Stony issues, hlth... allelopathic cascade event likely   10/21/08
I have two main issues:
1) injuries on my tongue coral and pagoda cup; and,
2) tissue recession and/or bleaching on my Pocillopora and my Hydnophora.
I have a 150 gal aquarium with a 30 gal refugium, 3x150W HQI (10,000K) + 4x96W (420nm) Actinic, bought new 14 months ago.
Calcium is 400, Alkalinity 3.0, Temp 78.5 (controlled by chiller), pH 8.2
(relatively constant, as we have an automatic reef doser, with two-part A and B solution).
<I take it the last are administered to the refugium or in/with new water during change-outs>
We have had our tank for fourteen months, and have had no problems. Most of the corals in the tank have come from our previous smaller tanks over the last five years. For instance, the tongue coral and the pagoda cup are over four years old, and we moved them into our consolidated 150-gal August 2007. Here's the problem with those two - they were stung by a falling frogspawn.
<Ooohhh, can be fatal>
It fell and touched the edge of each coral, leaving a visible injury. The tissue has decayed, and I have noticed my cleaner shrimp and blue-tipped hermit crabs picking at the injuries. I moved the tongue into my quarantine tank under PC lighting, and I'm considering moving the pagoda cup. Is this course of action recommended?
<Mmm, to avoid the picking mentioned? Actually not if the removal by these crustaceans is/was only the damaged tissue>
My idea is, without the shrimp and crabs picking on them, the tissue will grow back, and they can be returned to my display tank.
<Mmm... I'd rather had you cover the corals in place... with inverted "strawberry baskets" or such>
Please note that this is not brown jelly, and the dead tissue area affected reveals the underlying white skeleton. The area in question on each one is about one square inch, relative to approximately 10 square inches of total healthy coral. The polyps are extending, and the rest of the coral looks great. Please let me know your opinion on this LPS injury problem.
<Very common... all else being maintained, usually not fatal>
Regarding my second issue, above, over the last week, my Pocillopora, which is over a year old, and has been thriving (growing, polyps extended, branching), has started to bleach from the inside out (ie the middle of the coral has turned white, while the tips have retained their color and polyp expansion). However, the problem seems to be getting worse. I am thinking about fragging this coral, as it is medium size. Should I do this, and what is the likely cause of this tissue necrosis/bleaching/recession?
<Nothing obvious here... perhaps (the most likely guess) a result of the reaction of the other two Scleractinians to being stung by the Euphyllia>
Because the temperature and other water parameters are stable, and the coral has not been moved since we've had it, could it be due to decreased light intensity from aging bulbs?
<Doubtful if the other stony corals are unaffected>
Also, we recently switched our A&B solution to C-Balance from Aquaphilic. Could this also be a contributing factor?
<Again, doubtful... this variously diluted Peter Wilkens/Two Li'l Fishies product has been implicated (due to sloppy, inconsistent dilution) at times... but not recently>
We switched it on the first of the month, and have just developed problems over the last week. I do not want to lose this coral, as we have had it for over a year, and it has been thriving, along with the rest of our tank, which has over forty species of soft and stony corals. All other corals have great polyp expansion, and are growing and healthy, at this time. However, this morning I awoke to find a small area of bleaching on my otherwise healthy (and huge) Hydnophora, which we have had nearly five years, and which has over doubled in size (larger than a bowling ball) since we put it in the new tank about 14 months ago. One of the fingers only has bleached at the tip. Should I cut that finger off before it spreads?
<Mmm>
Or should I leave it alone and hope it grows back.
<I would do this last>
Could the Pocillopora and Hydnophora have the same problem?
<Yes>
What is the recommended course of action for both of these corals?
<Patience... and reading: http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm
and the linked files above>
p.s. We haven't lost any corals, or had any problems whatsoever, since we set up our 150-gal over 14 months ago, from five smaller tanks that we had kept over the previous five years. Please help, so we don't lose the ones that are hurting.
P.P.S. It may help you to know that we have six fish (3 tangs, a blenny, a clown, and a royal gramma), and some inverts (snails, blue-tipped hermit crabs, a cleaner shrimp, and a coral banded shrimp), which all live peacefully together.
No other corals are in the vicinity of the problem corals, and no other corals appear to have any issues at this time. We are preparing to do a 15% water change, and await your response.
Thank you in advance for your help.
<Please do keep me/us abreast of further developments/observations. Bob Fenner>

