FAQs about Acroporid Coral Disease/Health, Parasites, Pests 2

White spots on Montipora 7/14/06
Hello,
   <Hi there>
  I have this giant gorgeous piece of red, plating Montipora.  About a week ago I rearranged the live rock and moved the Montipora so that it is higher in the tank,
<By how much?>
under actinics but not directly under a metal halide.  Recently I noticed several white chalky spots and streaks.  They seem to be getting worse and spreading.  Our levels are fine
<Numbers please... vague generalities result in responses of the same quality>
and we've been feeing it DT's phyto and oyster eggs.  Our clowns hang out above it constantly but I don't know if that has anything to do with it.  Please help me; I can't bare to loose
<Or lose?>
this gorgeous piece!
  Thanks,
  Krissi
<... likely nothing wrong here... a bit of reaction from the change in lighting... Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/acropori.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner, and the linked files above...>

Re: White spots on Montipora, not reading 7/15/06
It was about 5 inches from the bottom of our tank and now it is about 10 inches higher.
   <Likely about doubled the effective photonic input>
  Nitrates, Ammonia, Nitrites and Phosphates are at 0.
  dKH is 11
  pH is 7.8 (can't keep it stably above that)
<Do read on WWM: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marphalk.htm>
  Salinity is 1.024
  Temp is 79
  Calcium is 425
  Chelated Iron is .25
  Iodine is .6 mg/l
<Not continuously I trust>
  I don't think it is a reaction to the lighting change because the areas have not just faded, they are chalky and completely white spots and streaks amongst wonderfully healthy Montipora.  I don't know, though.  It could be.  I'm hoping that it's not some kind of infection.  Could it be caused by bubbles trapped underneath them?
  Thanks,
  Krissi
<Not likely... It is almost assuredly the light change... though could be a chemical burn from supplements. Make such changes outside the system via new water... and read. Bob Fenner>

Help for the reef on the rocks    7/1/06
Dear crew:
<Brad>
I am writing because I find myself once again in uncharted waters, and my keel is grating along the rocks of ignorance as we speak.
<Heeee! Always a pleasure>
My family adopted our first two corals on father's day - a Pachyseris rugosa and a small Montipora capricornis.  These small polyp stonies were chosen because our live rock came with many other stony corals (Porites porites, Cladocora cf. arbuscula, Phyllangia americana, for example), and these have all been thriving for nine months now.  So, based on reading FAQs I wanted to avoid allelopathy, and avoided soft coral choices for now.
<Good>
When these two corals arrived home, the Pachyseris rugosa showed signs of bleaching, but quickly recovered.  The Montipora capricornis has looked wonderful and has had fully extended polyps.  A few days ago though, I noticed what I thought was detritus settled down inside.  To my horror, I found disease.  Would you mind looking at these two photographs (both less than 200 kilobytes each) to see if you can identify the malady and possibly recommend a solution?
<Mmm, my computer won't open these... something about an unsupported format or variant... Tried changing the suffix... Can/will you try making them "more generic" type files and re-sending?>
Also, I have had three e-mails go unanswered in the last six months.
<... Bunk! We continue to have problems with our email server. Thank you for this notice. When/where in doubt, please do send your corr. to my personal addy: fennerrobert@hotmail.com>
So, if you can tell me what I am doing wrong, I would appreciate the honest feedback.  I will send this plea for help first without photographs, and then with in hopes that one will get through.
Many thanks for all you do,
Brad in Basalt
<Please do send those pix again. Bob Fenner>

Picture of sick Monti from afar in JPEG 7/1/06
Dear Bob,
Thank you for the kind and speedy reply. I am resending the photographs of this diseased Montipora capricornis separately in case your server has limits on file size... Here is photograph #1. Please let me know if you would like a higher resolution, as I have reduced the file size on these.
Thanks again,
Brad in Basalt
<Nice pic, nice specimen. This looks like a "bad spot" from someone handling the affected area. You could "snap it off", but I'd very likely leave it as is... if indeed dead, this part of the non-living matrix will likely become easily re-populated. Cheers, BobF>

