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FAQs about Caryophyllid Coral Disease, Pests,
Predation 7
Related Articles:
Coral Pests and Disease; pests, predators, diseases and conditions
by Sara Mavinkurve, Caryophyllid
Corals, Elegance Coral,
Related FAQs: Caryophyllid Disease 1,
Caryophyllid Disease 2, Caryophyllid
Disease 3, Caryophylliids 4,
Caryophyllid Disease 5, Caryophyllid
Disease 6, Elegance Coral
Disease/Pests, & Caryophylliids 1, Caryophylliids
2, Caryophylliids 3,
Caryophylliids 4,
Caryophyllid ID, Caryophyllid
Compatibility, Caryophyllid Systems,
Caryophyllid Selection, Caryophyllid
Behavior, Caryophyllid Feeding,
Caryophyllid Propagation/Reproduction,
Stony/True Coral, Coral System Set-Up,
Coral System Lighting, Stony Coral
Identification, Stony Coral Selection,
Coral Placement,
Foods/Feeding/Nutrition,
Disease/Health, Propagation,
Growing Reef Corals, Stony
Coral Behavior, | 
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What is this bubble on my frogspawn?
10/11/09
My Frogspawn seems to be healthy however it has developed a rather large
bubble on it. I have researched quite a bit however I am not able to pin
point the problem, if it is indeed a problem.
<Mmm, please do send image/s along with such questions>
My local reef stores just keep suggesting water changes, implying my
chemistry is off or bad husbandry. My water chemistry as well as
filtration is all proper for a healthy marine aquarium. Also of all the
photos posted online, I have yet to see anything like it. By the way I
have a 75 gal.
with power compact & T5 lighting.
Kayla Bowden
<Expansions of tissue are not uncommon in Euphylliids/Caryophylliids. I
would not be concerned if all else were/is fine with your
system/livestock. Bob Fenner>
No worries here. RMF
Re: What is this bubble on my
frogspawn? 10/11/09
Did you receive the photos of the bubble? I wasn't sure if they went through
or not. If you saw the pics, and still stand by your response then what a
relief.
<Yes>
I am glad there's nothing wrong with it!!! I thought it may have been
reproducing?? Thanks for the speedy response!!!
Kayla Bowden
<Please see WWM re the family, Behavior, Health... BobF>
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Frogspawn coral problems 8/24/09
Hi
<Hello Jessy here>
Just wanted to ask a question regarding my frogspawn coral.
I've had problems with ammonia from what could have been caused by a bad
batch of salt - everything seemed to cope except the frogspawn, which
was very sensitive.
It stopped eating shortly afterward, and although I changed brands of
salt, the ammonia dropped to zero straight after, it doesn't seem to be
able to recover properly. Still not eating and polyps on some of the
branches often shrink up or withdraw. Can this coral survive on
photosynthesis alone for long periods of time?
<This coral does not need to be fed at all. It can live very happily
without being fed directly, I've had frogspawn go from 3 heads to 50+
heads and never fed it once.>
I have noticed that although I have had no recession some of the
tentacles shrink up, turn bright green and start breaking off. I am
worried this could be harmful to other fish and corals should they eat
them by mistake.
<This is not harmful, its parts that are damaged from whatever water
quality issues you've been having most likely. Just make sure if you see
one landing on a surrounding coral you take a turkey baster and blow it
off. They will sting other corals.>
Also there is very high flow in the tank but my bubble coral is a very
happy coral -is this a factor in its recovery? All other corals in this
mixed tank doing very well - no problems at all.
<High flow shouldn't be a big issue if your bubble coral is happy in the
same tank.>
Water param.s are:
PH-8.3
Nitrite-0
Nitrates-0
Ammonia-0
Phosphate-0
Calcium-420
KH-8
What can I do as I'm very worried about this coral?
<Looks like your parameters are okay. Just allow it some time to recover
and adjust to the change of salt. Don't try and force feed it. It will
be fine if your tank is healthy>
Also would like to know your impressions of Tropic Marine (thinking of
using) and Tetra Marine (recently switched to) and in your mind after
Seachem (not available here) what would you say is your preferred salt?
<I've heard great things about Tropic Marine although I've never used it
myself. I've never used Tetra Marine either. I've never heard any
problems with Instant Ocean or Red Sea Coral Pro salt.>
Thank you so much - I value your advice tremendously
<Regards, Jessy>
Many thanks
Anonymous
<If you do write in again, please take better care with grammar and
sentence structure. I had to fix a lot of errors to make it
presentable.>
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Re: Devastating Tank Loss:
Overstocked tank crash. Nothing really to refer. 7/13/2009
<Hi Melissa, sorry for the delay in writing back, I've been in Montreal
for the last week or so.>
I am writing back to give an update because we have had a small miracle.
<Oh?!>
Our TR clown has pulled through. His recovery from being on his side and
gasping the entire day after the equipment disaster, to swimming around
this morning has been a wonderful surprise.
<Excellent News.>
I haven't yet seen a fish come back from this. When he was on his side
we thought him gone and were going to scoop him out but he swam away and
kept at it, something about him gave me hope even though I really know
better. He was very healthy and fat before the rescue operation, I
suppose this aided in his ultimate survival.
<Indeed.>
I did a huge water change 40%; the ammonia & ph are 0, nitrates cut down
by half at 0 and nitrites 0. As of this morning, all corals (2 torch, a
frogspawn and mushroom are open and looking good so far). Also I grabbed
a bit of water last time I was in the LFS and tested it when I got home,
I was amazed at the PH levels being off my charts; is this normal?
Everything else tested at 0's.
<Depends on how they make up their water.>
As an answer to your question the extra "emergency" fish were in our
tank for close to three weeks, not even regular water changes kept the
levels down. One other thing that you mentioned regarding how it would
have been better to take the fish back to store, but we really don't
have a store that will take them back. When I took out the chromis, I
had no idea where to take them and stopped at a Petco where they
surprised me by taking them as a donation. But years ago I had some fish
that needed a home when my tank cracked and the local stores there
wouldn't take them.
<I can understand their position as well, as they do not want to
potentially introduce disease to their tanks.>
I finally found one even though they still gave me a very hard time. Had
I known they would not come through and get their animals back I would
have set something else up. Live and learn, at my animals expense!
<Yes.>
So I thank you for your time and again wanted to celebrate the survival
of a very tough TR clown. Now I have the levels back to safe levels, got
the spg up to 1.024 (the spg is hard to keep up in this system, funny as
years ago we had 100 gal+ tanks and we had to add fresh water to keep
this down) and eventually get a new cleaner shrimp or a pair and get
back to enjoying our tank again.
<Very good.>
I also attached some photos of my torch coral as there is a large
"something" on the side. It is hard like the base, but it separates from
the base ever so slightly. I tried to show the side so this can be
viewed, but wasn't very successful. I included the pics anyway. I would
appreciate your comments/info. I tried to search but the general terms I
used didn't locate anything similar and I didn't have any more
descriptive terms.
<Hmm... will refer to others more knowledgeable on corals.>
Thank you
M
<MikeV>
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.jpg) |
Re: Devastating Tank Loss:
Additional Crew follow-up: From MikeV 07/14/09
Crew,
Can someone look at the two pictures of the Torch Coral I haven't seen
anything like that before.
Thanks
MikeV
<Am looking at right now Mike. My comments below. BobF>
I am writing back to give an update because we have had a small miracle.
Our TR clown has pulled through. His recovery from being on his side and
gasping the entire day after the equipment disaster, to swimming around this
morning has been a wonderful surprise. I haven't yet seen a fish come back
from this. When he was on his side we thought him gone and were going to
scoop him out but he swam away and kept at it, something about him gave me
hope even though I really know better. He was very healthy and fat before
the rescue operation, I suppose this aided in his ultimate survival.
