ill millies?

[rtbm]

I have been having an interesting problem that may be a no brainer but at this point I am not convinced. I have two millies that have quickly began to loose there polyp extension, and in some areas have what look like long stringy white flesh at or on the polyps. Now for the details. And here is why this may be a nobrainer. two weeks ago I added 5 emerald crabs to help with a bad bubble algae problem. While this seems the most likely explanation I am not convinced yet. Another important variable is that after having treated my three clams for PM I have been running a fair amount of carbon. the reason I am not certain it is the crabs is because I have yet to see them anywhere near these two millies. They have been on other acros and really seem to like my birdsnest but anything I have actually seen them on looks fine in fact all my other millies are showing better PE than I have ever seen.Curiously. So my questions are basically is this definitely the crabs? Or perhaps a result of the carbon, or even something involving my clams pinched mantle. At this point I have removed the carbon. other than that my tank is very stable.

some params

calc 425
alk 9.6
ph 8.0-8.3
mag last time I tested about a month ago 1350 or so
orp 309
sg 1.026
temp 80.5

 

[twon8]

might be the crabs, might be aefw, they seem to go for millies first.

 

[dreaminmel]

Another idea... I have four mille frags in my tank. Two of them are always happy. Every so often the other two, however, pull in their polyps and show that white stringy stuff. Without fail, every time, I readjust the off kilter powerhead that's aimed at them and they go back to normal. I know people say they like lots of flow but I think there is such a thing as too much. (Powerhead issue soon to be done once all in the new tank BTW, those suckers are getting glued)

Just my experience and probably not helpful but what the hey!

 

[rtbm]

thanks. I have a pair of tunzes that have been in the same place for over a year. And as far as aefw go this seem unlikely as I have not added anything new in quite a while. and it seems to coincidental that this happen so soon after the introduction of the crabs. another thing I forgot to mention is that these two millies were accidentally fragged while siphoning out bubble algae.
but I have not had this type of reaction when fragging the same corals before just another common variable. another interesting observation is that one one of the two millies the top polyps are slightly extended. certainly something out of the ordinary for this one. when the lights are on.

 

[rtbm]

I have a few pics of the two showing the poor Pe the pink and green. and also one of another milli showing remarkably good PE.
better than usuaul I should say.

 

[dvanacker]

Ya...I've got a couple of millies not extending right now....but I've made alot of changes lately and I think thats it. Im hoping in a few weeks everything will be happy again.

 

[rtbm]

as far as changes go.
I got a new skimmer about three weeks ago.
I have been doing larger water changes to syphon out bubble algae. and adding the emerald crabs and the carbon is about all I can think of. Any of those things cause something like this?

 

[atzak]

red bugs are terribly hard to see on a milli, any chance?

 

[rtbm]

not likely. I treated for red bugs from December to late jan and still inspect almost daily for them. I haven't seen a red bug since my first treatment. fortunately. another note. as I mentioned earlier these two corals were fraged by accident. The frags went into my little nano and look the same way polyp wise as they did when I broke them. Could this be a reaction to different corals in the tank "fighting"? as I do have a considerable amount of corals touching other corals. most of them that are actually touching however seem fine.

 

[CarlC]

New skimmer, carbon and lots of water changes. You have probably changed the clarity of the water a great deal.

Are these closest to the lights?

Carl

 

[rtbm]

the bluer one in the pic is considerably higher than these actually

 

[Nataku]

A have this acro RTNing and couldn't find any flatworm or such. I wait for the morning to view the tank in the dark. I see my emerald crab ( flat tip pinchers ) munching on the the coral. I put the frag on a rack away from the LR. I just wanted to see if the crab was eating it because it was dying or the crab was causing the damage. The acro stopped RTN so I concluded that the crab caused the damage. But the crab is not touching the other corals. The emerald does have hairy legs. I do love porcelain crabs, they are filter feeder. my conclusion is Hair crab = bad.

That was a month ago. I got a new shipment of frag and the emerald crab bee line to the frag. Banished to the softie tank.

Read this :

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=848419&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

 

[DarkXerox]

Pretty sure that those are mesenterial filaments that the coral is extruding. I usually see those if an acro (or hydophora) comes into contact with another coral and they use it as a defense mechanism to start a bit of coral warfare. Are they close to other corals? However, if they are in different spots of the tank and are both doing it at the same time, perhaps it is the crabs irritating them.

 

[rtbm]

thanks for the responses. I have decided to pull the emeralds out and see what happens. this just seems to perfectly coincide with the introduction of those guys. It's too bad though they have been helping with the bubble algae.