Resend of diseased Montipora capricornis close-up 7/2/06
Dear Bob,
<Brad>
Thank you for the kind and speedy reply.  I am resending the photographs of this diseased Montipora capricornis separately in case your server has
limits on file size...  Here is photograph #2.  Please let me know if you would like a higher resolution, as I have reduced the file size on these.
Also, I changed the JPEG format from "progressive scan" to "baseline-standard".  If this doesn't help, perhaps you could please let me
know (one word would suffice) what other format your computer likes.
Thanks again,
Brad in Basalt
<A few hundred kilobytes... these are fine though... pix of the day as a matter... This looks like a physical injury incident as well to me... Same
diagnosis, same lack of specific treatment. BobF>
P.S.  Special thanks to DianaF, N. Sulawesi for the continuous string of stunning photographs for us all to enjoy.  Do you know if these are taken
with an underwater camera in a tank, in the wild, or if they are simply taken "through the glass"?
<Oh! These are from our more recent sojourn to this large island of Indonesia (going back a few months hence)... Made with an (Ikelite) housed (digital SLR Nikon) camera. Have told her of your note... and "the huntress" is pleased. BobF>

Bleaching Montipora - 06/14/06
Hi Crew,
<<Hello Mohamed>>
A LFS has an orange Monti with orange polyps but the one side is white as if it is bleaching, like a patch. The white portion still has the orange polyps. It is been like that for 3 days. Will the polyps be dead if it was truly bleaching?
<<No, not necessarily...though the polyps often bleach as well.>>
Will this Monti recover its colour with good lighting?
<<Loss of pigmentation (bleaching) could have been caused by any number of stressors, with an "excess" of lighting being my first guess. But yes, it is quite possible this coral can recover with proper acclimation/care>>
Will it be safe to buy this Monti before it goes to someone else?
<<Not possible/enough info for me to say...tis up to you to decide on this gamble my friend>>
Thanks,
Mohamed
<<Regards, EricR>>

Montipora Eating Nudibranch Predator? - 05/26/06
Hello WWM staff,
<<Hello Stephen>
I recently noticed a small number (at least what I could see) of Nudibranchs consuming various species of my Montipora.
<<Mmm, very bad...and their numbers are higher than you realize>>
This was very disappointing as I have gone through a QT for everything, but obviously something slipped by my inspection.
<<Indeed>>
Over the past 3 weeks I have moved most of my Montipora to a frag tank where I inspect and manually remove the adults and eggs at least every other day.
<<Prolific breeders, I would do this daily...if you're serious about eradicating the Nudibranchs>>
Finding very few now and found none yesterday!
<<Keep checking...a few weeks quarantine in order here>>
I do however have 2 large colonies of M. digitata that I can not remove completely as they have encrusted large rocks at their bases.
<<Different species about (Nudibranchs), but my experience with these critters is they showed a definite preference for the plating (e.g. - M. capricornis) and encrusting (e.g. - M. danae) Montipora over the branching varieties>>
Just yesterday I noticed 1 Nudi at the base of one of these colonies (Where there is one, I'm sure there are more).
<<Yes>>
After dispatching this Nudi I inspected as best I
could and can not see any more.
<<Again, in my experience, once the food source is removed they tend to "disappear" quickly>>
So having found this in my display still and not being able to easily remove all of the Montipora, is there a fish predator for these guys that would make an appropriate addition to a community reef tank for a 90gal?
<<Not that I'm aware...for sure. Some of the reef-safe wrasses "may" eat the Nudibranchs, but I have never witnessed/heard confirmed reports of this. If you wish to try, a wrasse from the genus Halichoeres might be a good choice>>
I have seen a couple of species or wrasses mention, but little direct discussion.
<<Indeed...I once experienced and episode with these Nudibranchs...I had wrasses from four different genera in my tank (including Halichoeres) but could never discern any of them feeding on the Nudibranchs>>
Thank you,
Stephen
<<Quite welcome, EricR>>