I did a huge water change 40%; the ammonia & ph are 0, nitrates cut down by
half at 0 and nitrites 0. As of this morning, all corals (2 torch, a
frogspawn and mushroom are open and looking good so far). Also I grabbed a
bit of water last time I was in the LFS and tested it when I got home, I was
amazed at the PH levels being off my charts; is this normal? Everything else
tested at 0's.
<Mmm, normal? Yes... marine systems that are "large, stable" enough, can/do
recenter themselves... bio-, chem-, and physically>
As an answer to your question the extra "emergency" fish were in our tank
for close to three weeks, not even regular water changes kept the levels
down. One other thing that you mentioned regarding how it would have been
better to take the fish back to store, but we really don't have a store that
will take them back. When I took out the chromis, I had no idea where to
take them and stopped at a Petco where they surprised me by taking them as a
donation. But years ago I had some fish that needed a home when my tank
cracked and the local stores there wouldn't take them. I finally found one
even though they still gave me a very hard time. Had I known they would not
come through and get their animals back I would have set something else up.
Live and learn, at my animals expense!
So I thank you for your time and again wanted to celebrate the survival of a
very tough TR clown. Now I have the levels back to safe levels, got the spg
up to 1.024 (the spg is hard to keep up in this system, funny as years ago
we had 100 gal+ tanks and we had to add fresh water to keep this down) and
eventually get a new cleaner shrimp or a pair and get back to enjoying our
tank again.
I also attached some photos of my torch coral as there is a large
"something" on the side.
<The green, uniform area?>
It is hard like the base, but it separates from the base ever so slightly. I
tried to show the side so this can be viewed, but wasn't very successful. I
included the pics anyway. I would appreciate your comments/info. I tried to
search but the general terms I used didn't locate anything similar and I
didn't have any more descriptive terms.
Thank you
M
<I think this is likely an algal colony/growth... from opportunistic
chances, ongoing changes, trauma in your system... I would not "treat it" in
any way... Will likely cycle out in time on its own. Bob Fenner> |
Removing Bristle Worm From
Bubble Coral 7/8/09
Hi,
<Hello from Key Largo!>
I have a bubble coral that I purchased 10 months ago. It was injured and
only had a few bubbles on it when I bought it (they said it had a 50/50
chance).
<Impressive you've managed to keep it alive this long!>
Anyway I read up about them and started to target feed it.
<This will benefit this coral. I would also recommend you soaking your
food in Selcon as well.>
It started to look better. About two months ago it began to grow a new
skeleton.
<Very good.>
So far so good. Then last night I saw 2 bristle worms poke out from the
skeleton underneath the bubbles. First I was wondering if they are
eating the bubble coral?
<Likely not. Generally bristle worms eating dying/decaying matter, not
living tissues.>
Second, How do I get them out of there without causing damage to the
bubble coral.
<I would likely not remove, you can observe the coral, but even if you
see tissue loss, that does not necessarily indicate that the bristle
worms are doing the damage, more likely they are doing a beneficial
service of removing the damaged tissue.>
Your help would be greatly appreciated. I have a 180 gallon tank with 1
coral banded shrimp, 1 fire shrimp,
<I would add another so they might pair up and the spawn can feed your
tank.>
1 blue hippo,1 kole tang,1 clown, 2 mandarins,1 Flameback angel,1
Foxface, and 1 yellow tang.
<Watch all those tangs!>
Also have many snails and hermits, and 2 feather dusters.
Thanks,
<Welcome!
Mich>
Jeanine
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Euphyllia Eating Flatworm?
Polyclad – 4/30/09
Hi!
<Hi there, Cath!>
I've lost several of my Euphyllia corals in the last couple of months.
<Uh-oh>
This morning, I've found what I think is a kind of flatworm on many of
my frog, torch and ancora pieces. With a close look and more attention,
I saw that all my Euphyllia are literally infested by this ”little”
(some are up to ½”) beast.
<Yikes!>
There are also a lot of yellow eggs around them. Here is, in a joined
piece, a picture of the beast. The shot was not taken by me, but by a
fellow reefer of my area who has the same problem. What exactly is this
flatworm?
<Looks like a Polyclad of some sort to me (see link below for more
info).>
Is there a way to get rid of them?
<Manual/diligent removal of all visible worms/eggs. In addition, check
any and all other corals (and rockwork if possible) for further evidence
and remove any you come across. I’d also put the corals, one at a time,
in small tub or container with tank water, and using something like a
turkey baster, blast any areas of dead skeleton/rockwork with water to
hopefully dislodge any unseen juveniles.>
I've made a lot of searches and haven't found anything about it.
<That’s understandable. I looked everywhere and only found a couple of
unconfirmed hobbyist reports related to Euphyllids and suspected
Polyclad predation. Furthermore, I was unable to find any documentation,
anywhere, confirming actual predation of any coral species by these
worms at all. That’s not to say that it’s not possible however.
Apparently, there’s a lot of information still needing to be
discovered/revealed regarding these large worms. The general consensus
is that they’re all predatory - consuming various colonial or sessile
organisms such as Tunicates, Bryozoans, bivalves, barnacles, etc, as
well as other small invertebrates such as amphipods, small snails,
Polychaete worms, and even other flatworms. Also, some evidently feed on
algae, especially diatoms, but only as juveniles. The problem with this
situation is that unless you’ve actually seen the worms eating live
coral tissue, you have to consider that their presence may be
secondary/incidental. Perhaps the corals are dying due to one or several
other reasons – for instance environmental issues (water chemistry,
chemical warfare/allelopathy, etc), or due to fish/crabs, etc picking at
them. The culprit could even be another type of flatworm (perhaps
Acoels?) or something else entirely. The Polyclad flatworms could be
there to prey on the real predator(s), or other incidental/harmless
amphipods, etc, that have congregated to feast on the sudden bloom of
algae and/or dying coral tissue. Admittedly, an infestation level of
anything near a damaged coral doesn’t look good, but I’d rule out other
possibilities just to be sure. I have to admit, if I were in your shoes,
I’d likely err on the side of caution and remove as many Polyclads as I
could. Had there been just one or two, I’d have left it/them, but in the
case of many – bye bye!
I’ve got some links for you to read through. Here’s a similar situation:
FAQ titled “Euphyllia Health issues / hitch hiker ID... likely
allelopathy, env. 6/9/08”, at this link:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/carydisf7.htm
Allelopathy issues: http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcomppt3.htm
Flatworms: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/flatworms.htm >
Thank you!
Cath
<You’re very welcome! Take care, LynnZ>
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Frogspawn Parasite, or just feeding, barnacle 04/02/09
Picked up a Branching Frogspawn from our LFS today, There are four
heads, and directly in between two of the heads is a round piece of
skeleton that sticks out about 1/4 inch farther then the other parts of
the skeleton.
There is a hole on this piece, and periodically, little "feathers" come
out, spin a little bit, then retract.
<This sounds like a barnacle. A picture would be helpful to confirm.
Some can be trouble depending on their location on the coral.>
It kind of looks like a feather duster, but has only a few, (less than
ten) very thin feathers, and they are arranged in a sort of crescent
shape, not even a half circle. They really don't seem to be affected by
light that
much. Is this a parasite, or is it a part of the coral and the way it
eats or something. Thanks for your continued help.
<I don't know if I'd call it a "parasite" per se, but if it is a
barnacle (and if it grows too big in the wrong place) it can cause some
annoyance to the coral. I wouldn't try to remove it at this point
though. Please do try to send a pic.
Cheers,
Sara M.>
Re: Frogspawn Parasite, or just feeding 04/02/09
I have confirmed through pictures online that it is a barnacle, so i
should leave it?
<I would remove it IF it is easy to remove. Try breaking it off with a
pair of needle-nose pliers. If it comes/breaks off easy, good... if not,
I wouldn't go to any extreme measures to remove it.>
If a picture is necessary to tell me if i need to remove it, or to leave
it, i can take a pic tomorrow morning when the lights come on. Do
barnacles pose any threat to the other members of the tank?
