What is going on with this coral?

[Dorking It]

I am confused as to what this coral is doing. When i took over my tank it was all brown and has started to grow and show colors.

The brown has been peeling off to show some color underneath. Will it make a full recover? Does anyone know what kind of coral this is?

I am asking because I have a handful that are doing this.

Does anyone know what that one is?

 

[Dorking It]

I definitely will get different pictures when I get back Sunday..

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

new pics in white light will help, the pics are a little too blue to see exactly, and do not want to give you false info and guesses.

 

[Dorking It]

I appreciate that

 

[MnFish1]

If this is Cyanobacteria on your corals - a minimal sweep of your hand should remove it - I'm not talking about a tidal wave. Also - if Cyanobacteria - is it better after being in the dark overnight - and then worsens during the day?

 

[Dorking It]

It does not change at all. The coating is the same way no matter the time of day. As soon as I get home I will get better pics.

 

[Dorking It]

Now that I think of it and this piece there seems to be small change on this one. But it seems different

On everything else it is a hard coating that does not change. Unless it peels away over time to show some color.

 

[Dorking It]

So I just got in this morning. And here's an update.I will get white light photos later today.

The photos are about 2 weeks apart from the start of the thread pictures.

 

[Dorking It]

Ok so whites only, cool and warm 100%

Help please I think I'm killing them.

Current parameters
Alk 9.25
Cal 435
Mag 1330
Ph 8.45
Temp 78

 

[MoshJosh]

Most of these look in rough shape, bleached if not already dead. . .

I am not an expert on coral rescues, but if it were me I would start with water changes. . . many water changes trying to match salinity and temp as closely as possible not to cause any undue stress.

 

[Dorking It]

Here are better pics

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Ok so whites only, cool and warm 100%

Help please I think I'm killing them.

Current parameters
Alk 9.25
Cal 435
Mag 1330
Ph 8.45
Temp 78

I think they were already dying when you got them

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

I believe what is covering some of them is a redish brown calcarious algae. The polyps in those areas are gone/dead. I have that algae growing in a few places on my rocks. Not on my corals though. If the polyps are not alive other things will occupy the space. ie: algae etc. If there are parts of the coral that are still alive, then as it heals it may overtake the algae and regrow over old skeleton.
I am not saying that some of your corals are not salvageable but it may be a long road. Some are easier than others like the digitata or the spongode. It is easier to grow healthy corals than to save dying corals.
A good indicator is to take a UV blue flashlight and at night with the lights off, most corals that are alive will fluoresce on the dead parts will not. The ones that do you can separate the dead parts from the living.

 

[Dorking It]

I believe what is covering some of them is a redish brown calcarious algae. The polyps in those areas are gone/dead. I have that algae growing in a few places on my rocks. Not on my corals though. If the polyps are not alive other things will occupy the space. ie: algae etc. If there are parts of the coral that are still alive, then as it heals it may overtake the algae and regrow over old skeleton.
I am not saying that some of your corals are not salvageable but it may be a long road. Some are easier than others like the digitata or the spongode. It is easier to grow healthy corals than to save dying corals.
A good indicator is to take a UV blue flashlight and at night with the lights off, most corals that are alive will fluoresce on the dead parts will not. The ones that do you can separate the dead parts from the living.

Thank you for the feedback. The algae direction is very likely as it kind of peels, I guess simular to coraline algae if was growing on the coral.

I just have been hesitant to buy new sps as I didn't know if I was ready because i have not fixed these. Maybe I am and should try a few new peices to see how it goes.

 

[MoshJosh]

I would definitely figure out what happened this go around before going after new pieces. I definitely would not start with a large volume of SPS frags until you have some success with a few frags. I would also look into your acclimation process as, depending on how long after adding them to the tank they died, this could be an issue.

Also, how old is the tank?

Inhabitants?

 

[Dorking It]

I would definitely figure out what happened this go around before going after new pieces. I definitely would not start with a large volume of SPS frags until you have some success with a few frags. I would also look into your acclimation process as, depending on how long after adding them to the tank they died, this could be an issue.

They all came with the tank and all had the "algae?" coating on them. About a month ago all parameters started to look good and then the coating started to peel and started to get growth at the tips.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Do you have a dosing pump? Sps are sensitive to alk swings so manual dosing could cause RTN or STN. Is there any visible polyp extension on any of the pieces?

 

[MoshJosh]

They all came with the tank and all had the "algae?" coating on them. About a month ago all parameters started to look good and then the coating started to peel and started to get growth at the tips.

OHHHHHHHHHHHH yeah, if they looked like that when you got them I say this is not on you, they were probably dead or dying when you got them.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I am confused as to what this coral is doing. When i took over my tank it was all brown and has started to grow and show colors.

The brown has been peeling off to show some color underneath. Will it make a full recover? Does anyone know what kind of coral this is?

I am asking because I have a handful that are doing this.

Does anyone know what that one is?

Does appear to be nicrosis. Often its as simple as flow or light and things overlooked. Often siphoning dead tissue and brown gel will reverse the process.
Some possible triggers of infection are:
- Alkalinity spike
- Temperature spike
- Salinity spike
- Low dissolved oxygen
- Poor water quality related with phosphate levels up to 5 ppm
- Change in water flow
- Additions of sand
- Changes in brand of salt
- Bad test kits giving faulty results
- Levels of minor elements such as Iodine, Potassium, Strontium
- Light intensity
- Addition of new corals

 

[Dorking It]

A good indicator is to take a UV blue flashlight and at night with the lights off, most corals that are alive will fluoresce on the dead parts will not. The ones that do you can separate the dead parts from the living.

I did this last night. It was SAD but AMAZING! This was wonderful and helped me truly understand the coral health (very good tip for colorblind).

Thank you so much for this tip.