A problem acro, please help

[spkennyva]

I bought an acro back in April, and it initially had a slight polyp extension, about 2 weeks later it went to zero polyp extension. It was initially on the bottom of my 40B, then I moved it up near the top, and still no polyp extension. I'm pretty concerned that I'm going to lose this coral. Its a smooth skinned green base with purple tips, but don't know its name. It doesn't show any signs of tissue loss, but zero polyp extension and generally does not look good. It does show a slight sign of tissue growth at its base, but poor color too. I have lots of acros that are doing great, just this one is struggling. My tank has been up and running for over 2 years and all params are stable and within range. Zero bugs or worms. Lights are hybrid led + T5.

I'm thinking about moving it again, but not sure where to put it. I'm tempted to place it in a shaded region with higher flow. Both places it has been have pretty strong light. Its current location is high light and a lower flow condition.

 

[xanthurum]

Does it have any PE at night? Lots of the smooth skin acros don't really extend during the day. I almost never see polyps on my Hawkins, Red Dragon or any of the similar corals unless the lights are off.

 

[C.Eymann]

Does it have any PE at night? Lots of the smooth skin acros don't really extend during the day. I almost never see polyps on my Hawkins, Red Dragon or any of the similar corals unless the lights are off.

+1 nocturnal extension is the best way to tell if Acros are "happy" esp the extension of the axial corallites polyps.

Throw up a pic or two of the coral in question.

 

[spkennyva]

Does it have any PE at night?

No. Maybe a tiny bit, but nothing like my other acros.

My tank picture taking skills are horrible. I'll try tonight to get a pic, but likely will be poor.

 

[spkennyva]

Here's my attempt at posting pics

Problem child:

Frag that I got in the same shipment as the one above:

Another one from that shipment:

These pics were taken within seconds of each other.

 

[madkeenreefer]

I would dip it to see what comes off.

 

[rvareef]

I would dip it to see what comes off.

+1 think its taking a munchin

 

[spkennyva]

+1 think its taking a munchin

I appreciate the input guys, but I see nothing on this or any of my other corals. I have looked very closely and nothing. I had red bugs at one time, but I did 2 rounds of interceptor that took care of the problem.

 

[Mr.Fishtank]

Give it time. Some corals need longer to adjust to their new life.

 

[xanthurum]

Looks like it's covered in red bugs. I see tons of tiny spots all over it in the pic.

 

[spkennyva]

Looks like it's covered in red bugs. I see tons of tiny spots all over it in the pic.

Yeah, the picture seems to indicate red bugs, but in real life the coral is clean. I'll look again when I get home, but I've stared at this coral many times and see nothing.

 

[markalot]

Did you dip before adding? I don't have red bugs but I have grey/white bugs that interceptor will kill and are very hard to see without a real camera macro shot.

 

[spkennyva]

Did you dip before adding? I don't have red bugs but I have grey/white bugs that interceptor will kill and are very hard to see without a real camera macro shot.

Yes, I did Bayer at 10ml per 8oz of tank water. Let them soak in the dip for 10 minutes.

I'll have my eagle-eyed son look at it tonight.

 

[slin1977]

I have the same type, as pictured. Mine is painfully slow at colouring up and showed 1 or 2 PE after weeks in my tank. Due to the challenge it quickly became my favourite by far in my tank.
Congratulations on a great score!

 

[spkennyva]

I have the same type, as pictured.

Could you share what kind of lighting you have and your in-tank flow, and also where the coral is positioned in your tank? I'm still hoping that this is a position issue.

I looked again very closely at the coral last night and I see no bugs. I had my son look at it too and he saw nothing as well. I'm 100 percent sure that this coral is clean.

 

[rvareef]

the naked eye cant always see aefw, but it looks like it has bite marks, dipping once doesnt always do the trick , how are you a 100 percent sure the coral is clean if you did not quarantine?

 

[spkennyva]

the naked eye cant always see aefw, but it looks like it has bite marks, dipping once doesnt always do the trick , how are you a 100 percent sure the coral is clean if you did not quarantine?

I do appreciate your input. The coral has been in my tank for 4 months. I look at it daily very closely. I don't rely on the naked eye and instead use high magnification reader glasses to inspect the coral. There are NO bite marks and definitely no red bugs. The photo posted shows some ghosting that is not real. I commented prior to posting the photo noting my poor photography skills, and the photo bears that out.

 

[rvareef]

4 months should have more encrustation and new growth, you can look at it all you want, but aefw dont fall off by looking, they are like the predator in the jungle, youre going to need arnold and jessie to help battle them. That frag was cut from a wild colony and shows no signs of new captive growth like your other 2, which is a sign that it has a bug problem and once it dies they will move to the next one. It doesnt matter how long it was in your tank, if you did not quarantine you can not rule out bugs, only way to know for sure is to dip and quarantine, but you already mounted it to your rockwork. You can also get bugs from adding frags at different times, even if they werent acros, could have a stray bug on that frag, always important to quarantine. Like others mentioned, could be redbugs, whitebugs, blackbugs or aefw, but you wont know for sure until you dip...

 

[spkennyva]

4 months should have more encrustation and new growth

Which of course is why I started this thread.

you can look at it all you want, but aefw dont fall off by looking,You can also get bugs from adding frags at different times, even if they werent acros, could have a stray bug on that frag, always important to quarantine. Like others mentioned, could be redbugs, whitebugs, blackbugs or aefw, but you wont know for sure until you dip...

So you're saying that I can have some type of infestation that cannot be seen upon a close visual inspection? I've had and clearly seen red bugs before. They are actually pretty easy to see even with the naked eye. I've seen plenty of postings of aefw, which too seem pretty easy to see (if not the worm, at least the marks). I've never seen whitebugs, blackbugs, but if they are similar in size and behavior to red bugs it would be hard to miss.

I'm not trying to argue with you, but I suspect that you are not correct in this case. That said, I will dip the coral this weekend and will report what is found.

 

[xanthurum]

Black bugs are harder to spot IMO.