<No. I'm not even entirely sure they cause frogspawn any trouble.
However, I have heard stories (and seen pictures) of barnacles growing
in/on the actual polyps, close to the mouths. Some people swear that a
barnacle growing in such a place has killed their polyps... but I don't
know. I think the barnacles (filter feeders) just grow where they grow,
and sometimes it's inconvenient for a coral.>
we have cleaner shrimp, clownfish, mandarin, hermits, all types of
snails, open brain, lobos, torch, spaghetti leather, mushrooms, Acros,
and pulsating xenias.
<Best,
Sara M.>
Torch coral... hlth? Beh.? 03/01/09 Hello good day to
you. Have a small question today. I have a few Hammer and Torch corals
in my tank. All are doing great, with excellent polyp extension. I
provide them with moderate flow and moderate lighting. So far they look
very happy and reward me with beautiful and healthy looking extension of
their tentacles. However, I did notice something. One of my Torch and
one of my Hammer Corals seem to have lost its stickiness on its
tentacles. The others are doing fine, with sticky tentacles that enable
them to catch mysis and the occasional table shrimp. I just wanted to
know if the coral is declining? I really hope not because it is one my
favourite corals. I feed my tank 3 small portions a day, rotating
between mysis, pellets and my own blend of seafood. I have a healthy
amount of fish that produce waste (I heard some corals like fish fecal
matter?), and 20% water changes about once a week. Please advise on my
situation..I do hope that they are still getting enough food via
photosynthesis and the dissolved organics along with some very fine food
that they might get through absorbtion. The only thing that they cannot
seem to get hold of is bigger pieces of food due to their non-sticky
tentacles. <Kai, I'm not even sure this seeming lack of "stickiness"
is even a problem/concern. If the corals are not receding and are
extending as normal, I'd assume they're ok. But you have a lot going on
in a relatively small tank. You have a Moorish idol in a small tank with
corals... maybe that's the problem. Or maybe your corals are just
getting plenty to eat. Again, if you're not seeing any obvious signs
of decline, I wouldn't worry.> Just a quick update on my Moorish idol
since I am already writing to you. 2 and a half weeks old and going
strong. Had fight off ich and has gained good immunity against it
(hopefully). Fat and alert, and have taken a strong liking towards New
Life Spectrum pellets and mysis enriched with Selcon. Feeds aggressively
on = anything except flake which it seems to hate. <That's good. But
you're still going to have to find another home for this fish.> Have
a pleasant weekend. - Kai <Cheers, Sara M.>
Caryophyllid losing 2/17/08 Hi guys
<John> First some info on system.... 400 litre mixed reef tank
established around 4 months now running at SG 1.026 and 26 degrees C.
Skimmed 24/7, 30kg live rock, external filter with LR rubble, carbon,
and phosphate remover. 30+ tank volume flow per hour. 2x150 halides and
4x24 power compacts Very stable and parameters last night as follows
NO2 0 NO3 less than 2 NH3 0 Ca 400 Mg 1200 dKH 10 pH
8.1 plus or minus 0.1 over 24 hrs Stock ... selection of LPSs,
mushrooms, zoos, 1 Acropora, Duncans, scoly. Various snails, hermits
etc 1 yellow tang, 1 Sailfin, <Will need more room> 5 chromis,
1 clown tang <Definitely more room> , pair of Percs, blue cheek
goby, 6 line wrasse Ok the problem... over the last week our 6 inch
hammer coral started to bail out from one end "head to head" until
nothing left. The same has started with our bubble coral. No signs of
any jelly like material, parasites, etc etc. All other corals are very
happy and well expanded. Worried now in case this spreads to any of our
other Euphyllias. <The Zoanthids likely, maybe other Cnidarians
here... Allelopathy... Please see WWM (the search tool) with the terms,
and read here generally: http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm> Any
ideas cheers john in UK <Bob Fenner in not-so-sunny S. Cal.>
Question on further treating Hammer Coral –
02/01/09 Hello there everyone... & Thank You ahead of
time for any help you can offer! <Welcome> I received a green
hammer coral as a gift - It was doing good for about a day, then I
noticed that one end was shriveling up and being covered by a white
film. I syphoned it off and saw brown stringy stuff and started doing
searches. It appears to be Brown Jelly disease. I did a fresh water dip
with Lugol's Iodine for about 5 minutes and syphoned off as much of the
diseased area as I could. I returned it to the tank and has been about 2
hours since and it has opened back up with the exception of some still
ailing areas. <Mmm> My question is two fold. How long should I
wait to see improvement before I decide to take further measures? <A
few days> And also since it did seem to spread to the other two heads
if I decide to have my husband break out the Dremel are there any good
photos or instructions on fragging a hammer coral? <Likely in books,
articles... See Anthony Calfo's work> I read some people say in the
case of an infection to just cut right through the flesh to remove the
diseased portions and then iodine dip them. I would like to try and
avoid causing any further stress or damage - I did make a concentrated
iodine solution and use the turkey baster to shoot it right at the coral
which I thought might help without the stress of the dip. <Mmm, the
breaking, rinsing need to be done out of the water... over a bucket or
such> I just want to react quickly enough without being hasty and
over reacting... I did not QT this coral as I didn't have the proper
lighting in my QT. My specs are 12g Nano <Hard to keep small
volumes stable, optimized> temp: steady 77 my ph was 8.0 yesterday
and I dosed Super KH Buffer <Needs to be done through pre-mixed water
changing> Nitrites and Amm. 0 and Nitrates <10 ppm Sal 1.022
<Much too low... see WWM re NSW strength seawater use> Some pics
taken with my phone was the best I could do... I hope it helps!
Hammer Coral Dying - a set on Flickr I think that covers it. I have
read many threads but it seemed necessary to get more specific help as
it seems I can still save this beauty. <I would take your time
here... Read re Euphylliids... on WWM at least. Bob Fenner>
Injured fox coral 1/28/09 Hi crew, i have a
semi-urgent matter to share with you guys, and hope you could help me. I
have a turbo snail that likes to walk all over his favourite piece of
rock, which so happens to house my fox coral. Today, he knocked over my
fox coral while he was twitching and twisting his shell... When i
discovered it, and re-located the coral, i found a small 0.5cm piece of
it's skeleton break off, along with some "meat" of the coral. I have
asked my LFS for advice, and he advised me to place it in an area with
moderate to high flow to wash and clean the wound. <With what? I
would further encourage you to consider adding a modicum of iodide/ate
here (perhaps Lugol's solution)> Seeing that my fox coral does not
like high flow, i place it in an area with moderate flow. What are the
chances of recovery? <Mmm, depending on its initial health, pretty
good> I am very afraid it might contract brown jelly disease.... it
is only a 0.5cm breakage, but it seems like quite a substantial
injury....help please. My fox coral is my favourite....and i don't want
to see it die! Thanks for the help thus far Regards - kai
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
CORAL GROWTH 01/22/09 I just bought a bubble coral and its
coming out, but not as full as it was in the petstore and I've noticed
when its retracted it has some brown algae looking stuff on the ends of
the spines(the skeleton) <Oh, not good. It sounds like the coral is
receding.> I've noticed when it does come out the bubbles are never
fully inflated the way they were in the store. All my levels are in
check, Nitrate.30 <Did you really mean to type .30 as in 0.30, or did
you mean 30? If the later, this is too high.> ph 8.3 ammonia 0
nitrite 0 phosphate 0 calc 450 , should I try to manually remove this
stuff or what. Also I've noticed when it retracts there's some stringy
looking brown stuff coming out of it is this the zooanthelia coming out,
<Could be... and/or waste being expelled.> what should I do. Thanks,
Devin <Unfortunately, there's not much you can do except target feed
the coral and try to improve your water quality. Best, Sara M.>
Re: CORAL GROWTH 01/22/09 lol, yes I did mean .30 not 30,
<Ok, cool... just checking. :-)> sorry for the typo and thanks for
the help, do you think a freshwater dip would do anything for it?
