Browning SPS – 03/27/08
Many of my SPS that are toward the back of the tank are browning on the side facing the back and many are brown on the lower half or third of the SPS. Is this normal because light is not reaching the bottom of the SPS and maybe there's not enough light at the back of the tank?
<<There are many things that can cause corals to “brown,” but based on your statements, yes, I think it is likely due to a lack of light intensity/spectrum in those areas>>
Is there any way to compensate for this or is this normal to only have color where light shines?
<<”Compensation” would have to come in the way of providing enough light from all angles (a common problem in most hobbyist’s systems), to include a reflective substrate (Aragonite sand). Moving the corals more toward the centerline lengthwise in the tank should provide better color on all sides…adding more lights front-to-back and/or upgrading to better reflectors would also probably help>>
Thanks very much for all your help.
<<Happy to share. EricR>>

Can red slime treatment affect SPS? Coral Death 1/8/08
Gentleman,
<Hello>
Recently I treated for red slime with "ultra life - red slime remover" in my 125 gal reef tank (after reading some of the forums...I know this was bad but this was the LFS recommendation).
<Not good in my opinion.>
I think I know the answer to the question, but ...have you heard of this product affecting SPS corals?
<Yes, is an antibiotic and can negatively effect the whole tank. See here for more
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htm .>
I had two SPS corals slime over about 48 hrs after the treatment and completely die within 12 hrs of that. All water parameters are on par (now and then)
<numbers please>
and I did an immediate water change which seams to have salvaged one tiny tip of one of the corals. All other SPS corals currently appear OK for
now. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
John F
<More water changes would help here, and figuring out what is fueling the Cyano bloom and eliminating this will help control it in the future. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/cyanocontrolfaqs.htm>
<Chris>

SPS Boring Algae... Ostreobium 12/5/07
Hey guys just a quick question,
<Hi Tom, Mich here with a quick answer.>
I have run into a few pieces of sps (cultured) that have that sps boring algae, but I can't seem to find any info on it.
<Sounds like you have Ostreobium.>
Obviously there are probably no known means of treating it other than fragging above unaffected parts,
<Actually the best means of controlling this algae and preventing its spread is by limiting excess nutrients and reducing nitrate and phosphate levels. Some thoughts on how to do that here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nutrientcontrol.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/algaeconMar.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/avoidingalgaeproblesm.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/scottsh2ochgart.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/refugium.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/maralgae.htm
The nitrates feed the algae and the phosphates limits the growth of the coral skeleton. Diadema urchins may also be useful.>
but in captivity is it known to spread to other healthy colonies as well?
<Fortunately, Ostreobium is slow growing, so if you can get ahead of the nutrients you may have success.>
Thanks,
<Welcome! Mich>
Tom
 

