bubble coral, please help!

[draczka2]

i have had this coral for about 4 months and it looked, and ate really good the whole time until 2 days ago. it is all deflated but still has a good green color to it. i did notice today upon further inspection that it has what appears tobe a little sea star living between the flesh and the skeleton on the back side. i see the little legs sticking out and they retract when touched. couldthis be the problem, and if so how do i deal with it? any input is appreciated. oh,my water test right on the same it has since the end of my cycle ayear ago.
sal.1.024-25
ph 8.1-8.3
cal 400
alk 9.5 dKH
nitrates 15(0 seems unatainable for me)
temp 77-79
stock-- hydnophora, large green button polyps, zoos, xenia,mushrooms, plate, bta, false percs, manderian(spelling?), royalgramma

 

[Gundo5000]

Lighting?

Flow?

 

[rich415]

Nitrates at 15 seems a bit high. Do you have a skimmer or refuge?
The sea star could be the immediate problem, but long term success or recovery will depend on keeping the nitrates down (at least below 5)

I've put my Bubble through hell and back and it always makes a comeback.

 

[draczka2]

flow- 1200gph mag w/ sqwd closed loop , 2 maxi 295gph each,and a return pump from sump/fuge and skimmer

lighting 2 175 watt mh and 260 watts pc

my nitrates were alot higher when the bubble looked excellent, around 20-25.

 

[CapitalO]

There are many many members of the class Asteroidea (sea stars) that solely consume shellfish and coral (i.e. the crown of thorns that destroyed massive portions of the great barrier reef). So if you didnt puposely introduce the sea star or positively ID it, I would take it out ASAP!! If you decide to remove it, dont cut it up of break it apart to kill it, the pieces will regenerate into more sea stars! :eek1:

 

[draczka2]

how do i get it out of the bubble coral? its between the flesh and the skeleton, and i don't want to cut the coralopen toextract the sea star.

 

[Amphiprion]

it sounds as though a little brittle starfish has taken up residence. I doubt that is source of your problems. Sometimes these corals will deflate for a while anyway. Have you changed water flow patterns, etc? BTW, these corals will still do splendidly in nitrate levels well above 15. They are extremely tolerant. Do not try to cut the coral--it could potentially lead to infection. Just give it while, as it should "perk" back up. If not, try doing a moderate sized water change.

 

[Doni]

Ditto to Amphiprion.

If the starfish you see looks like the one pictured below, it is a harmless mini-brittle star. They usually hide in rocks/crevices and only stretch out a few arms/legs. Have you adjusted the flow or lighting recently?

This little guy was only about 1/2" in diameter.

 

[CapitalO]

If you didnt introduce the sea star, i would definitly ID it. Relying on my bio knowledge, it seems that brittle stars (Ophiuroidea) would be an unlikely hitchhiker since they are a deep water species and there are vastly more Asteroidea species that are predators vs saprovores (dead matter eaters).. but im not that experienced with reef aquariums so i could be totally wrong ... but if i were you, the first thing i would do is ID it...

 

[draczka2]

well the star looks just like the photo. i have seen the coral deflate every few days,but this is different. as far as flow i changed it today. i don't think it's a flowproblem. also mybulbs are all about 2 months old. thanks for the input, i'll just keep myfingers crossed and ride it out.

 

[CapitalO]

If it looks like the one in the picture its more than likely a brittle star, so I would agree with Amphiprion and assume its the parameters, if your tank is new and the coral was introduced recently I wouldnt worry too much about it. Sorry for any misleading info, aquariums are pretty new for me too, so I'll leave it to the experts

 

[Doni]

Also, be on the look out for aiptasia. One of my large euphyllia colonies stopped inflating as much. During a flashlight inspection at night, I found a small aiptasia growing just below one of the polyps! I removed the colony, scraped the area VERY well with a screwdriver, rinsed with water, then placed it back into the tank. All is well now

That is only the 3rd aiptasia I have ever found in my tank over years... I hope there aren't any more...