Chemical Warfare? 4/6/06
I mentioned in my last email that my SPS started showing signs of stress. Their tips started dying.
I have a doubt about my anemone, do you think that it can secrete allelopathic substances that can affect the SPS?
<I believe that it is entirely possible, which is why I discourage mixing corals and anemones in most systems.>
I looked up the archives but I am not sure if this is right or wrong.
<I think that the theory is right.>
It has been in the tank for 6 months now and once in a while, I lose one or two of my SPS for the same reason, either dying tips or bleaching , but mainly the tips begin to die.
<Could certainly be allelopathic competition, or some lapse in environmental conditions.>
Do you think it is the anemone? The water chemistry is great, calcium is above 400 and heavy skimming all the time with Euro-reef skimmer, water changes every 2 weeks !!
I am confused and I need your help. Thank you.
P.S. It is a red, long tentacle anemone.
Regards,
Ramy
Ontario, Canada
<Well, Ramy- in the absence of other possibilities (such as environmental lapses), the only theory that I have is that the anemone could be an issue, unless you're looking at some type of disease affecting the coral. My advice is to "specialize", and keep only the coral or the anemone...Hope this helps. Regards, Scott F.>

Marine Algae Woes 4/6/06
Hi Bob,
<No his young pal Adam J. with you tonight.>
Hope all is well.
<He was good last time I chatted with him...though busy (aren't we all).>
I got these red algae, they are all over my reek tank now. They are like little cotton clusters .I tried manual removal, black snails but they are out of control now.
Is that something I should be concerned about ???
<Yes.>
I realized that some of my SPS are not doing that great lately.
<Astute observation.>
Please see attached photo. Thank you.
<Ramy before I give you advice please use the search engine in the main site re: Cyanobacteria and nutrient problems.>
Ramy, Ontario, Canada.
<Good luck, Adam J.>

SPS problem!! 4/6/06
Hi there,
I have a problem with my SPS, I started the tank almost a year ago. I have this algae growing now and dominating the tank ( see attachment )
The growing tips of the SPS die and then the whole piece dies off afterwards. Any explanation ??
<Not good... could be pathogenic, but much more likely environmental in its allowance/occurrence>
Do you think this algae is the reason ??? Thank you.
<No... this is secondary, tertiary... Most likely the root problem/s are environmental.>
Regards,
Ramy
<Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/index.htm
Scroll down to the Scleractinians tray... read re SPS, Acropora Systems, Disease... Bob Fenner>

Algae Over-Growing M. capricornis? - 03/30/06
Hello,
<<Howdy>>
I looked for an answer to my question but couldn't find what I am searching for.  I hope you can help.
<<Me too <grin>.>>
I have a Montipora capricornis that is supposed to be orange but it has a layer of green algae on it.
<<?!>>
I have tried blowing it off with a powerhead and gently rubbing it off but have had no luck.  How do you get algae off a piece of SPS coral?  I don't have an algae problem in particular and it seems that the Montipora is its attachment point of interest.
<<I'm having trouble envisioning this Pete...algae won't "normally" overgrow the healthy living tissue.  Are you certain this coral is still alive?  And not to be funny but...are you certain this isn't a "green" Monti?  I might be better able to help if you can provide a sharp close-up photo (.jpg or .bmp format of no more than a couple hundred KB in size) so I can see what you're dealing with.>>
Thanks in advance for your reply.
Pete
<<Regards, EricR>>

SPS problem !!    3/29/06
Hi Bob,
<Ramy>
I had my 150 gal running for a year now, housing only SPS and clams.
Everything is fine so far except that one of my favorite Acros started showing the following :
The growing tips started to break and are covered with algae.
<Yikes!>
I can see the polyps extending but not as much as they used to be. I haven't moved this piece from its spot for more than 5 months, same lighting conditions, great water values , nothing else is wrong.
So what could have gone wrong ????
<Very likely "just" the unnatural make-up of aquariums at play here... Changing the flow (increasing greatly), introducing some smaller fishes, perhaps switching out some of the live rock... will steer your system back toward where you want it. Bob Fenner>
Regards,
Ramy, Ontario, Canada.

