Black spots on gorg? Pics

[danieljames]

I recently moved this gorg from a standard 75 w/ t-5 (appx. 4-5" from 54 watt geisemanns. Two ge daylight and four blue plus) lights to an oceanic 58 w/ a single 150w de 65k iwasaki. The 75 was a much higher nutrient display than the 58. With the halide on and polyps extended, you can hardly tell the spots are there. Is there something i should be concerned about?

With flash, halide off

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v722/daytona002/gorgz00013.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>


without flash, halide off

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v722/daytona002/gorgz0001.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

 

[mr.wilson]

It looks like algae to me. If the polyps stay open, it may shade the algae enough to die off on its' own.

While you have a photosynthetic variety of gorgonian, it still needs some time to adapt to brighter lighting. Iwasaki bulbs are the best for photosynthetic activity, so the algae is doing what comes natural.

Keep your eye on it. If it grows very quickly or starts to form filaments, it's dinoflagellates

Nassarius snails may clean/eat it at night. Directing more flow at it isn't a miracle cure, but it may help.

 

[danieljames]

The second pic does look like cyano, but i don't believe it to be algae. I tried several turkey baster blasts a couple days ago and it does not come off. If it is algae, it's like none i've seen before.

 

[mr.wilson]

One mans (blue green) algae is another mans (cyano) bacteria. Bacteria by any other name, smells just as bad.

A similar type of bacterial algae grows on sponges, in aquarium conditions. Cowries eat this type of algae. I recently had quite a bit of it on a sponge, and removed it in a day or two with the addition of a Tiger Cowry. They're very delicate for such a heavy, awkward looking creature.

It could be tissue necrosis, but it's hard to tell from the pictures. Watch for sloughing off of the outer (skin) membrane.

Gorgonians shed when they are stressed and mucous production increases.

If it progresses, you could take it out and dab the infected area with a cotton swab with an oxidizing agent such as peroxide, iodine, potassium permanganate, potassium dichromate, or mercurochrome. Try it on one spot and monitor the results before you treat the whole gorgonian.

Photosynthetic gorgonians can tolerate exposure to atmospheric air, so you can take it out without problems. Non-photosynthetic, deep water varieties, have not evolved to tolerate exposure to air.

A strong antibiotic bath is another option. I would use nifurpirinol at 500 mg/gallon, for a 20 minute saltwater bath. A freshwater bath has no value, as it's bacterial or fungal, and not parasitic.

 

[danieljames]

Sounds good wilson. I'll nose around a couple lfs today and see what i can come up with. I appreciate your time/experience man.

 

[mr.wilson]

I stumbled across a reference to "black band disease" in gorgonians while I was looking up something else in Bob Goemans algae book.

It is a form of cyanobacteria and he claims that freshwater dips are beneficial. I would still go with the antibiotic baths as well. I did a search on the subject and found these links.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2004/invert.htm
http://www.artificialreefs.org/Corals/diseasesfiles/Common Identified Coral Diseases.htm#Black Band
http://www.accessexcellence.org/LC/ST/st6bg.html