Acropora Damage

[jwedehase]

I've been dealing with something doing some damage to a couple of my acropora colonies, and I can't figure out what it is. I thought it could be acro-eating flatworms, and that's still not ruled out, but I haven't seen any sign of them at all. I recognize they're hard to see, but I've taken the corals out of the water and looked for the "slimy" spots when the coral starts to look dry, and I've also not seen any egg sacks anywhere.

The A. Cerealis is taking the biggest hit, pictured here. Nevermind the obviously dead branch to the left, that's caused by a hammer coral. I'm referring to the splotchyness in the middle, toward the base. I have also seen a spot on a Cali Tort and another branching acropora. One millepora was showing damage at one point, but it has returned to normal. Montipora and pocillopora are completely uneffected.

Any ideas? I haven't seen anything in the entire tank ever play into this at all. No fish pecking, no inverts picking, etc.

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

sorry to see my friend...

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

sorry to see...

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

sorry to see...

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

sorry to see...

 

[achillesheel]

aefw

 

[orion76]

If you dip the base in a glass of fresh water you'll know if you have AEFW's. They are near impossible to see with the naked eye wether in or out of the water, but you can't miss them when they release from the colony in a glass of water.

The uneven damage would make me think there is a pest as recession due to poor water conditions tends to be more linear IME.

 

[jwedehase]

Freshwater dip will make 'em bail, huh? It sounds like I still have some more reading to do.

How long of a dip is safe? Just plain RO/DI water, with temp/pH match?

 

[imbuggin]

sorry

sorry

sorry but you HAVE the acro flat worms:rolleye1:

 

[orion76]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6519660#post6519660 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jwedehase
Freshwater dip will make 'em bail, huh? It sounds like I still have some more reading to do.

How long of a dip is safe? Just plain RO/DI water, with temp/pH match?

I would say it's not safe at all, but the acros I have fresh water dipped did survive it. You can pick a frag that seems to be badly affected and just dip the bottom part that's mostly gone already anyway. If you have FW's they will jump off by the dozens within a second or two.

IMO a definite diagnosis is worth sacrificing a frag for.

 

[wakefreak33]

I dipped corals for upwards of three minutes in straight RO to get rid of flatworms. Stressed the coral out, but it was fully recovered within a couple days. Those were new frags to me, so if it is an established piece, should be much less stress.

 

[jwedehase]

Wow, scary. It's right about now I wish I'd made a frag of this coral already. Another reefer mentioned Reef Dip, as well. But if we're convinced it's AEFW, then this thread has run its course, and there are hundreds of other threads for me to scour.

Thank you all for what I didn't want to hear. I had understood that the AEFW themselves would be impossible to see, but that egg sacks should be visible. Since I had never seen these eggs, I was looking for other options, though hadn't ruled out AEFW completely, as the damage seemed very typical.

 

[orion76]

FWIW I've been scratching my head for about 6 months about some minor damage on some acros until I detected the egg sacks by accident on a photo I took of a colony with a macro lens.

You need a magnifying glass to really see the eggs properly, they are tiny and look like specs of diatom algae.

 

[jwedehase]

Actually, I'm in the same central CA club as Weatherson, who has become quite crafty with the macro lens. Upon our discussion, he decided to start inspecting his corals more closely. Here's a shot he took today in his tank, to give a visual on the eggs.