<No... please don't do that. At this point, that will just stress the
coral out. Again, about the only thing you can do now is target feed it
and up your water changes. Sometimes all your parameters/nutrients can
read to be within acceptable ranges, but your water quality might still
be sub-par for one reason or another. Or, it's possible that you just
didn't acclimate it slowly enough. Good "luck," Sara M.>
Re: CORAL GROWTH 01/22/09 sorry to keep bothering you, but I
target feed it with some frozen mysis shrimp thawed and then mixed with
aquarium water, sucked into a turkey baster and slowly squeeze it out
over the length of the coral, Is this proper procedure, is the mysis
shrimp ok? <Mysis shrimp is fine... but I would also try a little
variety.> I gave 90.00 dollars for this coral and don't want to lose
it. <Yikes! I think you might have overpaid!> Thanks again <De
nada, Sara M.>
Frogspawn coral injured because of sting... what can I do? Induced
allelopathy, sm. sys. 1/7/09 Hi,
<Hello> I love your site! <I really like it> I am still pretty
new to the hobby but love it. <Am old but still find it fascinating>
I have a 25 gallon reef tank and have a great (up to recently) frogspawn
coral. <Mmm, it's much harder to "keep" smaller volume systems than
larger> Recently another piece of coral came loose and landed on 2 of
the pods of the fs. It did a real number on them apparently destroying
one pod completely and half of another. I know it's the coral because it
did this to another coral (a Favia) which recovered nicely and rather
quickly. The polyps in the fs where reduced to brown jelly. Can a fs
recover from such an injury and if so, what can I do to help? <Mmm,
can, but... needs more room... to be distanced from other Cnidarians...
care taken in preserving water quality... Possibly the use of
iodine/ide... There is a bunch to consider all at once here... Best for
you to start by perusing a ppt pitch located here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm and the linked files above.
Bob Fenner> Sincerely, Randy Buescher
Health of frogspawn coral, allelopathy w/ Zoanthid Hi,
crew <Abdul> I am just worried about what is happening to my
frogspawn coral. It seems like passing away. <I see this in your
pix> It's in my aquarium from last four months and was very
fine/full every day. Suddenly from last three weeks it is not
opening fully and some times looks like if it is melting. I am
attaching two pics for your reference. One is old and one is latest.
Kindly advice since all water parameters are same as day first when
it was introduced. Regards, Abdul Hadi Dar <I notice that
there is a large Zoanthid colony immediately above this Euphyllia...
w/o any other data, I am concerned that this is a case of
allelopathy twixt these. Please read:
http://wetwebmedia.com/zoanthidcompfaqs.htm and:
http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm and the linked files
above... You need to at least separate these two... likely remove
one to another system. Bob Fenner> |  |
Question: Bubble Coral Skeleton, no data of use
10/3/08 Hi there! <Mindy> I've had 1 small and 1
medium sized bubble coral in my nano cube for about 4 months now.
They've been doing just fine at the bottom of the sand bed until
recently. I've noticed that the flesh covering their skeletons have
begun to recede and it seems like some algae has started growing over
those areas. <I see this in your photo> Their flesh will no
longer expand over the skeleton where the algae has grown. I've included
a picture of one of them for your reference. I asked my LFS what
could be causing this, and he said it's possible they're being hit with
too strong of a current, causing the fleshy parts to recede and make the
skeletons visible. <Mmm, possibly, but doubtful this is the root
cause here> I've since changed the direction of the current so it
does not affect them too much. What can I do about the algae growth on
their skeletons? <Improve conditions, feeding...> I'm afraid to
try to rub it off, <I would NOT do this> I don't want to irritate
the bubble corals. And is it possible to add trace supplements like
iodine to the tank to help the corals heal and grow their skeletons?
<Oh yes> Please advise. Thanks so much for your help! Mindy
<Please learn to/use the search tool, indices on WWM... For today, start
reading here: http://wetwebmedia.com/carydisfaqs.htm and the linked
files above. You don't state anything re water quality, lighting,
feeding... Read re the requirements of Plerogyra... Bob Fenner> |
 |
Torch coral damaged? Cnid. incomp., reading
-09/03/08 Hello guys, Can someone please have a
look at this picture of my Torch coral? It seems to have either holes or
black dots. <I see these... damaged areas> My Hammer coral seems
to be doing fine, <Oops... likely stinging this other Euphylliid>
but lately, this Torch has been opening a lot less than usual. this
morning I noticed this apparent damage and am quite concerned. Thanks so
much for taking the time. water: ph 8.2 Alk 1.7 calcium 400
ammonia 0 nitrites 0.05 nitrates 2 - 2.5 SG 1.025 temp 78-80
<... read: http://wetwebmedia.com/carycompfaqs.htm and
http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm and the linked files above.
Bob Fenner>
 |
dying bubble coral? Reading? – 07/21/08 I have a 6 month
old BioCube 29, with 2 percs, hammer coral, modern brain, <?
Trachyphyllia?> frogspawn, polyps, and a big bubble coral. <...
all in a 29 cube?> For some reason it looks like the bubble coral is
detaching from it skeleton. <Likely> We feed the coral calcium and
iodine every week. <? Added how?> I target feed every other day. I
feed Cyclop-Eeze and PhytoPlex everyday. I'm just super confused as to
why he would be dying...the clowns don't host him, he gets fed, get
enough light. Any insight? <Allelopathy... Read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm and the linked files above,
and re each of the species of Cnidarians you list... Likely the
Euphyllia is the "winner" here, but could be whatever you're referring
to as "polyps"... Bob Fenner>
Torch Coral, Deceptive Retailing - 6/20/08
Hello, <Hello Jasen!> I purchased a branching torch coral from a
LFS and did not see the guy add it to the bag. <Uh-oh...Monday night
quarterbacking: Always watch> I got the coral home and the skeleton
is smashed. They had all the pieces stuck in some PVC pipe so it looked
normal. The tentacles were all expanded nicely. I placed the parts in
some rock crevices, but I have little faith it will survive.
<Provided the polyps didn't lacerate themselves beyond recognition in
the bag, they should be okay...skeleton is only dead calcium carbonate>
One piece may still have the mouth. I called the store and they stated
that once it is paid for its mine. <Policy is policy, but I wouldn't
visit them again- and consider spreading the word about their business
practice. Word of mouth makes good shops, and breaks the bad ones>
This will be my last purchase there. Any idea would be appreciated.
<If the polyps are damaged, pristine water quality and water flow may
help heal them, as well as supplementation of iodine in their general
direction.> Thanks, Jasen <No problem. Good luck with your coral.
