A couple dying SPS?!

[T206]

Dear Member,

I have a couple corals on the far left side of my reef tank that have started turning white. This appears to be a pest because it started at the base. At first I thought nothing of it but today a very pricey rose gold SPS is almost completely dead. My strawberry shortcake is the other piece on the left side is the other coral that this is happening to. I have some reef safe wrasses, hawkfish, gobies, lawnmower Blenny and two tangs. None of which have ever shown any interest in corals. I wondered if a bristleworm might be a culprit but I have seen no sign of them in display tank.

What could be happening?

Water Parameters:
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Magnesium:1200
Calcium: 430
Alkalinity: 11
pH: 8

 

[A1t2o]

Look very closely at the corals for any signs of flatworms. Your Alk is a little high compared to the rest, is that a stable value or has it spiked recently? Sometimes corals just die. I had it happen to a milli I liked but nothing else changed. One day I came home and it was RTN'ing and was gone by that night. Nothing else was even irritated. Did you see any flesh coming off of it? That would point to RTN over pest.

Just try to keep everything stable and keep the fish fed and happy. Do a 30% water change and keep an eye on the tank. Not a whole lot you can do if you do not see any signs of pests. If other corals start to die then you may want to dip them right away to see if any flat worms shake off. Bristle worms will not go after corals, they only eat already dead flesh. You may see them clean up after something dies but that doesn't mean they killed it.

 

[power boat jim]

Dear Member,

I have a couple corals on the far left side of my reef tank that have started turning white. This appears to be a pest because it started at the base. At first I thought nothing of it but today a very pricey rose gold SPS is almost completely dead. My strawberry shortcake is the other piece on the left side is the other coral that this is happening to. I have some reef safe wrasses, hawkfish, gobies, lawnmower Blenny and two tangs. None of which have ever shown any interest in corals. I wondered if a bristleworm might be a culprit but I have seen no sign of them in display tank.

What could be happening?

Bristle worms dont bother sps. AEFW will cause corals to loose color. Loosing color at the base is not abnormal for larger coral once it shadows its own base. Color loss can also be caused by lack of flow to the center of a colony as it grows large enough to choke itself in the center.

A cracked mogul based MH bulb can also cause bleaching and loss of color.

 

[T206]

Bristle worms can bother SPS if they are brushing up against them when they go in and out of their hiding spots but I agree doesn't make sense in this case as these are whole pieces.

 

[T206]

Flatworms

Flatworms

Look very closely at the corals for any signs of flatworms. Your Alk is a little high compared to the rest, is that a stable value or has it spiked recently? Sometimes corals just die. I had it happen to a milli I liked but nothing else changed. One day I came home and it was RTN'ing and was gone by that night. Nothing else was even irritated. Did you see any flesh coming off of it? That would point to RTN over pest.

Just try to keep everything stable and keep the fish fed and happy. Do a 30% water change and keep an eye on the tank. Not a whole lot you can do if you do not see any signs of pests. If other corals start to die then you may want to dip them right away to see if any flat worms shake off. Bristle worms will not go after corals, they only eat already dead flesh. You may see them clean up after something dies but that doesn't mean they killed it.

What do I look for when looking for flatworms? I've never had a problem with these... Thanks!

 

[d-man]

How long have u had them? Were they well established, then all of a sudden, or fairly new...
I had the same thing happening a while back to my RP and Tierra del fuego. Then one night I found my bicolor blenny eating round chunks off the base. I couldn't catch the jerk out and he decimated those to by irritating them so bad, they rtn'd. Watch your LM blenny

 

[T206]

Re: Blenny

Re: Blenny

It must be the Blenny. I was thinking about it today. The only thing that doesn't add up is some of the spots don't seem accessible for him to be the root of the problem.

 

[T206]

I know it's the Blenny caught him red handed. Do you guys think I can catch him without tearing my squad ape apart? I have a fish trap... Any idea what I could put in there food wise to lure him in?

 

[power boat jim]

I know it's the Blenny caught him red handed. Do you guys think I can catch him without tearing my squad ape apart? I have a fish trap... Any idea what I could put in there food wise to lure him in?

I have never known blennies to eat acro. They eat pods and maybe algae. Is it possible he found an AEFW to chew on? AEFWs leave tracks on the skin of the acro that could be describe as round chunks as stated on an earlier post . They are also invisible to your eye until you dip the coral and they fall off.