ReefdUp

Oh wow! Glad to have you! I bet you have some pretty impressive mature colonies.

Hello, and welcome to WAMAS! Hopefully we can have some great meetings again so you can meet everyone and hear our very informative speakers (and maybe even win some stuff for your new setup at our raffles!) As for pictures, try resizing them (your computer may have software already to do it). Or you could use a third party hosting site to link to it.

I'll send you a PM so we don't hijack the thread. ?

I'm in Fairfax Station. Depending on what you have and what you need, I may be able to help. I rehab dying coral constantly (www.coraleverafter.org).

Can you get a photo of the algae? Some algae can release toxins when disturbed - not just nutrients. I assume you mean bringing phosphates down to 0.05, not 0.5, right? I still recommend bumping up nitrate. Don't overstrip your water with carbon. Unfortunately, my quarantine is full (although everything is ready to transition to grow-out, but I just haven't done that yet.) And, there's no guarantee that moving the coral won't stress it out the rest of the way to death. If you're set on removing it, I can try to make room this weekend, but that's a risky move. I'd rather see you try some of the other suggestions here first. Otherwise, I don't think this problem is going away.

What algae is growing? When you remove it, it sounds like there's a correlation to things declining? Can you get a pic? And adding phosphates is not what you need - they're high enough. You're nitrate limited. High phosphates alone can be enough to mess with sps.

So, this has been going on since, what... Feb? What have you done to rule out/ fix the problem? I think best with lists. What else am I missing from below? Changes made: - Added cuprasorb - Stopped water changes Other things suggested: - Increase nitrates - Remove angelfish - Treat for bacteria (awaiting test results) - ICP found low Ca and some Al

And nitrates?? Your nutrients are still a bit off where I think is appropriate. If your alk test is off, but your nitrates are really at 1, then tip burn is entirely possible. I'd raise your nitrates (which should lower your phosphates). I think you've said you've had someone else check your alk, but you may want to again.

If it was your flow, I'd expect the base to go on such a large colony before the tips (unless there is direct flow on them). The tips should be receiving the most flow.

Did you get your test results?

In that case, yeah, you may want to consider treating. Research dosing cipro. I've done it with great results, but it's reaaaaally experimental at this point.

Ohhh wow. Well, I'm sorry that's probably it, but I'm glad you found the culprit before taking drastic measures. Hopefully that's the end of all the frustration and damaged coral.

Sorry, I keep reading and re-reading... If it's mostly upward growth on one side of the tank, then that really makes me think it's a nipper. What lives over there? Is that mostly where the angel lives or has territory? You could try feeding more throughout the day to see if that helps dissuade the potential culprit from going after your coral.

I tend to not keep a lot of softies, but I'm currently rescuing quite a few, so I run carbon (although running carbon is generally wise regardless). I've heard horror stories but also seen plenty beautiful mixed reefs. Your mileage may vary. However, I would expect alleopathy to affect the entire coral (lack of growth or all-over decay) rather than killing off the growth tips alone. As for rescuing things being eaten... that's a huge portion of what I take in (be it AEFW, acan-eating spiders, fish, you name it). Once the culprit is removed, the coral usually recovers, except in cases where infection sets in (this is quite common). So if you have a nipper, I wouldn't be surprised if an infection followed. I'm not familiar with how angelfish eat coral (and I don't imagine it's similar to what I'm about to describe), but what you're describing reminds me of what I saw while scuba diving in Curacao. They have a terrible fireworm problem, and the fireworms literally engulf the tips of massive staghorn corals with their mouths. They suck off the tissue and move on. Unfortunately, white band disease frequently follows. As for fish culprits, one of my favorite LFS many years ago in another state had a problem they couldn't identify, and the owner swore up and down it wasn't a fish. So, I sat there... waiting. Sure enough, a purple tang had taken a taste for coral, and it was DESTRUCTIVE. Another thought... you don't have any emerald crabs or black spined urchins, do you? I guess my point is to watch the tank both during the day and the night.

I'm of the opinion that the simplest answer is usually right. I'm blaming the angel for stressing the corals - sorry. That's not saying you don't have a bacterial issue, because even healthy tanks often have "bad" bacteria. It's the balance and what allows the "bad" bacteria to cause issues. There are a lot of folks jumping on the BJD and dosing antibiotics in tanks bandwagon, and I'm not convinced it's appropriate as much as it's touted and recommended. I've done it - only because I regularly rescue dying coral.

Oh yeah, sorry, you did post that (I scrolled back and forth too fast this last go.)

Just curious... do you have any clown gobies by chance? Can you post a full-tank shot? Just to confirm, the issue starts in various places, correct (not always tips, not always edges, right?) Are the affected corals occurring randomly throughout the tank or is there a pattern (beside each other, linear, etc)? Since you've already gone the path of treating with antibiotics, you may want to research treating with Cipro (as ranger alluded to). I'm not convinced this is your problem, nor would I recommend it without knowing more.

I can't respond in length right now, but if it is Vibrio, you may want to consider lowering your tank temp.

It'll be interesting what your potassium test shows via ICP. I had low potassium back in the days when getting it measured was nearly impossible, and correcting it was a pain. Not fun but manageable nowadays. What test kit are you using for your nitrate and phosphate? How are the colors on your SPS? Looks like you run Alk a bit low. Has it always been like that? How are you testing? Looks like you have leathers alongside SPS - are you running carbon? Can you post a full tank shot? Does the issue start at the tips or edges... or just anywhere on a coral? As for a microscope, it depends on what you might have versus the power of the microscope. I can pick up the ciliates associated with BJD extremely easy on mine, but bacteria and viruses can be too tiny to see for me. It just depends.

I'm not close, but I'm happy to take a look at some of the fuzz under a microscope.

Today's blog is on two poisoned Lithophyllon corals, in case you're interested (posted on Page 1 of this thread, except I realized I had one of the photos swapped - oops.) https://coraleverafter.org/?p=526

Yay! Great!

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