Benjamin>
Euphyllia Health issues / hitch hiker ID... likely allelopathy,
env. 6/9/08 Crew, <Mick> Having some sort of problem
with several Euphyllia species in my 180 reef system. temp: 26°c
SG: 1.023 <A bit low... I'd raise to 1.025> Ph: 8.2 (evening)
8.1 (morning) Ammonia: undetectable Nitrite: undetectable
Nitrate: undetectable Phosphate: undetectable (but not using any
phosphate reducers/absorbers) <Good> Alk: 12°dKH Ca++:
:460ppm <A bit high... raised how?> Lighting - barely
adequate, but more on the way. <Good> Skimmer "Aqua Vital
AKS-388" - makes about a cup of tea coloured liquid containing a
thick film of hard brown slime per week. <Not familiar with this
make/model... neither is Google evidently> Tank, 180 us gal,
sump/fuge approx 20 gal with DSB and algae ball (unknown species)
about 6500L/Hr flow. 80-100Kg Liverock Fish: 6 Green
Chromis 1 Yellow Tail Blue Chromis 1 Zebra Dartfish 1 Coral
Beauty 1 lawnmower (jeweled?) Blenny 1 Pr Cinnamon Clownfish
(spawn approx every 3 weeks, but not attempting to breed/raise
offspring (yet) - so any babies end up as zooplankton/food I guess)
1 Foxface Rabbitfish 1 female Blue Chin Trigger - the male of the
pair managed to dislodge a rock and crush himself :o( 1
Rainford's Goby 1 Aracanthus Spp tang. Inverts: 1 Euphyllia
Ancora 5 Euphyllia Glabrescens 1 colony Duncanopsammia 1
Caulastrea Furcata 4x Goniopora - (only one of which is doing
well - the other 3 came from another system elsewhere that had a
massive ammonia "event", bleached and don't appear to be improving)
<Mmm... this Goniopora health, presence is likely involved here...>
3 Trachyphyllia spp 1 Cynarina Lachrymals 2 Lobophyllia Spp.
a few dozen assorted Zoanthids. <Can be too toxic...> 1 Pencil
Urchin Several assorted Snails. This particular tank was only
assembled in march 08, but all livestock, live rock and about 1/2
the substrate came from an old 55 that I had to remove. The
Trachyphyllia, Lobophyllia and Cynarina were not put in as corals -
but live rock. they have come back from the dead. <A good sign>
My problem is that ALL of the Euphyllia species I have in the last
week have gone from normal, apparently healthy specimens to
retracted and dying. So far the largest Ancora has only about 50% of
the colony left, and of the Glabrescens 1 is all but dead, 2 are
very withdrawn into their skeletons - don't even respond to direct
feeding (even brine shrimp escape them -fresh or frozen) the others
seem slightly deflated but otherwise still extend and still feed.
tonight whilst doing my normal maintenance I noticed multiple
"flatworms" (possibly Pseudoceros/Pseudobiceros Spp? <Mmm, not
likely... summat else> pic attached) I'm wondering if these are
part of the problem - I found them on the edge of the Ancora where
the polyp meets the skeleton, they camouflaged quite well - I can
only see them as they cross the skeleton to another polyp. Can you
learned Guys' Gals identify these, and if they are coral predators,
what do I do about them? <Maybe nothing... I suspect their
presence, influence is secondary here. But do read:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pestflatwrmanthony.htm and the linked
files above> Also attached are pics of the ancora, glabrescens
and gonopodia - I don't think there's much hope for the latter, but
any advice that may save it would be greatly appreciated. <These
Scleractinians could all "rally", as long as there is some live
tissue to them... I would move the Euphylliids... to another system,
pronto. Read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm and
the linked files above. I suspect the members of this genus are
largely losing to other Cnidarians here... all would/could be helped
by the added lighting, chemical filtration, an increase in RedOx...
as you'll find by reading. Bob Fenner> TIA Mick T |  | 
Re: Euphyllia Health issues / hitch hiker ID - 06/09/2008 Hi
Bob, Thanks for your fast and informative reply. I thought I had
looked through the WWM, but that link was one I hadn't read - such a
vast resource you and the crew have created here, I'm sure there are
millions of fish (and aquarists) worldwide who owe their existence
to you. <Ahh!> I don't usually add anything to raise calcium
or carbonate - I have on hand "red sea calcium +3" and "SeaChem reef
builder" and good old sodium bicarbonate, but hardly ever have to
use them, water changes and my filter/DSB seem to be keeping up.
(filter path is - mechanical floss, carbon (just added today) 1" bed
of aragonite the water flows down through, 10"bed of aragonite that
water flows across (my DSB), then out into the refugium (where the
heater and skimmer is located - couldn't fit it anywhere else!)
(fuge contains another aragonite bed, maybe 3", and some algae 24
hrs lighting), then over an overflow into the pump chamber. <I
see> Hopefully my new set of T5HO's will arrive tomorrow, should
do wonders on the lighting front. <Agreed> BTW, skimmer is an
Via-Aqua SK388, not as previously written, works ok, but there are
better skimmers out there (maybe will replace with a HOB type so I
have more room in the fuge - this is a huge skimmer with medium
skimmer performance) <Agreed again> The Zoanthids, they're the
tiny green ones "green sea mat" I've seen it called in some
references. <Mmm, these should be okay here> Most of them were
eaten a while back by a masked Foxface who took a liking to them and
ALL of my Corallimorphs! (He is now in QT with a Valentini puffer
awaiting another system.) The remains of the Corallimorphs and some
of the Zoanthid rocks are recovering in an 8gal nano-reef with no
fish, it's quite interesting to watch a tiny tattered piece of flesh
on a rock regrow into a complete animal again, these things - and
many of my other "presumed dead at the time" corals have amazing
regenerative powers, but from my reading you generally don't expect
Gonoporia to survive in a captive environment - should I remove it
instead of the Euphylliids? <Mmm, no... on your further
information I'd leave all put... See if the light helps... perhaps
augment nutrition> Unfortunately I don't have any other suitable
system to put the Euphylliids into - hopefully the carbon will
reduce any allelochemicals present (there is already decent distance
between all) and the increased lighting will help. Also planning (as
per one of your links) to add a Halichoeres Chrysurus (Golden
Wrasse) or a Pseudocheilinus Hexataenia (6-Line Wrasse) - do you
foresee any problems with these and my existing stock? (from my
reading they should be OK) <Do you feed the Euphylliids, other
Cnidarians?> From the reading I have done, I would have expected
the Euphylliids to win out in a chem/stinging war - what have I
missed? <Nothing I see so far> On another topic, my QT
(containing the puffer and Foxface) seems to be growing heaps of a
tiny variety of pods. Being that I have only ever had fish (no
corals or LR in this tank) how could they have got there - can they
hatch out of eggs in frozen food maybe? <Yes> On yet again
another topic, a reader was asking a few days back about a "Jebo
180" skimmer on a 300 Litre tank. I had this skimmer on my old
210litre (55Gal) reef, and it wasn't quite enough. Jebo say its good
for 700 litres in their instructions, but I'd recommend using 2 on a
300L system from my past experience. (mine is now on my QT - good
cheap skimmer for a smaller tank with low bioload). <Thank you
for this input> Regards Mick T <And you. BobF>
Re: Euphyllia Health issues / hitch hiker ID - 06/10/2008 Gee
Bob, That's a fast turnaround! <Some days...> Yes, I do feed
the Cnidarians, usually gut loaded brine shrimp, soaked in a mixture
of rotifers, vitamins, etc (cant remember its name) and chunks of
krill. But as stated, the affected Euphylliids don't seem
interested in eating now, <Something going on here... again,
spiffing up your skimmer, using carbon, increasing RedOx... or
moving the Euphylliids...> whereas up till about 2 weeks ago
they'd eat heaps (a Duncanopsammia polyp that's managed to grab a
whole krill looks kind comical - like "the cat that ate the
canary"... <Have seen some really nice, quite huge colonies of
this genus in recent months> Time to wait and see I guess. I'll
give updates after the lights are in. Thanks so much for your
time. MickT |
Possible cause of death for torch?? 6/9/08 Hello,
<Hello> I have a question about a torch coral I had. It was about
three inches across and looked great. I got it from a good LFS and it
was packaged upside down in foam in the bag. <Good packing> I
set it on a rock midway up in my tank. It got brown jelly on one head
the second day in my tank so I cut the infected head off and gave it a
fresh water dip. <Removing the infected head was good, provided no
tissue damage occurred as collateral to the other heads. Freshwater dips
can be hard on corals, I'm a fan of iodine solutions myself. Opinions
vary.> I placed it back in the tank and then next day it was brown
jelly all over (the other 2 heads). I removed it but it did not make
it. <Unfortunate, but it does happen. Not much you could do about
it.> It looked healthy and fully extended at the store and the first
day in my tank. They had many great looking torches. When I was placing
it I may have rubbed some of the polyps lightly against the rock. Could
this have been enough to start the brown jelly? <Probably not. Most
likely stress of moving, something in the tank water. How did you
acclimate this coral?> I want to get more Euphyllids but don't want
them to die. I also got a rock with several large frilly mushrooms at
the same time and they are doing great. The torch was at least 10 inches
from any other coral , probably more. I have put a lot of thought into
the occurrence and my best theory is that I damaged some of the tissue
when placing the coral and this allowed the dreaded brown jelly to
start. This was my first LPS but I would like to get many more. Any
thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks for the help and all your
help in the past. <Jeff, I would use/purchase a nitrate test kit.