Coral dying, pix, but no data of use   9/11/08 Hi crew member. I have a 80G tank. I make my own water with RO system from filter guys. My tank numbers are this. 1. Nitrate almost zero 2. Ca ­ 490 <Mmm... a bit high... and what re Mg?> 3. KH ­ 10 dKH 4. Phosphate is at .5 ppm 5. Ph ­ 8.3 I took this water to a LFS and they confirmed the above and say nothing wrong with the water. But one of the soft coral just had a big slime on top of it. <Many "do this" naturally... part. Alcyoniids... thought to be a "cleansing" mechanism, shedding pests, parasites, perhaps predators... Most of the time this material can/should be just vacuumed out...> I don¹t think it is brown slime algae. Unfortunately, I just removed it before taking a picture. So the one that you see in the picture right now is the cleaned coral. The slime was like brown in color. I had a frog spawn a while ago and some bacterial attack removed it completely. I tried to dose some iodine, but I just hope its not too late. My other coral, the LFS calls it Galaxy, looks like a stony coral and was perfect in color. Half of that is gone too. Please help. All this happened overnight. <... Oculinids are "top stingers"... see WWM re their compatibility, systems (placement)> Picture 806 was happening for the past one week. I thought it was lack of calcium or some parameter. <Mmm, no> Only new thing that I added from yesterday was ESV 2 part calcium for the first time. <?> I am attaching the pictures of the corals that are slowly dying. Regards PB <Uhh, a bit more reading, input on your part needed here... Perhaps the presence, situation of the Tubastrea here is somehow involved... Could be the soft coral as well, its exudations, or even mainly/simply some aspect/s of your water quality. Let's have you read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm and then here: http://wetwebmedia.com/cniddisfaqs.htm to give you insight, a review of the sorts of information we're looking for. Bob Fenner>

Re: Coral dying  9/11/08 Thanks Bob. I have not measured my Mg. I use Kent Ionic balance. Thought they balance out itself. <Mmm, no> I used Seachem liquid reef calcium and switched to ESV for the first time 3 days ago. <... I would switch back> I took another picture with the brown slime. I am attaching the picture. I understand they could be close by and they are trying to fight from the links that you sent me. But the corals are at least 4-5 inches apart. I have moved them further now. Even after moving the coral under question still continues "decay". Can you please help. Regards, PraKash <Keep reading. BobF>

Re: Coral dying  9/11/08 Bob, Would you suggest ESV product or should I stop using this product? Regards, PB <I have suggested you read. Re the ingredients you're mixing here. B> Re: Coral dying  9/12/08 Thanks for the help. I moved the corals. The one in question still continues to decay. Will this coral not survive? <Only time can/will tell... Will you stay in the hobby, research what is going on here, future purchases? B>