I'm nuking my SPS...  11/13/07 On my prop system, I recently made the mistake of not topping off my water for about five days. That swung my salinity to 1.03 (from 1.025). I lowered the gravity by removing approximately three gallons of tank water every three hours and replacing it with fresh RO/DI water. <Good routine> Of course, I failed to consider that in doing so, I was dropping my alkalinity and calcium. My soft corals had a fit and slimed, touching off some chemical warfare in my system. Not the worst I had ever seen, but something is always worse than nothing. <Yikes... you should have pre-treated the top-off water...> As a result I panicked. In my rush to equalize my levels, I overdosed my CA. I'm not really sure how high it got, because my aqua medic test just didn't seem right at all. I did get precipitation on the aquarium interior. So, I started doing water changes again. Fortunately, I saved the water I removed from the first time around, and balanced the salinity, plus added about 10 gallons of fresh RO. Now I have changed about 20 percent of the water, I fear the damage has been done, and I may not be able to recover. <SPS corals are a lot tougher than folks give them credit for> While my LPS corals like my frogspawn and hammer corals seem like they should survive (their polyps are not extended, they are retracted, but starting to look better) my SPS are taking a beating. My Montipora sp, Montipora digitata, yellow Porites, green Acropora and Psammacora superficialis have all lost significant color. The digitata are REALLY the worst of the bunch, and so far the only RTN action I am seeing is on the red Montipora sp. Additionally affected are my small frags of Pocillipora and my blue millepora. Considering that this week I was supposed to spend over $1200 on a new protein skimmer and calcium reactor, I am very disheartened today, even considering quitting this hobby. I feel like I am in over my head, and I have never been a big fan of working so hard to grow things only to turn around and nuke them the next day. <Perhaps an automated make-up system...> I am especially distraught over the Psammacora. I have worked so hard to grow out this frag and even harder to even figure out what it was. With my water changes, the Calcium is back to 400, my pH is 8.02 and my alkalinity is 3.57, I am currently drip dosing Alk to get that number as close to 4 as possible. <Take your time here> I wonder if my SPS will come back, and if there is anything I can do to help the situation along. <If these disparate species are mixed in the same tank, it is certain that they are mal-affecting each other... I would spiff up your skimming (clean the contact chamber) and add a good deal of GAC (carbon) in your filter flow path... And, keep the faith. Bob Fenner> Re: I'm nuking my SPS...   11/14/07 > <If these disparate species are mixed in the same tank, it is certain that > they are mal-affecting each other... I would spiff up your skimming (clean the > contact chamber) and add a good deal of GAC (carbon) in your filter flow > path... And, keep the faith. Bob Fenner> I'm the guy who ISN'T currently skimming because my Corallife skimmer was too deep in the sump. Remember me? <I recall the circumstances> I have the following equipment ready to order: A Korallin calcium reactor Two little fishies Phosban reactors <... likely not necessary. All photosynthetic life needs some soluble HPO4> And a skimmer, but haven't decided which one - currently going with your recommendation. Previous to this I had one 29 gallon tank with a 29 gallon sump/fuge for prop. I am probably going to make some kind of auto top off system with a simple float valve. Possibly even something that could be hooked directly to my RO/DI unit in the event of a vacation, just in case there's no one who could watch the tank. <Good> As to the stock in my tank, there are two separate 29 gallon tanks joined by a 55 gallon sump. In hindsight, probably would have been better keeping both systems 100% separate. I used two tanks because of light considerations. <Okay> Will the SPS come back? When will I know if they did not make it? <I hope, only time/experience can/will tell> Also you said... "If these disparate species are mixed in the same tank, it is certain that they are mal-affecting each other..." One of the reasons I have the number of species that I do is because I was trying to find out what grew well for me. In the long run I only anticipate keeping 2-3 species in each tank. <All right> In the softy tank, I plan on primarily having branching frogspawn and hammer coral, and 3-5 varieties of Zoanthids. I also have not ruled out GSP, provided they aren't too close to anything else, and possibly seeding my layer of base/live rock with mushroom corals. In the SPS tank, I am gravitating toward several varieties of Montipora sp and possibly the Porites and Psammacora. The Acropora I have was a gift and it has grown well with good color up to now also. The blue millepora were an experiment, and the Montipora digitata was inherited. Again, on the live rock I might consider GSP, mushroom corals or stuff that can grow passively and just basically act as gravy. Stuff that hopefully doesn't affect parameters much but grows quickly and can help support the habit. I'd love your input, especially if there is any corals that I should NOT consider keeping because they create these types of issues. <What little I know of Cnidarian culture is posted on WWM> I really want to do this. I'm just quite dejected about constant and expensive setbacks. JW <I do understand your frustration... but there's not much that can be done at this point other than what you have. RMF> Re: I'm nuking my SPS...   11/14/07 > Two little fishies Phosban reactors > <... likely not necessary. All photosynthetic life needs some soluble HPO4> Sorry for not being specific. I am not running Phosban, I am using these little reactors for CARBON. <Ahh, I see. BobF>