It is possible you have higher nitrate in your tank, which would
foster/cause/aid brown jelly and other pathogenic organisms. If you do a
test and this is the case, consider more frequent water changes.
Otherwise I would say try again, and unless this becomes a trend fear
not...an unfortunate coincidence that your first LPS had this problem.>
Jeff tank: 72 gallon bow front 20 gallon sump with 5 gallon
section a refugium 80 lbs live rock 80 LPS aragonite fine sand
2 10,000k 65 watt pc 2 420nm actinic 65 watt pc ph=8.4
ammonia=0 dKH=11 ca=500, should this come down to 450? <Or 400>
5 to 10 gallon water change every 2 to 3 weeks - does not seem to lower
ca <I would recommend a 10% total volume water change weekly to
maintain water chemistry, clean water.> frilly mushroom rock yellow
sea blade - grows like crazy pink pulsing xenia on a small island in the
sand Scopas tang pink spot goby scoter blenny long nose hawk
fish three stripe damsel, mean and to fast to remove scarlet skunk
cleaner - he just started cleaning the tang after about 1.5 months in
the tank, finally various snails and hermits for cleanup <Sorry to
hear about your torch, better luck next time! Benjamin>
Frogspawn branches breaking -
6/3/08 I have had
a frogspawn that has been doing quite well and growing substantially
over the past two years. In the last month or so I have had two
sizable branches with multiple mouths break off. <This will happen
from time to time.> Do the branches simply deteriorate over time as
their calcium is dissolved in the water, <Yes> or is this the
effect of having a low dKH/alkalinity for an extended period of time?
<Also yes…would speed decay up> For the last two years or so (I
think) I was running (unintentionally and unknowingly) a dKH=4-5 and
calcium 350-450. (adjusting manually with turbo calcium pellets only)
I have now raised the dKH to 7-8 in the past week with SeaChem Reef
Builder, but I had another sizable branch break off this morning.
Could this be the work of my gigantic long-spine urchin? <Not the
work of the urchin, no…though he poses other dangers to your corals
worth reading about in the fine articles to be had by searching this
site. Euphylliid corals have fairly open, brittle skeletons that shatter
easily. Over time they do break down, but this process is accelerated by
low alkalinity which causes expedited dissolution of Scleractinian
product. The bad news is raising your alkalinity won’t strengthen old
skeleton, but it will prevent further decay and help the coral to build
sturdy new skeletal material. Current Water parameters: Nitrates=0
Phosphates=0 DKH=7 Calcium=410 <You’ll want to shoot for a
slightly lower Ca to accommodate a higher alkalinity. Continue to raise
that, and everything looks great. No worries.> Thanks! <Welcome!>
Aaron Chandler <Benjamin>
Torch coral declining 6/3/08 Hello crew! <Hello Dan!
Benjamin here tonight.> I have been reading your site for quite a
while, and also have a copy of "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist",
which I really enjoy. <Great book to have> Let me give a bit of
background about my tank before I tell you about my recent problem. I
have a 14 gallon Oceanic BioCube in my office, which I started last
fall, so it's been in operation for about 8-9 months now. I've been
keeping a log of everything I've done with the tank. <Bravo! Tank
logs are great for helping solve problems, and for personal scientific
inquiry. I wish more people kept them.> I started with about 6 pounds
of live rock, added a cleanup crew of 4 hermit crabs, 4 turbo snails,
and 4 sand-sifting snails, and then slowly added fish (there are
currently two Percula Clowns and a Banggai Cardinal, and I don't plan on
adding any more). These fish have been doing great ever since I added
them. I feed them a combination of dry pellet food (which the clown fish
devour but the Banggai ignores), and frozen Mysis shrimp (which all
three fish love). I try to do water changes at least once every two
weeks and sometimes more frequently. I change about a gallon at a time.
I also remove excess algae. I've been fighting a never-ending battle
with a fast-growing strain of Caulerpa (I like the fronds but if I leave
it alone, it quickly takes over the tank!). <Sounds good…> The
beginning of last November I added a colony of purple Zoanthus, which
have been doing fine. About 10 days later I added a torch coral colony.
This coral has been thriving, and happily splitting off new branches,
until about a month ago. I started noticing that two of the heads
nearest the bottom (the coral sticks out of a live rock at about a 45
degree angle) had retracted. These two heads eventually shriveled up and
died, leaving just the skeleton. I thought it might be because there
wasn't enough light down there, and since the other heads all seemed
fine I didn't worry too much about it. However, as time has passed more
and more of the heads have started to shrivel up and die off, and the
other heads haven't been as extended as they used to. This coral used to
be very beautiful and fully extended during the day. Now it extends less
than half of the distance, on average, that it used to. I've read on
your site about brown jelly disease, but none of the heads have shown
any brown film. They simply shrivel up and die. <Hmm…wasting away.
Troubling.> I've started troubleshooting what might be the cause. The
first thing is water quality. <This is also what first comes to my
mind…perhaps Ca+/ Alk problems?> One thing that I've noticed with
this tank is that the alkalinity drops pretty quickly if I'm not
vigilant. I let it get down to 6 degrees KH at one point! I usually am
able to keep it around 8 degrees KH. The LFS (a really nice place) where
I bought the torch suggested I slowly try to raise the KH to around
11-12, so I'm working on doing that. My calcium is about 420 ppm and
doesn't deplete as quickly as the alkalinity. <Ca is perhaps a bit
high, which can explain the low Alk. But this shouldn’t be causing your
problem, as far as I know.> Throughout the life of this tank, I've
always read 0 for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and pH has been very
stable at 8.3. <And this is true also at present? Just want to double
check, because poor nitrogenous waste disposal/ build up would be
another possible cause we can check off the list if you’ve only just
tested your water.> Another thing that I thought might be the cause
is lack of food. I've heard just recently that feeding these corals
Mysis shrimp is a good supplement to what they get through
photosynthesis. So, the last few days I've started target feeding the
individual heads. The ones that are most retracted ignore the food, but
the ones that are a bit extended do appear to grab some of the shrimp
and eat them. <This could sure play a part. Starvation is a common
cause of coral die-off in an aquarium…most notably in situations where
no supplemental protein is provided for tissue growth, or where there is
insufficient light.> Another possible issue is water flow. There is
currently moderate flow in the tank due to the filtration system, and
the polyps wave gently in the flow. <Sounds fine to me, unless it is
laminar current.> Finally, I've noticed that two of my hermit crabs
have started crawling around the heads and nibbling at the edges of
them. At first I thought they were just eating the dead, shriveled
polyps, but today I noticed them nibbling at the edges of the live
heads. Again, the clown fish and the Banggai Cardinal pretty much leave
the coral alone. I also noticed that one of the heads, instead of
shriveling up, had fallen off onto the sand bed. I gently picked it up
(with gloves on of course!) and relocated it on top of one of the live
rocks. It doesn't appear dead. <AHA! We’re on to something, Watson!