White bugs eating my Acro. - 03/22/06
WWM Crew,
<DG>
Thanks for your help with all our fishy needs. This morning I had a possible revelation on a very big mystery,  Why my Acros were dying (RTN).   I moved a rock in the tank and some sand fell on some of my corals, so once I placed the rock back I tried to clean my coral of any debris that might of fallen on them.  When I came to the Acro in question ( a beautiful specimen that once had blue tips) I inverted the coral to allow gravity to clean off any
debris, and I noticed that some "grains of sand" remained, being the persistent perfectionist I pretend to be, I placed the specimen in front of the return to allow the flow to take the sand off.  Well upon, looking closer I realized that the "sand" wasn't sand at all, they are little white bugs all over the specimen.  Now, I've read on WWM about red bugs that eat Acros, and of white nudis that eat Montis, but not white bugs that eat Acros?!
<Come in all colors...>
Can somebody lend advice?  Is there any solution other than laying the coral in bleach and turning it into a very sadistic paperweight?
<There are possible predators to try>
I know for a fact that they will move on to other pieces.  The specimen that has them now was fine and I'm suspecting they came on another specimen that already had bits of RTN.  Your suggestions and advice are both greatly needed and appreciated.
Sincerely yours,
David Guzman Jr.
<Do consider stocking some small wrasses... see WWM re other groups of fishes... Do quarantine future purchases... Bob Fenner>

Today's faq... re baking soda... Please Help! - dying corals- 03/18/2006
Appended is the faq in question. Being that noticed using baking soda and "washing powder" (borate?) Since, corals don't use borate alkalinity, and that being alkalinity reading of 4 meq/l thinking that lack of carbonate alkalinity being major culprit since the things that seem to have trouble require carbonate alkalinity?
<Yes>
There are test kits specifically for carbonate alk.
Also this explanation, drives the point needing to major water change, use 2 part dosing or calcium reactor.
Ps, I love my calcium reactor for its benefit of stabilizing ph, alk, magnesium, & calcium. Granted the ph stability is a byproduct of keeping the alkalinity high.
<Mmm, yes! Am often pressed (by myself) to "come up with" a/the more appropriate response... Do you have time, interest to aid our efforts? BobF>

Re: Please Help! - dying corals - 03/18/2006
Bob,
<Greg>
Thank you for your response.  After examining the Acropora again last night, it appeared that the tissue loss had increased since I emailed you.  So I fragged the one remaining small branch portion that appeared to have full flesh and polyps intact.  I dipped the remaining coral and the frag in a Lugol's + tank water solution, placed the frag back in my main tank and placed the remaining coral in my refugium.  When I checked this morning, I found the original coral had lost the remainder of its tissue and only a white skeleton remained.  The flesh was floating in the refugium and the odor was very noticeable to say the least.  At least the frag appears to be doing better.  It has all flesh and full polyp extension.
I performed a 32 gallon water change and added activated carbon tonight.  I also discovered that the light, which was above several of the corals (including the decaying Acropora) has loosened from its swivel and was angled slightly differently than normal.  Again, would not expect this to cause significant problems by itself but could be one of many factors that came together at the wrong time.
<Perhaps so>
I repaired this light mounting as well. Yes, I have the materials to build a Ca reactor.  As soon as I can get a few days at home I hope to complete this project.  I typically dose 9-10 drops of Lugol's each week.  Tonight I added 4 teaspoons of "Purple Up" instead,
since it is supposed to contain 10 micron aragonite, Ca and iodine / iodide.
Hopefully these steps have helped.
<Believe so>
I guess all I can do now is wait.  I
only wish I were not going to be away for a week at this time.
I really appreciate your input -- thank you!
--Greg
<Thank you for this update... Do take a read at today's Daily FAQs, as someone has written in re your prev. corr. Cheers, Bob Fenner>