Acan colony's dying!!!

N

newbie916

New member
Hello everyone,

I have a 60 head Acan colony that's all of a sudden RTNing. The polyps seems to be seperating from the skeleton and they just fall apart. I've lost 10 heads over the last three days. My water seems to be perfect, but I did move my tank two months ago and they did end up losing alot of their color. They've been in the tank for 3 1/2 years and started off with two heads. I bought it from the guy several months ago along with the tank and the whole setup.

I've done one Iodine dip yesterday, but they still seem to be dying off. Here are my water params:

SG 1.025
Ammon:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:5
Phosphate:0
Calcium:490
KH: 12
Magnesium: 1500
Temp: 78-80

I've done weekly water changes ranging from 20-50% since the move two months ago. All of my other corals look great and water is crystal clear. Also, I've been doing daily 3 gallon water changes in the 24 gallon aquapod, so it doesn't crash my tank. Thanks for the help...

Chris
 
Your Cal, Alk look a bit high. Calcium should be no higher than 420. Alk should probably be no higher than 10. It's hard to say if those two factors alone are causing the RTN, but certainly could be exacerbating the situation.

Are you running carbon in the system to see if there are some other impurities that maybe stressing the coral?
 
Good luck. I have lost a few acans and chalices for no apparent reason recently. Tried Interceptor, Revive, Lugols.....
 
I'm currently running carbon and some phosban. I've also been doing 5 gallon water changes daily in the 24 gallon system. I've lost about 1/3 of the colony, but it looks like the outer heads are doing well. They're eating and coloring up. I hope the infected tissue doesn't spread. I've been sucking up the dead tissue during my water changes.

I did another water change to lower the Ca and alk levels. I also changed out the carbon. It's weird because all of my other acans, zoas, xenia, gsp,trumpets, poly's, and rics are doing fine. These things have been in this tank for a long time.. Hopefully, a few heads will survive.

Any other suggestions? I don't have any tools to cut the colony and the rock is one of my base rocks. I dipped it last week. Should I dip it again?
 
Ive had experiences where my acans started looking like crap and getting ready to fall apart. A good Revive dip usually does the trick. Worked on a chalice I was losing too.
 
I recently had one of my acan colonies start dying off. I traced it back with the help of some dated photos and realized that the decline started when I added a condylactis anemone. I believe it and my rock flower anemone were engaged in some chemical warfare. I removed the condi and the acan colony bounced back almost immediately. Have you added anything recently that might be bothering it?
 
i had a similar problem. your alk is to high. when ever you do a water change does your alk increase? most salts have an alk buffer/increaser in them. try not doing any water changes and let the alk go down naturally. also kalawasser will increase alk if you are dosing it
 
Not a water chemist but Calc and Alk have a seesaw balance, if one is high the other tends to be lower. How on earth you are getting a reading of 12 and 490 calicium in a 24 gallon system is beyond me - throw in a 1500 mag and surely you must be dosing the heck out of that tank. What brand of salt are you using to get those kinds of numbers ?? Are you letting your fresh SW mix aerate for 24 hours or more or just dumping it in ?? You might be getting some sort of chemical "fallout" where grains of calicum, salt, or something are landing on the Acan and irritating it. (the fleshy polyps are sensitive to that) Are you by chance using any sort of limewater mix ?? Might want to double check your parameters with a different test kit.
 
jasper24 said:
Good luck. I have lost a few acans and chalices for no apparent reason recently. Tried Interceptor, Revive, Lugols.....
Click to expand...


+1 This is a problem that many others are having with no concrete reason why and apparently no real cure or reliable course of first aid. I lost a gorgeous Australian Goniastrea over the course of two weeks recently, I tried everything to save it, dips, LFS trips, backflips.....nothing worked. I cut it back, placed in different flow and lighting patterns, target fed it like I usually do with all my corals. Some things seemed to of helped at one time or another but nothing stopped it. <p>I would like to know if anyone tried any Furan 2 or other medications besides Interceptor ?? <p><br><center>BREAKS MY HEART! (all gone now)<p>

<a href="http://s602.photobucket.com/albums/tt109/whowadat/?action=view&current=goniastrea3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/tt109/whowadat/goniastrea3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><p></center>
 
I was doing weekly 5 gallon water changes for the last two months because I had to move my tank to another house. I use Reef Crystals and I have been adding Seachem PH buffer and Alk buffer once a week. I also dose Iodine, Mag, strontium, trace, and coral vite according to the instructions.

I usually have my water mixing in a 30 gallon rubbermaid trash bin for my water changes in my 24 and 95 gallon reefs.

It's weird because I have four other acan frags in the tank and many other corals and they're flourishing. However, the other acans are on the sand compared to the other colony, which is off center from the MH's and 2-3 inches from the sandbed. My buddy thinks it maybe the light and flow change from the move. The center polyps that are dying have been in quite a bit of light. It seems that the outer polyps that are in the shaded area are doing fine. The downside is that I've noticed the infection maybe spreading to the healthy polyps. I've lost about 30 polyps in the last week and a half. I'll try to let my tanks Alk drop by reducing water changes and stop dosing the buffers and supplements. The downside is that I don't want an entire tank crash from the rtning colony.

Thanks for the advice,
Chris
 
I've had success with:
- TMPCC (Tropic Marin Pro-Coral Cure) Dips using a mini-jet to keep the water agitated.
- Followed by a dip in ReVive (Two Little Fishes)

At times I have had to dip consecutive days.... Also i started treating the tank with Vitamin C.....
 
Some acan can catch bad parasites, from wild to your LFS then into your tank.
So the best solution I found is that cut out all the dead polyps (this will keep from spreading) and 1/4" into the good flesh, then dip in iodine with tank water and little RODI water mixed. I was able to safe a few of my colonies with this process.

Good luck!
 
ACANS are hardy and water quality is not a big effect on them and the only thing that can happen is losing colors etc... But Dieing like that is not normal... It happened to me once... When I 1st started getting them.... They just ejected from the Skeleton!

Here are things you can do...

1st, take the whole colony and dip it in Revive (you can find it at Drsfostersmith.com Or you can use Iodine **** You need to follow directions on how much etc.

2nd, Feed the colony Mysis shrimp when you place it back in the tank. Or even before (in isolation, but outside the dip jar after you place it in the recovery jar/container)

That should solve this problem... And make sure it's not in a high current area!
 
newbie916 said:
Thanks for the link to the thread..

What is Interceptor and where do I get it? Is it a dog medication?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Interceptor is a medication for dogs and cats. You are supposed to have a prescription from a vet to get it. However, there are some online sites that will sell it to you without one.

Dave
 
Dave, Interceptor is designed for red bugs or parasites in general. Revive is best for infections or diseased flesh.
 
Yes, I understand that. I would recommend trying Revive first, as it is less invasive. If the acan continues to recede, there is most likely a parasite involved and I would use Interceptor.

Dave
 
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