Acropora tissue bubbling. Disease?

I honestly think that it is an adaptation mechanism that the corals employ due to an inconsistent environment. for example changing from tank to tank, different levels throughout each system, and such acroporids do not ever exit the water in the wild. Some do, leave the water in low tide, however I have not witnessed any bushy type acros experience bumps such as the a.valida. I have never seen this on any maricultured pieces. only the branded named acros that have been named as healthy aquacultured pieces. I have gotten to the point where if its infected with such a thing, ill hold onto it until it heals, but use it as a guide to help me understand at a very vague level. If others believe it is very benign, then no need to worry, unless someone believes its a total eye sore. Im more keen on observation and caring for the sick, that is, if it is sick. Some will say chuck it if it is.
 
We are doing maintainence now. I'll post some pics so you can see what healthy-unhealthy looks like :p


SneekaPeek said:
I honestly think that it is an adaptation mechanism that the corals employ due to an inconsistent environment. for example changing from tank to tank, different levels throughout each system, and such acroporids do not ever exit the water in the wild. Some do, leave the water in low tide, however I have not witnessed any bushy type acros experience bumps such as the a.valida. I have never seen this on any maricultured pieces. only the branded named acros that have been named as healthy aquacultured pieces. I have gotten to the point where if its infected with such a thing, ill hold onto it until it heals, but use it as a guide to help me understand at a very vague level. If others believe it is very benign, then no need to worry, unless someone believes its a total eye sore. Im more keen on observation and caring for the sick, that is, if it is sick. Some will say chuck it if it is.
Click to expand...
 
Just tested big 3 for the first time in a while. Alk is a little high at 9.4, calc a little low at 400. Totally within normal carotene for our salt and 2 part dosing though. Mag confirmed with a brand new salifert kit at ~ 1200, which confirms our old red sea. I don't think, for us, it is a big 3 problem.
 
SneekaPeek said:
Yippeeee! :hmm5:
such pieces have character hahahahah.
Click to expand...

Here goes: I'm going to post healthy corals with minimal/no blistering first. Trying to choose common/well known corals so you can see what our tank looks like "normally." Everything here is grown from frags. Two worst examples of blistering come second.

I cropped all images, and everything was auto-white-balanced in GIMP.

First, GARF Bonsai frag. This was given to us as a completely flat frag plug -- Buddy had chopped off all the branching growth and gave us the encrusted plug about 3 months ago...

st0Sr3X.jpg


Joe The Coral. We've abused this guy badly over the course of the last year :)

1y03IxS.jpg


Red Planet. I keep chopping off big chunks of this one.

NFmLKXk.jpg


Tubs Stellata Monti. One of my absolute favs.

Fw9KyeU.jpg


NOW! Healthy - Unhealthy. Jason Fox Mr. Yuck first. This was another one given to us as a flat frag plug, just the encrustation (same time as the Bonsai.)

Tell me the color is bad....

6Iozvts.jpg


Mr. Pac Man (ish, no lineage.) This used to have normal smoothie growth... Again, tell me the color is bad.... We've chopped this one up a bunch of times. Grows quick.... With blisters :(

Bv18xZa.jpg


Same Mr. Pac Man from the side... (Light messed with this one, but wanted a zoom in on the blisters....)

38DoUmF.jpg



So frustrating.
 
Have you taken any of these acros and put them in someone else's tank to see how it reacts? and have you dipped any of these corals to see how they react?
 
At least one acro we were holding for a friend had the blisters disappear in his tank after he took it.

Haven't tried dipping. What would be the pest?



SneekaPeek said:
Have you taken any of these acros and put them in someone else's tank to see how it reacts? and have you dipped any of these corals to see how they react?
Click to expand...
 
larcat said:
At least one acro we were holding for a friend had the blisters disappear in his tank after he took it.

Haven't tried dipping. What would be the pest?
Click to expand...

see its very strange as to why it occurs in some people's systems and not in others. Therefore I don't believe its the strand that causes the bumps. im not sure what kind of pest it is, however in my case once I dipped my corals with issues they healed shortly after. not many people have even heard about this so not much info out there. maybe its time to step up your bio game and research it further with microscopic tests wink wink. youd probably be the first of its kind. im struggling at this time to even get water changes done haha. sooo lazzzy.
 
Could you talk about why you think it might have been flow related? I've wondered that also... Our tank is a small peninsula, and the flow is more unidirectional than I would prefer....



AugustWest said:
Yep, same issue I had. Are the majority of your SPS affected by this or just a few?
Click to expand...
 
Another Borneman quote:

"As you guys have found on your own, this has been reported quite a bit. I do not know what causes it, either, but it could be related to the ballooning behaviors of other corals, including the coral polyps extrusions. As noted, I suspect it is largely related to water parameters. Coral tissue can lift up from the calcioblastic epithelium and form pockets, but these normally are still highly fixed to skeleton by desmosomes. I am unsure if it is forced by water params, or a deficiency of desmosomes. It does not seem to have any function like with extrusions (although the extrusions are common in aquarium corals but not in the wild, so this might also be abnormal). "
 
Low pH issue maybe? Our tank has definetly gone through periods of low pH. Below quote is from the following article... They decalcified to study the desmosomes....

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...0sBC4PpThpj0r__GQ&sig2=bt0lBLOF1uHhe9Ew9_iyNQ

"Microwave treatment with citric acid for 2 h only
slightly decalci®es the corallum but is frequently suf®-
cient to lift well-®xed calicoblastic tissues from the cor-
allum, revealing the impressions of the irregular septal
tubercles, as well as those surrounding and protruding
from the skeletal centers"
 
More reading that may relate --- Holmes Farley this time. As an aside, I don't have a phos test I trust so I haven't tested in some time. We have very minor pest algae issues, so we haven't worried too much about it. A friend had one of the high end photo test kits, and when I used it some months ago, we do have slightly elevated phos... ~ .07.... Maybe calcification issue brought on by elevated phos and low pH together?

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/4/chemistry
 
larcat said:
Mostly a bump to keep this current.

Anyone know any experts I could reach out to?
Click to expand...

maybe call up an oceanography/marine biology department at certain universities and they might be able to help. I know scripps down in san diego la jolla area would be a great place for me to start, however I have no acros with symptoms. other than that, keep up the ongoing struggle no matter how gloomy things get. Ill ask around the industry when I get the chance.
 
larcat said:
Could you talk about why you think it might have been flow related? I've wondered that also... Our tank is a small peninsula, and the flow is more unidirectional than I would prefer....
Click to expand...

I understand your frustration. I was in the same spot you were. Unfortunately the answers just aren't out there. Every thread I've found just died out, including my own.

As far as your recent questions I never had really low PH. Pretty steady at 8.1-8.2

The reason I considered flow is that I was running an MP40 and an MP10 both at 100%. For a 30"x30" tank that is quite a bit. It was random though (Reefcrest and Nutrient Transport mode on occasion) so who knows?

Good luck in your quest. Report back here if you find any info. Sorry I'm not much help.
 
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