Weird white growth killing blastomussa

[beestie]

Background:

Had this blasto for over 2 years, it's always done great and has fused itself to the rock structure nicely. Grown slowly but consistently along 4 other blastos which have survived one tank crash already (~2years ago, no recent issues) , and a period of heavy neglect almost unscathed.

Two weeks ago I added two new blastos, which have been sitting on the sand bed for observation since I got them. No glaring issues I can see on the new blastos, other than a couple tiny aiptasia with some stinging damage on a single head.

Issue:

Two days ago I saw a big white glob on one of the (old) blasto heads, and a section of the head dead as if it had been stung. I removed as much as I could of it with a turkey baster. I put it under my scope, and it just looked like a mass of sand that was stuck together with slime. I did see one quick-moving nematode looking thing slithering around among the debris, but he was too quick for me to snap a photo of. Just looked like a tiny, transparent, slender worm.

Tried to brush/blow off as much as I could of the white glob. Then today, it looks like the white glob is spreading onto a second head of that colony. I have no idea what is happening and can't find anything even remotely similar in other threads.. I'm worried this is some kind of infection that will continue spreading, but also like I said I wasn't able to see any evidence of microorganisms inside the debris glob.

Any ideas at all about what is happening? Could that worm I saw be somehow responsible for this? Obviously removing and dipping the colony isn't possible since it's now fused onto my main central rock structure.

Admittedly I don't test most parameters of this tank, it's a 10gal cube getting weekly 25% water changes. I know phosphates are below 0.05ppm, and nitrates below 20. I can't imagine this has much to do with parameters anyhow, since all the other coral are doing just fine (blastos, zoas, duncan, alveopora/gonis, and even the 2 sps frags look great).

Any help would be massively appreciated, this trooper has been with us for so long, through so much, and losing the colony would be devastating for me...

1st pic shows the first time I noticed the white blob, second pic shows the damage underneath after I removed it.
3rd pic is of the new spreading section I noticed today, creeping up the polyp above the first damaged one.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Background:

Had this blasto for over 2 years, it's always done great and has fused itself to the rock structure nicely. Grown slowly but consistently along 4 other blastos which have survived one tank crash already (~2years ago, no recent issues) , and a period of heavy neglect almost unscathed.

Two weeks ago I added two new blastos, which have been sitting on the sand bed for observation since I got them. No glaring issues I can see on the new blastos, other than a couple tiny aiptasia with some stinging damage on a single head.

Issue:

Two days ago I saw a big white glob on one of the (old) blasto heads, and a section of the head dead as if it had been stung. I removed as much as I could of it with a turkey baster. I put it under my scope, and it just looked like a mass of sand that was stuck together with slime. I did see one quick-moving nematode looking thing slithering around among the debris, but he was too quick for me to snap a photo of. Just looked like a tiny, transparent, slender worm.

Tried to brush/blow off as much as I could of the white glob. Then today, it looks like the white glob is spreading onto a second head of that colony. I have no idea what is happening and can't find anything even remotely similar in other threads.. I'm worried this is some kind of infection that will continue spreading, but also like I said I wasn't able to see any evidence of microorganisms inside the debris glob.

Any ideas at all about what is happening? Could that worm I saw be somehow responsible for this? Obviously removing and dipping the colony isn't possible since it's now fused onto my main central rock structure.

Admittedly I don't test most parameters of this tank, it's a 10gal cube getting weekly 25% water changes. I know phosphates are below 0.05ppm, and nitrates below 20. I can't imagine this has much to do with parameters anyhow, since all the other coral are doing just fine (blastos, zoas, duncan, alveopora/gonis, and even the 2 sps frags look great).

Any help would be massively appreciated, this trooper has been with us for so long, through so much, and losing the colony would be devastating for me...

1st pic shows the first time I noticed the white blob, second pic shows the damage underneath after I removed it.
3rd pic is of the new spreading section I noticed today, creeping up the polyp above the first damaged one.

Ciliate sponge which is a ciliate sponge that can be evasive
Remove with dental pick or small crochet needle and discard

 

[beestie]

Thank you so much, I hadn't considered a sponge! I scraped it off with a dental pick but unfortunately wasn't able to remove it from the tank entirely since it kind of floated off in chunks. Hoping it won't settle elsewhere in my tank and propagate... Will keep a close eye for any new appearances.

 

[Nano sapiens]

You mentioned sand intermixed with the 'white blob' and that it happens quite rapidly.

Certain types of marine worms secrete a white tubular webbing (sticky like spider silk) for protection when they go out to feed that picks up sand grains as they move along. Unfortunately, it's toxic and kills corals wherever it touches them. I've seen these trails for years in my aquarium, but I've never seen the worm actively building the tubes (they do it at night, evidentally).

Recently I had this happen to a nice Blastomussa vivida head and a Nemenzophyllia turbida ('Fox coral) polyp within a day of each other. I lost 1/3 of the Blasto and 1/4 of the Fox coral, but they healed and grew back in a few weeks time.

 

[beestie]

You mentioned sand intermixed with the 'white blob' and that it happens quite rapidly.

Certain types of marine worms secrete a white tubular webbing (sticky like spider silk) for protection when they go out to feed that picks up sand grains as they move along. Unfortunately, it's toxic and kills corals wherever it touches them. I've seen these trails for years in my aquarium, but I've never seen the worm actively building the tubes (they do it at night, evidentally).

Recently I had this happen to a nice Blastomussa vivida head and a Nemenzophyllia turbida ('Fox coral) polyp within a day of each other. I lost 1/3 of the Blasto and 1/4 of the Fox coral, but they healed and grew back in a few weeks time.

I think this is exactly what's happening in my tank. I guess physical removal is the only way forward? Glad to hear your corals were able to recover though

 

[Nano sapiens]

I think this is exactly what's happening in my tank. I guess physical removal is the only way forward? Glad to hear your corals were able to recover though

I've found it surprisingly difficult to find the worm making these silken tubes, but I wish you luck!

 

[beestie]

Just coming in with an update, the white stuff keeps reappearing despite manual removal. That polyp on the blasto is pretty much gone, but the rest of the colony seems to not mind. If anyone ever solves this problem longterm, or identifies this mystery worm, I'd love to hear about it!