Untimely demise... SPS...  10/16/07
I suppose I will start by telling you a bit about our system. We set up in late December of last year, for the second time in our lives. Main tank is 50 gallons, with a 29 gallon sump/refugium. We are running a Red Sea Prizm Pro skimmer. There is about 50 pounds of live rock in the system, substrate is Florida crushed coral and live sand. We moved cross country in September, and lost (literally lost it) a small frag (some type of SPS, the guy wasn't sure what it was and I forget what we decided on now) with the exception of a small piece, which is fine now, and our Mandarin, which perished sometime after the move. We have in the tank: a large Condylactis anemone, a Scolymia (pardon my spelling), Trachyphyllia, Montipora, Finger coral, Xenia, Goniopora, 2 heads of candy cane coral, a recovering frag of Acropora, a large featherduster worm, various small polyp things, sponges, and micro life (pods and shrimps and spaghetti worms etc). Fish are a Yellow Tang, two Yellow Tail Damsels, and a pair of Solomon Island Percula Clowns. We acquired a small Regal Tang after our move, which succumbed to Ich shortly after, it was in our main display tank (yes, bad idea I know). It has all been peacefully co-existing for quite a while now, even the anemone LOL Wow all that information and I finally hit my point.. We have had a sudden and unexpected loss. We HAD a small frag of birds nest coral. Very beautiful, bright green polyps, full and vibrant. Yesterday morning, it was fine, polyps extended. Later in the afternoon, I looked in the tank to see about half of it was stark white skeleton. This morning, about 3/4 of the coral is gone, nothing left but stark whiteness, where there was vibrant life. Nothing else seems affected. What is left of it is kind of hanging on the skeleton, so I assume it is going to slough off like the rest. The ONLY things that are a little out of the ordinary for our system are the Ich treatment (Kick Ich, supposed to be invert safe) and we added a little baking soda yesterday to help buffer the PH/Alkalinity. That is something we have done lots of times. I do not know the current parameters on the testing right now, but could get them if that proves important in this case. Do you have ANY idea what could have happened, and if we can expect any more losses like this?
<<Veronica: Sorry for your loss. SPS corals can be very tricky and frustrating. You don't say how long you had the coral frag. Here are some possibilities and things to think about for the future. 1) SPS corals are not very tolerate of sudden changes in parameters (might have been the baking soda). 2) Something up current could have chemically attacked it. 3) This frag may have had a disease and/or parasite that took a while for it to do it in. 4) None of the above and it was just an act of God. Almost everyone that has SPS has posted stories similar to yours. The best we can do, is to try to figure out what might have gone wrong and learn from them. Captive frags tend to be hardier in our tanks than wild frags. Best of luck, Roy>>

SPS disease    7/25/07
Hi crew,
I have test everything, Ph, calcium, nitrate, nitrite, KH, magnesium, etc everything is perfect as far a testing.
I have been away for 4 days and on returning found a few bleached SPS.
Since than I am finding 1 or 2 starting to bleach. On inspecting the SPS, each one that bleached, the flesh was slimy/jelly like.
<Sounds like dying tissue... how fast/slow is this happening? Is the slimy/jelly like flesh all over the entire colony or just the parts that are dying? It might also be coral mucus, but it's difficult to say without a photo.>
I have never seen or read this on SPS before but have noticed and read this on LPS and soft corals. All other corals (LPS and SOFT CORAL) looks fine and so does the SPS, everything looks normal.
<While you were away, did you have the lights on a timer? Was anyone (or anything) adding top off water while you were away?>
I need to identify the cause. Before this started happening I did remove 2 football size Acro's to frag but unfortunately they fell on the floor but I did place some of the pieces in my tank which might have caused the problem by something that might be on the floor. I have done a 20% water change and added more carbon.
<I doubt it was something on the floor unless (maybe) if you had just cleaned the floor with cleaning agents that might have gotten on the coral when you dropped them. Though if this were the case, one would think that your other corals would be suffering as well (since the cleaning agent would have contaminated the water too).>
Is this some sort of disease but I hope not?
<My guess is that 1) something went wrong while you were away, 2) some parameter you're not thinking about is off (salinity, temp, etc.) or 3) the Acropora have a parasite of some sort that you're not seeing. Acropora are more sensitive than most other corals. There might be something wrong with your tank that the other corals can tolerate that the SPS can't. SPS are also considerably more vulnerable to parasites than are other corals we keep in aquariums.>
Your help is much appreciated.
<Sorry I can't help you more without more information. All you can do is try to think hard about what could have changed since you left. Also, do look very closely at the coral (use a magnifying glass if you can) to see if there are any parasites on them.>
thanks
Mohamed
<Best,
Sara M.>