Coral Health -07/28/08
Hello,
I know that one of my questions is going to be one of those questions that no one has a for sure answer for but I must ask anyway to get someone else 's opinion of the situation. I acquired a 120 gallon Salt water system from a friend a while back, I spoke with Bob about it during the setup and moving phase, and as an update I lost 2 small Montipora digitata colonies and a yellow fang blenny during the move. Everything else out of the set up is in tact including all of the acropora colonies which I thought I would surely lose. I was able to save some of the orange Digita but lost it later due to the frags falling off a rock.
To the question... when the tank was originally set up at my house the coral polyp extension was great. The baby blue Monti that I had acquired in the deal looked like blue fuzzy tree branches. As well as some of the Acros who had been showing great polyp extension. Here in the recent month or so my Acros do not have the extension they once did and my baby blue Monti hasn't had extension for a great time, several months to be exact. My calcium is in the 360-380 range and my KH has stayed in the 150 - 180 ppm range through this time. Has anyone pinpointed what causes polyp extension, I know it is a mechanism of feeding,... around the weekly range I try to spot feed all the SPS E.S.V. Phytoplankton to entice the polyp extension to little avail.
<Not worth it (won't help the underlying problem). Try using oyster eggs. Polyp extension (or lack there of) is, as you likely know, the result of a combination of factors (lighting, feeding, water quality, water flow, etc. etc.). The coral might also simply be adapting to its new environment. If I were you, I'd start feeding oyster eggs (and perhaps other very fine particle meaty food) and just be patient (see what happens).>
Also I have a Green Hydnophora that has always had a colony of green zoanthids at the base of it. My pistol shrimp, during his bulldozing adventures, toppled some rock and the Hydnophora was moved. When I moved it It began rapid tissue necrosis.
<Typical... these corals do not like to be moved (not even from one part of a tank to another).>
I can not take credit for the save,... but by some divine act the piece made it through the ordeal without a major loss.
<Cool. Oddly enough, also typical for this coral. Though they hate to be moved, they are also known for some miraculous recoveries.>
(the colony stands about 5 inches and I lost about an inch from the bottom) I did not cut the colony and the zoanthids have been slowly making their way up the base. Now at this point it seems that the zoanthids have spread to the beginning of the living Hydnophora tissue. Is this a cause for concern?
<Hmm... probably not. These corals are fierce.>
At the back portion I have noticed the Hydnophora has split the zoanthids... or kept them from spreading, by spreading down the base where the bare skeleton is.
<not surprising>
Last question I swear, I've been researching and saving them ;). I want to purchase a calcium reactor to help ease the pain of trusting someone with my tank while I am on vacation,... ok ok.. I just want one. Anywho I have plans to put in a 375 gallon tank in the next 6 - 8 months, and use my current 120 for a refugium. I want to buy a reactor that would be big enough for this system, probably a Korallin C-3002. Would this be a bad idea to place a 800gal reactor into a ~200 gallon system? If I did this what adjustments should I plan on making to it off the bat?
<Oh, hmm... best I can do here is redirect you to http://www.wetwebmedia.com/calcreactors.htm
Please see the FAQs and related articles.>
Thanks guys, Your always a huge Help!!!!
Adam
<Thank you,
Sara M.>

Brains on the demise, cause/s?   6/10/08
I love you web site. You have answered many many questions that I have had.
This should be a simple question I hope for you. I have a 70 gallon salt water tank for 3 years with 60 lbs of live rock. I have a yellow tang two clown fish, a Banggai cardinal and two cleaner shrimps. I have added a open brain coral and a closed brain coral. I have an orbit 4x65w compact florescent light. I have glass on the top of the tank. The open coral is losing some of his color and I was wondering if it might be because the glass is on top.
<Mmm, likely a lack of useful light energy is a factor here... the glass may be part of this>
All the water conditions are within range for these corals.
<Need values>
There is also a piece of Plexi glass that is on the orbit light as well. Should I remove the thick glass that I have on top of the aquarium to let the light through better.
<I would try this>
I couldn't find anywhere on the net that tells you if it is okay to have glass on top of your aquarium.
Thanks very much for your help.
Keith
<... and you do feed this Trachyphylliid, Mussid... and have read re on WWM? Bob Fenner>

Brown Jelly Disease -03/17/08
Hi,
I have a couple of questions.. I do believe my one frog spawn has brown jelly disease.. Should this be removed from the tank and quarantined?
<It depends on how bad it is. Moving it now might make things worse. If it's progressing rapidly, your only hope might be to frag off the infected parts.>
Does this disease spread to other corals?
<Yes and no, it's a complicated question actually. Think of this disease as an infection a bit like one a person might get from a dirty wound. The infectious agents can spread, but usually won't infect an otherwise strong, healthy coral.>
And last but not least how can I go about curing this disease..
<There's unfortunately not much you can do except perhaps gently siphoning off the "jelly", increasing water flow to the coral, and generally making sure your water parameters are as ideal as possible. Running some activated coral and increased skimming might also help. Again, if it's bad enough, you should consider immediately fragging off the infected parts.>
Thanks Trish
<De nada,
Sara M.>