranged from viral to magnesium levels... There was never a definitive answer. Some Acropora in the same system were unaffected. In some systems the issue resolved spontaneously. I do not remember a specific intervention that helped to eliminate the hyperplasia.

 

[Alex11204]

After reading all the topics discussing it, I still notice that aquarium stability often comes up. It might simply be a defense mechanism that activates when the coral is too stressed in the tank.

 

[Tahoe61]

After reading all the topics discussing it, I still notice that aquarium stability often comes up. It might simply be a defense mechanism that activates when the coral is too stressed in the tank.

That sounds like an autoimmune response?

 

[Alex11204]

That sounds like an autoimmune response?

For me, yes, or something along those lines, because every time the phenomenon occurs, we can't really establish a correlation between the tanks. The only consistent factor is the stability of the elements.

 

[Alex11204]

Especially since, in the end, the process also disappears on its own once the parameters have been stable for several months.