Re: SPS disease  – 08/27/07
Hi Sara,
<Hi>
it happened slowly, the slimy/jelly like was on the parts that was dying. Unfortunately I did not take out pictures.
<My first thought was brown jelly disease. However, brown jelly moves very quickly and is usually more of a symptom of some other underlying problem. It also would seem strange in your case since you haven't added anything new to the tank. It would just seem odd to get brown jelly on several corals just out of the blue (though I suppose it's possible). In any case, if this is not going away, you might consider fragging off the dying/infected parts of the corals.>
Thanks
Mohamed
<Wish I could help more... good luck.
Sara M.>

Acclimation of New SPS in 135 Gallon Display  6/20/07
Hello WWM Crew,
<Scott>
I wonder if I can get some advice from you regarding the recent addition of two SPS corals into my system. I have done an extensive search on WWM and checked my SPS reference books, but I am still unsure as to how to proceed.
For your reference, an overview of my system (running for about a year now) is as follows.
Display: 135 Gallon Tenecor Acrylic Aquarium (72" W x 18" D x 24" H) with 1" fine aragonite sand bed (vacuumed frequently) and approximately 120 lbs of Live Rock. Recirculation rate is about 1300 GPH.
Refugium: Ecosystem 3616 Mud Sump with active Chaetomorpha and roughly 15-20 lbs Live Rock. Two large overflows with Durso standpipes add roughly 30 gallons "fishless" volume. The mud sump has many amphipods visible to the naked eye.
Lighting: Three 150 W HQI pendants (12K) and Four 160 W VHO (1 AquaSun, 2 Actinic White and one Actinic). Lights are on timer sequence with MH's running 8 hours/day
<I'd increase this daily light run to at least ten hours, likely 12...>
and maximum overall wattage (including VHO's) does not exceed 720 W.
Filtration: Eco Reef CS 135 which runs continuously and produces about one cup (very dark and smelly) skimmate every 2-3 days. Also employ four (1 cup each ) bags of activated carbon in the in the sump which are rotated/replaced one bag per week.
Chiller: 1/4 HP Aqualogic "drop in coil" type
<Okay... though am not a fan of the drop in exchanger tech.>
Water Parameters
Temperature: between 81-82 F
Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate not detectable per Salifert test kits
pH - 8.4
Calcium - 400 ppm, Alkalinity - 9.5 dKH
Inhabitants
Fish: Flame Angel, Bicolor Blenny, Purple Firefish, Sunrise Pseudochromis, Neon Goby
Inverts: Two Cleaner Shrimp, Blue Legged Hermit Crab, Blue Mushrooms (Discosoma) and a Tuxedo Urchin
LR Hitch Hikers: Zoanthids, Star Polyps, Unknown Soft Blue Polyps, Unknown Encrusting Stony Coral, assorted sponges and small clams.
Macro Algae: Assorted small Halimeda and Caulerpa (removed manually). No significant nuisance algae to speak of.
Now, back to my current situation. The new SPS corals, a (2" x 1") Green Plate Montipora and a (1 1/2 ") Stylophora are both aquacultured and were purchased from a high quality LFS system where they were living under a 400W MH Mogul Pendant (roughly two feet away and under about 8" of water). I did a quick check on the "bag water" and found they were living in the following conditions: Alkalinity 9.2 dKH, Calcium 425 ppm, pH 8.3 and Salinity 36 ppt).
I used water from my display to house the corals in a 10 gallon quarantine tank with an "aged" sponge filter and a 150 W HQI pendant. I changed 1 gallon of water (taken from the display) daily and fed 1/5 ml of DT's Oyster Eggs every couple of days.
During a two week quarantine period, the color of both specimens held up quite well and I saw some polyp extension on the Stylophora to varying degrees (normally not all the coral but maybe over 30%). To my eye I could not see the polyps on the Montipora.
<Not easy to make out...>
Over the two week quarantine I had difficulty keeping temperature constant and noticed evidence of deteriorating water conditions (gradual decline in polyp extension and an increase in brown algae) so I decided to introduce the corals into the display after only two weeks.
<Good, this is what I would have done also>
I acclimated the corals to the display water and when I put them into the display I noticed an immediate (and rather dramatic) improvement in polyp extension on the Stylophora - to my untrained/inexperienced eye it looked like the coral was responding very well to the new conditions.
Both corals were placed (roughly one foot apart) about one third of the way down from the top of the water. I adjusted the returns on the display so that the both corals were near the intersection of two returns to get a random movement of water around them, but not "blasting" them with flow. For feeding, I relied on some help from the refugium and also from the fish feedings (Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef flakes and frozen Mysis soaked in either Selcon of Boyd's Vita Chem) and a dose of DT's Oyster Eggs a couple of days back.
Unfortunately, my initial enthusiasm was short lived. It has been about five days since I put the corals into the display and have not seen ANY sight of polyps on the Stylophora since. Its color appears the same (a nice reddish maroon) but the coral is evidently not feeding.
<"These things... take time">
Also, the color on the Montipora turned from an attractive deep green to a dull mustard brown, which I took to be a reaction to the brighter lights and crystal clear water (lots of carbon filtration) in the display.
<Maybe>
Two days ago I backed-off on the lighting by reducing the run time on the HQI's by two hours (I plan to phase this back in over a period of a couple of weeks if all else goes well). By my eye the appearance of the Montipora looks about the same or possibly slightly better. Incidentally, I also see some evidence of growth on the Montipora as the rough "fragged" edges of the coral now appear softer and have a light pink color.
These are my first SPS so I have no personal experience to draw from at this point. May I ask you opinion on the following.
Do you have any thoughts on why the Stylophora does not seem to be interested in feeding?
<Likely still just acclimating to the new digs/conditions>
Would you concur that the browning of the Montipora is probably due to a sudden shift in lighting?
<This or "general" stress, being moved about... Can/may very likely re-color in time...>
Can you suggest anything I need to correct or adjust at this point?
As always, I very much would appreciate any advice you folks can provide.
Best Regards,
Scott
<Mmm, well, I'd increase the light time regimen as you and I mention... and likely do little else. Your system water quality is likely fine, the gear sounds very nice... I'd be patient at this point, not move much of anything about, start making a list of what else you'd like to add... attend a marine/reef club meeting or two... Let time go by. Bob Fenner>

