Anyone ever deal with Green Boring Algae...

[SPotter]

Boring = Penetrating

So recently I have been losing some SPS and have noticed that it started with a spot on the base that turns pale, then green and then slowly spreads to the rest of the coral. Its not STN because at no time does any tissue fall off or do you see a pure white skeleton. A friend suggested it was Green Boring Algae and after doing some googling on it I feel fairly comfortable in saying that's what my issue is. There seems to be no known definitive cause and whats worse there seems to be no known cure for this.

Here's what I have learn....
* Its a form of Cyano Bacteria
* Like many other issues with SPS....it can be a result of poor or unstable water quality.
* There has been some studies to indicate that higher water temps and the use of a Ca reactor can be a cause.
* Very little information on cures or treatments...one site suggested using chemi clean as you would use it to treat red cyano.
* Infected corals should be fragged above the infected spot and remounted as long as there is no evidence green coloring in the skeleton.

The picture below is a frag that I pulled out of my frag tank and was only out of the water for less than 5 mins when I took the picture. You'll see the green penetrating the coral skeleton.




Things about my system that could be the cause of this....
I run a ca reactor and higher temps that reach 80 degrees
I have battled keeping my po4 at a stable number for several months.

I totally understand that Stability Promotes Success and will continue to make changes to achieve stability but I am interested to see if anyone else has dealt with this issue in the past or currently?

 

[SaltyWalter]

Wow, very interesting. Something new to me as well. My first thought was what about how the coral itself is growing? I have noticed a difference in how hard (dense) a corals skelton is based off water parameters (and possibly even lighting). This would also be directly related to stability. What I mean is a stable tank tends to grow nice dense SPS, specifically acroporas. When parameters start to fluctuate or certain elements are missing, the skeleton becomes fragile.

This is also something I have found where acros in T5 or Halide tanks going into LED ligthing and the new growth was more fragile and they stopped developing the thick bases. Now I never proved that, it could have been water parameter related but more signs pointed to lighting change, but this is another discussion itself, sorry back to the topic...

So do you think corals are more susceptible to this algae problem becasue their skelton is 'softer'? Unbalanced Alk Cal & Mag not allowing for proper formation of skelton? Could also be missing minor or major trace elements? I would be interested to see if the two were linked directly.

 

[Benar]

The battling po4 leads me to believe it's phosphate wicking? Was the rock/stone it was on worse than other parts of the system?

 

[Big E]

I've seen this happen to frags.........once the skin is exposed it works from the inside out.
I've seen this even under low nutrient levels & have never seen it happen to a healthy frag...........it's usually to one already in shutdown or declining mode. In other words, the coral is already shutting down and the skin gets so thin that's when the green algae or bacteria is able to penetrate the coral.

I'm not sure if it's bacterial or what the actual name or cause. The only thing I know is to cut till you see white skeleton.

It might be worthwhile to experiment and try to dip in Furan 2 or some other bacterial remedy.

 

[SPotter]

Wow, very interesting. Something new to me as well. My first thought was what about how the coral itself is growing? I have noticed a difference in how hard (dense) a corals skelton is based off water parameters (and possibly even lighting). This would also be directly related to stability. What I mean is a stable tank tends to grow nice dense SPS, specifically acroporas. When parameters start to fluctuate or certain elements are missing, the skeleton becomes fragile.

This is also something I have found where acros in T5 or Halide tanks going into LED ligthing and the new growth was more fragile and they stopped developing the thick bases. Now I never proved that, it could have been water parameter related but more signs pointed to lighting change, but this is another discussion itself, sorry back to the topic...

So do you think corals are more susceptible to this algae problem becasue their skelton is 'softer'? Unbalanced Alk Cal & Mag not allowing for proper formation of skelton? Could also be missing minor or major trace elements? I would be interested to see if the two were linked directly.

My big 3 (Alk, Ca and Mag) have always been rock solid. My po4 has been a struggle because of it leaching from rocks. I am working on improving my fuge and a new reactor for my rowaphos so hopefully I can keep the po4 stable.

The battling po4 leads me to believe it's phosphate wicking? Was the rock/stone it was on worse than other parts of the system?

The frag in the picture came out of my frag tank that was sitting on a frag rack. Its been very puzzling.

I've seen this happen to frags.........once the skin is exposed it works from the inside out.
I've seen this even under low nutrient levels & have never seen it happen to a healthy frag...........it's usually to one already in shutdown or declining mode. In other words, the coral is already shutting down and the skin gets so thin that's when the green algae or bacteria is able to penetrate the coral.

I'm not sure if it's bacterial or what the actual name or cause. The only thing I know is to cut till you see white skeleton.

It might be worthwhile to experiment and try to dip in Furan 2 or some other bacterial remedy.

I have fragged all pieces that looked infected but will definitely do a Furan 2 experiment in the event I find another piece showing the same signs.

Here is one of the articles I read that lead me to my conclusion of it being a bacterial infection. Coral pictured looks exactly like what some of mine looked like.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/coral-erosion-by-algae