Do some acros just die?

[rovster]

Hi all. I have had my nano reef up and running for over a year now. Its a 14 gal biocube, and is a mixed reef. I have zoas, chalice, hammer, gsp, cyphastrea, palys, pocillipora, monti cap, etc. I started with SPS about 6 months ago with pocilipora and a monticap, and they have been very successful, and grow to the point I have to prune back.

A few weeks ago, I wanted to venture into more challengins SPS, so I got a trio of birdsnest (green, ponape, BOP) and they have already shown growth and they are still on a plug in the sand.

At the time, the reefer I got the birdsnest from, broke off a piece of acro so I could experiment with. About a week later, I went to the LFS and they had this incredible looking acro frag (fluorescent green almost yellow) that I decided what the hell, I'll add that too.

Now to the point. The acro from the reefers tank at first looked like crap, but over the last couple of weeks, polyps are coming out, skin is thickening, and its starting to encrust over the epoxy/glue I used to mount it. The acro I bought at the LFS looked awesome from day one, polyps came out much more than the other frag, and yesterday I look at it and all the tissue is sloughing off the base. I'm assuming this is RTN, because from one day to the other, it went from great to crap and peeling. One thing I thought was peculiar about this particular frag was there was several little filter feeders that come in and out embedded in the tissue. I don't think this has anything to do with anyhing, other than the fact that this acro was probably wild cought and maybe wasn't meant for captivity.

Here are some stats on my tank:
14 gal
Run CPE and Purigen
WC 15-20% weekly
SG 34-36ppt (I try and keep at 35, calibrated refractometer)
Temp ranges from 77-82 (its a biocube)
Lots of flow
Lighting is DIY LED
Ca 430ish
Alk high 7s to low 8s
Mag 1300+

I dose 2 part daily
Use kalk
I havent seen algae in my tank for over 8 months

Anyway, I'm not worried because all other corals appear happy and are growing, including other SPS. Its just wierd how this particular one just bombed out. There's no point fragging because its just a 1" frag. Just looking for some reassurance that these things happen. If its somehting I'm doing wrong, it would be nice to know. Thanks in advance!

FWIW, the closest corals to this acro are some zoos. There are no LPS within stinging distance.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

these filter feeders that you speak of, were they on the coral before it started to RTN or after? and what do they look like? What did you dip the corals in before placed them into your tank?

 

[rovster]

these filter feeders that you speak of, were they on the coral before it started to RTN or after? and what do they look like? What did you dip the corals in before placed them into your tank?

They look like little sea fans that pop in and out of a small opening. (behave like a featherduster). I dipped in Coral Rx before placing in tank. Its been there for 2-3 weeks now and has looked great since the beginning. I noticed the tissue sloughing yesterday. I did not mess with the tank this past week, and I was due for a WC yesterday, but will be doing it today. I can probably get a pic this afternoon, but I doubt it will help much. THanks!

 

[rovster]

I forgot to add, I did check my levels as soon as I saw the RTN, and they were in range of where they normally are:
35PPT, Ca 420, Alk 8.X (cant remember the exact figure)
Thanks again for any input

 

[Digitalelectric]

Sometimes you do get that acro that just wont go anywhere. I have torts, stags, montis, stylos, etc...however theres just this one acro that will NOT respond. It didnt RTN but just sits there idly.

 

[rovster]

Damn shame, because its pretty. I'm just venturing into acros, so I want to make sure I'm not doing anything counterproductive. I definitely want to keep more stonies in my upgrade build currently in process. My nano has been a science experiment of sorts, mostly successful.

We'll see what it looks like when I get home today. I'll try and get a macro shot. If I can, I may try and frag it and see if I can save it. Should I re-dip it or dip in something else? All I really have is Coral Rx. Thanks.

 

[rovster]

Tissue recession continues. I pulled the frag to cut off a piece that wasn't receded and it smelled like death. I've come to the conclusion that this one is a gonner. I placed a small fragment back in the tank, but I don't have my hopes up.

 

[Digitalelectric]

It smelled like death? Was the tissue just slaughing off or was it actual RTN? Acros do have a funky smell even when healthy...but if it smelled rotton you have other issues.

 

[rovster]

I don't have any experience with acros, but it did smell funny. Kind of nasty, not sulphur rotton smell, but not fresh fish smell either if that means anything. There's a certain fresh ocean smell associated with the tank, this was a distincly "off" smell. Its hard to describe, so we'll leave it at "off smell". If acros smell off normally, then no biggie. I mounted the very tip of the frag lower in the tank, we'll see how it does there. There is no other odors coming from the tank. Tank looks fine, and corals continue to grow. The green bn and bop are shooting up new branches and they are not even mounted yet, LOL! Thanks for all the comments guys. I will update the thread, good and bad as time passes. If anyone else has any comments, shoot them out there.

 

[Digitalelectric]

Corals smell terrible. They dont smell like fish because,,,they arent fish. That normal tank smell is mostly from invertibrates, the rock, the saltwater, the fish etc. Corals on the otherhand emit noxious odors/chemicals when disturbed. Poke any healthy sps and itll slime, pick it up and smell it...will smell funky. Not sure how to describe the smell, other than "coral smell."

 

[animalkingdom]

mmmm the fresh smell of happy acros out of the water, makes me want to do some fragging
I think the smell is a good thing. Good job at fragging the healthy portion. Hopefully it will come around. Usually Alkalinity/Temp issues cause things like RTN. hopefully you can figure out what is causing it and save your frag.

 

[deadmeat]

I agree, normally I do not see RTN on any type of sps unless alk or temp is an issue. Even the idle sps do not have issues. I have had staghorn and blue milli RTN within 24hrs when my alk dipped below 8dkh. With that lesson I just watch it more aggresively.

Tom