Help with Euphyllia/Fimbriaphyllia issue

[WheresTheReef]

Trying to see if anyone has any ideas I can try to help solve the recession and loss of various Euphyllia/Fimbriaphyllia. My tank is over 90% of these types of corals so I really need to figure this out.

 

My water parameters have been mostly stable. Alkalinity has been the one parameter that has lowered slowly over time, but not by much.

Alk: 8.5 dkh (used to run 9+, but slowly declined to 8dkh from 4/24 to 10/30. I dosed soda ash slowly to get it back to 8.5dkh over the last 2 weeks)

Ca: 350-375 ppm

Mg: 1200-1230ppm

Sg: 1.025

Temp 76.5-77.5 controlled by apex

 

Lighting and flow hasn't changed.

 

I have an ICP test that I will be sending out tomorrow. I perform 10% weekly water changes with the occasional skipped water change. I started running carbon again after today's water change. I used to run it monthly, but haven't changed it out in a couple months.

 

I dip the corals in CoralRx and no pests have ever been seen. 

 

This all may be related to a BJD issue. Here is some chronological info.

 

I received a coral from an online vendor on 11/21. The tissue of the corners was a little receded over the skeletal lip. On 11/23 I noticed this brown string coming from that spot. 

 

This is the next morning on 11/24. I ended up removing some tissue, dipping in peroxide and supergluing that part. However the issue returned on 11/30 so I trashed the coral.

 

On 12/5 I noticed one head of my yellow octospawn was a little closed.

 

On 12/8 I noticed the head was mostly gone, but some tissue remained at the base. The next day, the splitting head on the right was showing stress so I cut that section out and trashed it.

 

On 12/19 I noticed these 2 hammers. I trashed the single head and removed/trashed the heads with issues on the other.

 

Since then, I have noticed another octospawn with receded base tissue and a couple other torches showing some issues. Today I noticed this base tissue damage to this torch that had been doing well as you can see.

 

Please let me know if you have seen this type of issue before, and if there was anything you tried to solve it.

 

I'm happy to provide any additional info.

 

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by WheresTheReef

[WheresTheReef]

PO4 is 0.04 (Hanna checker) as of a couple weeks back. The range for this year is 0.04-0.08. I ordered a Nitrate Hanna checker, but it doesn’t get here until Saturday. I don’t anticipate it will be elevated.

[ReefdUp]

I've dealt with "BJS" and similar issues countless times (seriously...). IME, it occurs with higher phosphate, nitrate, poor bacterial diversity, and higher temps. 

 

Assuming your test kits are accurate (and nitrate is within range), then bacterial diversity may be of concern, if it is BJS. Have you tried dosing Microbacter or a similar product?

 

The damage does not look consistent with BJS. Reminds me of a polyclad flatworm or predatory starfish. I'll write more when I have more time.

[WheresTheReef]

I have not tried MB7.

 

I have been monitoring at different times of the day (lights on and off) for anything eating them. I haven't seen anything yet, but was wondering that as well. I haven't seen any eggs at the base of the corals either. 

 

I'd be interested in any info/guidance.

[ReefdUp]

Predatory starfish are difficult to catch in the act. I've had them devour large corals over night. Same with polyclads, and they often leave eggs in caves - depends on the species though. Just a single one can really cause some damage.

 

The difficulty with this situation is that dips often don't carch the culprit easily. 

 

If you really think it's BJS, I'd start dosing bacteria. If that helps, you may need to consider treatment with Cipro, but I don't recommend that lightly. It's serious stuff that I believe is overused.

[WheresTheReef]

Thanks for the info. It is difficult to see this happening.

[ReefdUp]

Do you have a full tank shot? Better yet, can you number the locations on the image, in the chronological order in which the corals started dying?

[WheresTheReef]

31 minutes ago, ReefdUp said:

Do you have a full tank shot? Better yet, can you number the locations on the image, in the chronological order in which the corals started dying?

120g left side

120g right side

 

Just noticed this asterina on this torch where it has issues

 

[WheresTheReef]

I got a 500mg tablet of cipro from a friend. I’m going to dose 3x based on this.

 

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/experimenting-with-in-tank-antibiotic-treatments-for-brown-jelly-disease.782438/

[ReefdUp]

I urge great caution to anyone considering cipro. It is one of the most broad antibiotics available to hobbyists, but it is easy for bacteria to develop a resistance to it. IMO, it should be a last-ditch effort. Otherwise, we could be creating a superbug. Our hobby has enough challenges, to include political, that we need great caution to prevent what could end our hobby (or livelihood) and further threaten our reefs.

[ReefdUp]

The path of issues also does not appear consistent with BJS (or a single predator).

 

Infections are multifactoral. It takes the combination of a compromised host, agent, and/or degraded environment for the issue to occur.

 

If it is BJS, then you likely have an underlying causal factor that is stressing your corals. Some corals may be more tolerant than others (less-compromised), which may lead to the non-linear infection across the tank. Treating the infection (if it exists) is only one part of the problem; the infection may return if the root cause is not addressed.  

[zygote2k]

I’ve had tanks full of various Euphylliads and found that stable w/c and good amounts of foods allowed them to be strong enough to fight off the various ailments commonly associated with them.

Feeding the fish helped them to reproduce well too.

Coral QT is a must nowadays.

[WheresTheReef]

I agree with all statements and don’t take the use of any antibiotic, not just in the hobby, lightly. I have tried to keep things as consistent as possible (parameters, flow, lighting, water changes etc). This truly is a Hail Mary at stopping this downhill swing for the tank. 
 

Other than coral additions the only other changes include:

- 11/24 added 2” yellow candy hogfish, which I haven’t seen pick on any corals

- 12/3 swapped out 10lbs of Marco rock for 25lbs Carib-sea life rock (connected tank)

- 12/17 added small Redfin Fairy Wrasse and one small Bimac Anthias

[ReefdUp]

The cyano presence indicates there's something else going on. If it were my situation, I'd...(in order)

 

1. Test nitrate and get it balancing phosphate

2. Dose bacteria

3. Monitor phosphate/ nitrate and add bacteria food if the balancing act is struggling

4. Feed more, to include keeping a clip of algae readily available. This may help any normally-safe cleanup crews from going opportunistic and corallivorous

5. Dip affected corals in hydrogen peroxide mixed with tank water, as this could buy the affected corals time for the tank to restabilize

6. Run the affected corals in an antibiotic bath, if the hydrogen peroxide mix dips aren't working.

7. Last ditch after everything else hasn't worked for about a month or there is mass die-off (nearing all corals going, making baths infesible): in-tank Cipro

 

The likely bacteria behind BJS is probably a resident in nearly every tank. Trying to kill it off with Cipro is typically a short-term fix.