Re: Calfo's new book, now SPS nibbler   6/18/07
Thank you very much for the reply. I had ordered it through the readingtrees address but had misplaced it. I will try there. I have greatly enjoyed your books as well.
Right now I am dealing with a very frustrating problem in my reef. I have an SPS nibbling critter that I cannot identify. He only attacks at night, and almost specifically at Acroporas. What ever it is will take about a dozen polyps off at a time. Not so bad with larger corals, but really havoc on my smaller starters. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Jon laCour
<I'd get out a small flashlight (with a red filter would be a bonus) and look during the night, perhaps set some types of traps (covered on WWM) to try and catch/ID the culprit... Could be a crustacean, worm, mollusc, even a fish... BobF>

Re: Talkin' bout the Midnight Nibbler, honey he is one of those...    6/18/07
Thanks for the advice. I was fortunate enough to catch the culprit last night. I looked like a large commensurate
<Heeee!>
crab that had come in on an Acroporas that turned bad. I picked the whole coral out and then snatched him off. I hope that is the end of it all!
Thanks,
Jon
<Ahh! Good sleuthing! Thank you for this follow-up. BobF>

Natural predator for parasites... Shades of an SNL skit...Could You be More Vague?   3/21/07
Hi crew,
<Hi Mohamed, Mich here.>
Is there a predator that will feed off parasites including those nasty slugs that feeds on corals especially SPS?
<Mmm, not sure what parasites and which slug you're referring to here.  Can you provide the scientific names or at the very least the common names?  It is impossible to help otherwise... just a little too vague.>
Thanks
<Welcome,  -Mich>
Mohamed

Re: Natural predator for unnamed parasites   3/21/07
Hi Mich,
<Hello again Mohamed>
No, I do not know the scientific or common names.  I'm referring to them in general, all parasites and slugs that eat SPS.  
<Most parasites have specific predators, so there really is no panacea.  The best thing to do would be to dip, where appropriate and quarantine all new corals to hopefully prevent any parasites from entering your display tank.  More here and related links in blue:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/quarinvertfaqs.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/flatwrmfaq2.htm  >
Thanks
<You're welcome.  -Mich>
Mohamed