This is a rare event- total polyp bail-out. LPS corals will do this as a
last-ditch survival strategy when they simply cannot survive any longer
in a given environment. Be it from lack of light, poor water, bad
neighbors, this is an attempt to ride the current to somewhere that they
can establish a new skeleton.> Today, I decided to rotate the colony
a bit so that the heads pointed more upward. In doing so, though I was
trying to be careful, I accidentally knocked one of the heads against
the tank wall and then dropped the colony "head down" onto the sand bed!
I quickly picked it up and shook the loose sand off the polyps. I
sincerely hope I didn't just kill it!!! Edit: As I type this, the head
that had hit the sand is starting to extend its polyps once again, so
I'm taking it as a good sign. <These corals are tougher than we give
them credit for. I’m sure they’ll be fine with your continued attentive
care.> Finally I should mention that the colony is a good 5-6 inches
from the colony of Zoanthus, and I've never seen the two physically
touching. <And there lies the rub: They don’t have to. Search
WetWebMedia re allelopathy and you’ll learn all about the noxious
chemicals cnidarians leach into the water to guarantee the demise of
their competitors. Can I venture to suspect that the first polyps to die
may be those in water current that has recently passed the Zoanthus
colony?> So basically, my question to the crew is, are there any
other steps I can take to try to forestall the continued decline of this
coral? Should I break or cut off the old dead branches? What should I do
with the head that has fallen off? <Make sure the head is somewhere
it won’t be macerated by the current, and it may survive. It is my
suspicion at this time that the Zoanthus have become stressed or sense
the presence of the torch coral and are beginning to exude extra toxins,
or the low levels they have been emitting since November have built up
to toxic concentrations. I would run a little carbon in your filter and
change some water to help with the likelihood that this is the case.
That said, let us know about your water parameters and the proximity of
the dead polyps to the Zoanthus (or a current that just passed them) and
anything else you feel may pertain to the information you read on
allelopathy.> Thanks so much for your time. I've tried to describe
the situation as detailed as possible, since I don't have my camera here
with me. Let me know and I can try to attach pictures. <Thank you for
taking the time to write such a descriptive email- it really helps us
answer your question promptly and accurately.> Thanks again! <You
are very welcome!> Dan <Benjamin>
Re: Torch coral declining - 6/4/08 Benjamin,
<Hello again!> Thank you so much for your quick reply! I would like
to answer several of your questions and also report on the health of my
torch coral, which seems to have improved quite a bit since just
yesterday. <Glad to hear it!> I did a water change yesterday and
added some buffer to the tank to continue to raise alkalinity (Seachem
Reef Buffer). This morning, when I came in to the office, all but two of
the remaining live heads of the torch coral were extended, and more so
than I've seen them in days. Also, the head that "bailed out" is sitting
on the rock and seemingly doing ok for now. Needless to say I was very
encouraged. To answer your questions about water quality, here are the
numbers which I tested this evening: Ammonia: 0-perhaps a trace. I
measured this just after feeding, and didn't read the color until a
little after 5 minutes (this was using the API two-reagent test kit),
but it may have been ever so slightly green. I will keep an eye on this
to make sure it doesn't get beyond this. It has shown this
ever-so-slight green color before, which is so hard to tell from the
reference zero color, depending on the angle and brightness of the local
light, that I haven't worried too much about it. <Color-based tests
are, unfortunately, sometimes quite hard to read> Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0 Calcium: 420 ppm KH: 10 (getting better!) pH: 8.2
<Looks good. pH could be higher in ideal conditions, but 8.2 shouldn’t
cause problems as far as I know.> Otherwise, to answer your question
about which heads die first, it doesn't appear to be related to which
heads are in the path of the current that has just passed the Zoanthus
colony. In fact, two of the heads which appear to be the first to get
this current are two of the ones that are continuing to do well. Thus,
at least as far as I can tell, there doesn't appear (at least on the
surface) to be too much allelopathic competition between the two
colonies (yet). I unfortunately have ran out of filters, so I need to
buy a few from the LFS, which I should be able to do in the next couple
of days. These are pre-made for this particular aquarium and already
have carbon in them. I suppose I could also get a separate filter bag
and put some carbon in. <Okay. I still wouldn’t rule out some sort of
allelopathic interactions, but it is good to know they don’t seem to be
directly harm each other.> I should also mention that along with the
Zoanthus, I have some sort of purple anemone which I'm pretty sure is a
type of Aiptasia growing in the middle of the colony (I don't know why I
forgot to mention this yesterday). It tends to keep the Zoanthus polyps
nearest it closed, presumably because it's stinging them with its
tentacles, but it's pretty enough that I'm loath to kill it. <That
could be problematic. Stressed Zoanthus will exude toxins into the
water, although they vary in potency based on the species, environs,
etc. If the torch continues to decline after alkalinity has been brought
up and the coral is being fed regularly the next step might be to deal
with de-stressing your Zoas.> If I could relocate it safely, I would,
but I hear that these guys tend to get out of control! Again, sorry I
don't have any pictures (yet). I have my camera today but forgot the USB
cable to transfer the pictures! <That’s okay. I am curious about this
anemone nestled in your Zoanthus, but I think for now we can chalk this
up to starvation/water quality and dig more into allelopathy if there
continues to be decline.> Otherwise, given the improvement in the
torch colony since just yesterday, I feel that the low alkalinity was an
important factor. However, come to think of it, since I also did a water
change, I can see how removing some of the toxins from the Zoanthus
could also have been just as important. I will certainly keep you posted
over the next few days with the status of the colony. <Sounds good. I
hope all continue to improve!> Again, thanks for your quick response,
it is much appreciated! <No problem!> Dan <Benjamin>
Frogspawn torch coral, hlth. 4/27/08 I have a quick
question for one of you. I was cleaning out my tank and while
using a siphon tube, I accidentally sucked directly onto my
frogspawn coral. I only did it for about half a second, but now it
is shrunk up as much as it possibly can and looks very odd colored.
It is normally brown/green and now it is kind of purple/green and
like I say, it is very small. Maybe 1/16th of an inch long polyps
instead of the normal 1.5" polyps. Is there something I should do?
<Mmm, likely no... but do keep that little crab away...> About 10
of the heads escaped any damage, but 2 of them got sucked real hard
and I'm worried they wont recover unless I treat them somehow? I
have attached a picture. Thanks for all the work you guys do,
I've used your site a lot to get very helpful information :-)
<Adding, boosting a dose of iodine/ide/ate would be worthwhile.
Please read here re: http://wetwebmedia.com/iodfaqs.htm
Otherwise, time going by, your good general care should see this
colony rebound. Bob Fenner>
Re: Frogspawn torch coral 4/28/08 Thanks for the quick
reply. <Welcome> That stupid crab has eluded me for a couple
weeks now. It's an anemone crab that used to hang out over on a
power head intake, about a month after I put the frogspawn in the
tank the crab moved over to it. Every time I try to catch it, it
just crawls down underneath all the separate heads and there isn't
anything I can figure out to get it out. I could jab some sort of
stick or something into there but I think I'd harm the soft edges of
the coral more than I would be able to chase the crab out.
<Try a small all-plastic trap, baited. Some folks re-package the
"mouse" ones from large hardware stores for this...> I'll read
about the iodxxx dosing for sure, thanks for the link. <Welcome>
I was relieved when I got up this morning, the coral is certainly
not recovered fully by any means, but it does look a little better,
maybe twice as swollen with water as it was yesterday, so
hopefully over the next week or two it will continue to recover.
<Very likely so> I've been very consistent about keeping my water
quality high, I do a 15% change every week and monitor all the
appropriate parameters, so hopefully this will assist in it
recovering quicker. <Yes> Once again, I do appreciate the fast
reply, I was hoping I could reach someone at WWM quick enough that
I'd be able to provide help to the coral quickly before any kind
of permanent damage set in. <No worries. BobF> | 
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Torch Coral Problem – 04/01/08 First off, good evening to all.
