Bristleworm causing red monti to bleach???

[Axolotl]

Hey all I have a 8" red monti cap that is bleaching at the base and down inside but the tops are all healthy and growing quickly. The water and all levels are fine. I noticed a fairly large 4" long pinkish colored bristle worm nestling down and along where the coral appears to be bleaching. Everytime I feed the tank he appears from the base of the monti. Has anyone ever experienced this? There are hundreds of these worms in this tank but he is by far the biggest. Any suggestions on removal as the other colonies of monti cap are fine with no bleaching just the biggest one. Im thinking maybe his bristles are irritating the coral as he moves along his same passage ways over and over. Am I crazy?

 

[ajcanale]

I started to say that it's unlikely, but the way you explain it, it could definitely be possibly. Is it actually fading colors, or exposed skeleton...?

 

[Jettareefer]

I've had big bristle worms in all my tanks and never had a problem like your describing. You might want to check for flat worms, is there anyway you could post a picture of the monti?

 

[Puffyluv]

Flatworms? Montipora flatworms? What sort of new hoodoo is this????

Ditto to the first post!!!

 

[Jettareefer]

Monti eating nudis there is such a thing hah.

 

[aromano]

look for little fuzzy nudibranchs . their damage is exactly as you describe in your post.

 

[Jettareefer]

The monti eating nudis have frilly hair like tassels and they are tiny but usually gather in numbers. I've had them once there are a few treatment options.

 

[Puffyluv]

Yeah, nudis...not flatworms, though. Thank god. Though nudibranchs are bad enough!!!!

 

[Axolotl]

Do people actually freshwater dip their new corals to get rid of "bugs"? Would I hurt the colony if i dipped ot to force the bugger out?

 

[Fire_supremacy]

Do people actually freshwater dip their new corals to get rid of "bugs"? Would I hurt the colony if i dipped ot to force the bugger out?

Unlike zoas, doing freshwater dips on sps coral will kill the coral as well.

 

[Dapg8gt]

I wouldn't freshwater dip it and risk loosing it all. If the monti is large enough I would use a bristleworm trap to get him. This is probably the only time I actually would reccomend the use of something built to get rid of something beneficial =).

 

[Axolotl]

Ok this is the view from the top

 

[Axolotl]

And the side. You can see exposed skeleton everywhere. Other monti's are fine just this one with that bigass bristleworm in it.

 

[Dapg8gt]

Fwiw a standard coral dip will also kill bristle worms.. If you could dip the entire colony it will get him.. But it will leach from the rock and kill the fish so it should be taken off of it.

No alk spikes /drops causing tissue loss?

 

[theatrus]

I have a monti tower like that, it's wall to wall top to bottom on the left 1/4 of my 90. The bottom all looks like that due to lack of light - it's built a literal reef.

 

[Dugless]

I'm going to say the bristleworm isn't the guilty party based on the photo you posted. I think your problem lies elsewhere. How is your flow?

 

[burkhart.5150]

Could it be lack of light getting to the base of the coral and also the inside?

 

[Dugless]

This is not a lighting issue. If you notice in the picture, there are plenty of dark crevices and undersides in the coral structure, and yet these remain healthy. If poor lighting were to blame, there would be necrosis within these other portions of the coral.

In my experience, unless you bury a coral in the sand or choke it with algae, I've yet to see recession due to inadequacy of light. I have undersides and bases of high light acropora that have been shaded by the growth of the coral and they continue to remain healthy. The tissue might not be brightly colored, but it is still smooth, full and healthy.

My better suggestion would be water quality, lack of flow, or pests. Due to the localized nature on the underside of the recession, my guess is nudibranchs. Bristleworms get blamed for a lot, but more than likely it is just feeding on the dying coral tissue.

 

[Puffyluv]

We don't know what kind of light the OP has, do we? I am also voting lack of light on the base...if it were nudis I would think they would have had at least one bite from the top. SPS can indeed receed from the base due to inadequate light. In the winter at the farm this happens a lot...can't turn the sun back on at will...least I haven't found out how yet!