<<Greetings>> I have 4 different torch corals in my tank. Recently,
while cleaning I broke one of the heads off the base and thought nothing
of it because I did hit the coral. Tonight I looked in my tank and
noticed on another torch coral one of the branches was deteriorated to
where it was almost separated from the rest of the polyps. All of the
polyps in my tank are extremely healthy and fed 3 to 4 times a week.
What would be causing the branches to be so brittle or what could be
eating the branches? All my levels are good, the system has been running
for about 1 1/2 years and I would say this is the first time I've
noticed this. All the torch corals were purchased over a year ago and
have doubled in size. Any help would be appreciated. <<Hmm, you say
“all levels are good”…what does this mean, exactly? Have you tested
bio-mineral content (Calcium, Magnesium, Alkalinity)? How often do you
perform water changes? How much do you change? How large is this system?
Do you have any other stony corals? Are they malaffected as well? I can
only guess that your system is deficient in bio-mineral content and is
“robbing” this back from the coral’s skeleton. If this is not the case,
then perhaps a boring sponge… Regards, EricR>>
Re: Torch Coral Problem – 04/01/08 Thank you for the response.
<<Quite welcome>> I do test Calcium and Alkalinity but have never
tested Magnesium. <<Ah! The three do “perform” together. If Magnesium
is deficient (should be approximately three times the Calcium level) it
can cause difficulty with maintaining sufficient Calcium and Alkalinity
levels which can certainly cause the coral’s problems with building
their skeletal structures>> I perform 80 gallon water changes on my
+-300 gallon tank every three weeks. <<Sounds good>> All the other
stony corals are doing fine and I haven't noticed any change.
<<Hmm…perhaps the lighter/less dense structure of the Torch Coral
skeletons means they are “the first to go”>> I do notice these sponge
looking growths by my overflow...they're about 1 inch in diameter, ½
inch think and I have about 5 of them. I didn't think they would do any
harm so I haven't removed them. Unfortunately, I cannot take any
pictures of them where they're located. <<I don’t think it likely
these organisms are the/a problem>> Do you think I should dose some
trace elements? <<Not without testing for the need first…but I would
think your water changes provide these just fine>> I am running a
dual chamber calcium reactor at 1 bubble per second so I wouldn't think
I need to add additional calcium. <<Maybe…maybe not… If the tank is
heavily stocked, bio-mineral content may be depleted faster than you
realize. But this can be evaluated with tests performed a day or two
apart for a week or so to determine how quickly the tank is utilizing
the available bio-minerals. At the least, do make sure the water
chemistry/bio-mineral content is “in balance”>> Once again, thanks
for the response. <<Cheers, EricR>> |
Dying torch coral 03/28/08 Hi Bob: New here so hope I am not
bugging you. <Of course not, but Bob is in Malaysia... SaraM
here.> I have had a Torch coral for about 4 weeks and it seemed
to be doing fine. I placed it high in the tank. I have it in a
medium flow area in a 180 gal tank with 150 gal refugium. I feed
home made phyto and feed somewhat heavy with the fish food. Mysis
shrimp perhaps once a week. About a week ago the coral started
receding. It is now totally receded. I moved it down to the bottom
of the tank to see if this would help. All my water parameters seem
to be OK. Do I need to spot feed him? <might help> I have a
heavy lighting system with 3 10000K metal halides and 2 20000K bulbs
supplemented with 2 T5 actinic and moonlighting. <What are the
wattages of these bulbs? If the coral was too high up (or if the
light is too direct), there might be a localized heat problem.
Strong, indirect lighting is preferred.> Top up water is RODI and
I run a calcium reactor, UV sterilizer and a Euro Reef 240 Skimmer.
I am running a deep aragonite sand bed (5"). The tank suffered a
unfortunate crash about 6 months ago but seems to be bouncing back
well. At the moment the tank is really not stocked very heavily as I
wanted the system to be well established before restocking. Chaeto
grows very well in the refugium as well as some grape Caulerpa. I
harvest almost weekly. I do a weekly water change of 20 gallons
using Instant Ocean. Lots of copepods and micro fauna in the sump. I
know you probably need a lot more information to diagnose the
problem , but just thought you may have a particular suggestion
regarding this coral. <What is near the coral? Any leather
corals in the tank?> Thanks for your time in this matter,
appreciate it. <I'm sorry I can't give you a specific diagnosis.
If you want my educated guess, I think the lighting you put it under
might have been too intense/direct. Did you properly acclimate the
coral?> Bev Parker <Best, Sara M.>
Re: dying torch coral 03/28/08 Thanks so much for your quick
response Sara. Yes the coral did come from a much less lighted tank
at the LFS. Bulbs are 3 -150Watt 10000K MegaChrome Blue by Giesemann
and 2 -250Watt 20000K. <Ahh, I think this is your "problem"
then. That's a lot of light! And if it was under less light when you
got it, the "shock" of suddenly being under intense direct lighting
could easily be the problem here.> Yes there is a large branching
leather coral upstream from the torch about a foot away.
<Generally, you should avoid putting LPS corals in with leathers.
That said, many people do it anyway and swear they never have a
problem with it.> And no I did not do any reduction of light when
placing the coral. Probably all big mistakes I guess? <It's how
we learn, right?> I will move the torch upstream and leave him
near the bottom. Hope this will bring him back. <These are
generally tough corals. If the lighting was the problem, moving it
near the bottom should help.> Thanks again as I really appreciate
the life of these corals and what we must do to maintain them.
<Thanks, me too.> Take care........Bev(dassystem1 on the forums)
Bev Parker <Good luck, Sara M. (Sihaya on the forums)> |
Hammer coral troubles... no real info. 03/11/2008 Hi Crew!
<Wendy> We are having troubles with our hammer coral. It was
absolutely beautiful and covered a very large area in our 75 gallon
tank. Recently the heads have been dying (shriveling up) and falling off
leaving the bare skeleton. The strange thing is that lots of new heads
are growing back in its place. <Mmmm, a clue possibly> We have
been doing weekly water changes, closely watching pH and chemicals,
<... need data re> feeding DT's and oyster eggs, and occasionally
feeding reef bugs. All of the parameters have been within normal ranges.
<... ditto> There is good water flow over the area but not too
turbulent. We have not seen any "brown jelly" signs or any critters on
the corals that shouldn't be there. The only new addition to the tank
was a yellow tang about 5 months ago. He doesn't seem to bother the
corals at all and is doing fine. We are completely stumped and would
appreciate an expert opinion! It was such a showy coral and we hate to
see it going through this. Thanks in advance for your help. Keep up the
good work! Wendy <... need info... there is not enough to even
proffer good guesses here... Likely either an allelopathogenic effect,
or some deficiency syndrome/poisoning chemically... Read here re the
former: http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm and the linked files
above. Bob Fenner>
Worm infestation... no -12/28/2007 Hi crew, I'm having a
big problem with my LPS corals for the latest 2 weeks. My aquarium
is 75 gallons, 5x39 T5 and 6 months old. My water param.s are
nh3,No3 zero, SG 35ppm, temp 79F, Ca 380-420, Alk 10-11 dKH, Mg
1300-1350. In the last 2 weeks, on the hammer and torch coral
some white worm appeared as you can see in this picture
http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5113pt6.jpg. <They
are mesenterial filaments. Btw, nice photo!> Last week I bought a
Fungia and now I can see a few worm on it also. I manually removed
the worms with 2 sticks, then 15-20 min. dips in Lugol's solution,
but without success. <Oooo... bad idea. These are not pests.
They're part of the coral (external digestive "organs").> I think
that they are predatory Nudibranchs, but I did not found any quality
picture on internet that will help ID those nasty creatures.
<They're not Nudibranchs.> What other things I must try to save
the corals ? <Relax my friend, they are a normal/healthy part of
the coral.> Thanks, Cristi <De nada, Sara M.> |
Coral parts above, some serpulids below.
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