I noticed today that a lot of my cyphastrea has a whiteish ooze on it. I'm not sure if it's the cyphastrea dying or just a discharge from the BTA beneath it (the BTA always seems to be stressed no matter what I do but that's another post...) I recently tested my parameters and they're all normal. I attached a picture. What do you think? If it is a discharge from the anemone, how would I remove it from the coral? Or do I need to?
Is something wrong with my cyphastrea?
- Thread starter Weboh
- Start date
![IMG_20181018_211436[1].jpg](https://reefcentral-data.xenforo.cloud/attachments/251/251119-1dc4438ae75d4e4a9c4c568d85ff6270.jpg?hash=HcRDiuddTk)
![IMG_20181018_211443[1].jpg](https://reefcentral-data.xenforo.cloud/attachments/251/251122-bc7a91fdd2976f1b130af357dc602f46.jpg?hash=vHqR_dKXbx)
OurCoralReef
New member
Is something wrong with my cyphastrea?
It's probably scratched
See if you can blow it off with a turkey baster
It will heal itself within a week or two
It's probably scratched
See if you can blow it off with a turkey baster
It will heal itself within a week or two
4x4cubereefer
New member
Whats your no3/po4 test out at ?
do you run carbon ?
Looks pretty unhappy/potentially bleaching from what i can see (blurry pics) bad water quality is my guess closely followed by an anemone being underneath an sps coral which are fickle at the best of times this will create problems as the anemone can sting corals as it moves damaging or killing the corals it stings in this case it looks like its a potential bacterial infection caused by getting stung over and over again by the anemone & to back up my original claim that anemone is dying so water quality must be out of wack/unstable plus alongside that the coral warfare i.e. chemicals being released by the piece of sps as its getting stung "white mucus" ? that is probably another thing thats killing your anemone alongside water quality, im thinking its an infection especially if its putting out white mucus/sludge .. id suggest removing it asap & do a coral dip then re-introduce it in a higher light area/high flow area away from that bta and see how it does while working on getting water quality perfect and you could potentially see it bounce back.
Try this;
*test water see whats out of whack
*find & fix the source
*peform some large water changes
*dip the coral & re introduce to a higher flow/higher light area - "away from the anemone"
*make sure your running fresh carbon weekly as im guessing this is a mixed reef
*if your dosing 2 part get it as stable as possible.
i could be wrong but thats where id start & you probably will see it bounce back over time.
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
do you run carbon ?
Looks pretty unhappy/potentially bleaching from what i can see (blurry pics) bad water quality is my guess closely followed by an anemone being underneath an sps coral which are fickle at the best of times this will create problems as the anemone can sting corals as it moves damaging or killing the corals it stings in this case it looks like its a potential bacterial infection caused by getting stung over and over again by the anemone & to back up my original claim that anemone is dying so water quality must be out of wack/unstable plus alongside that the coral warfare i.e. chemicals being released by the piece of sps as its getting stung "white mucus" ? that is probably another thing thats killing your anemone alongside water quality, im thinking its an infection especially if its putting out white mucus/sludge .. id suggest removing it asap & do a coral dip then re-introduce it in a higher light area/high flow area away from that bta and see how it does while working on getting water quality perfect and you could potentially see it bounce back.
Try this;
*test water see whats out of whack
*find & fix the source
*peform some large water changes
*dip the coral & re introduce to a higher flow/higher light area - "away from the anemone"
*make sure your running fresh carbon weekly as im guessing this is a mixed reef
*if your dosing 2 part get it as stable as possible.
i could be wrong but thats where id start & you probably will see it bounce back over time.
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
4x4cubereefer
New member
thats just my .02 on what id consider doing but with an anemone underneath and it putting out white sludge/mucus that says to me its getting stung & now has an infection of some sort.
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
4x4cubereefer
New member
good luck with it man hope you get it sorted out.
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
I don't have a phosphate test kit. I guess I should get one. Nitrate was 5ppm a couple days ago before I did a 10% water change.
What does? The anemone? I know that.
I hope the coral isn't bleaching too...
I didn't think about that.
I dunno. I always get good results on my tests and keep it pretty stable but the anemone has been like that for almost as long as I've had it.
I guess I can try to move the coral. It'll be hard as I only really have that area while I'm waiting on a another light for the other half of the tank. I don't "run carbon," but I do have an HOB filter that has a carbon filter. It does need to get replaced though. Guess I'll make that a priority too.
Thanks for the long reply. Anything else anyone has to add would be helpful too.
4x4cubereefer
New member
The cyphastrea looks a little dull/browned to me what type is it ? and has it always been that color ? oh and the white spots mean it is potentially bleaching .. that is in fact if they are spots and not a mucus its putting out .. but more then likely in my opinion its only a matter of time before its going to be followed by actual obvious bleaching if you dont dip it to help with possible infection as imo its one of the two & also move it away from the anemone then improve water quality in regards to po4 & coral warfare/running carbon properly.
Running carbon weekly & making sure to change it out will help you get it on the mend faster if chemicals in the water are affecting it which they very well could be and in saying that any coral warfare that could be going on/chemicals they are putting into the water will affect every piece of coral in the tank in one way or another wether that be softies lps or sps .. how do your other corals look ?
You dont test po4 ..
you will most definitely need to get a phosphate test kit if you dont test its probably very high, judging by algae im going to assume its high/rocks soaked in phosphate and will leech into water column over time even if it tests out a little lower .. get a test kit, use something like phosphate RX or any type of lanthanum chloride to drop it down to 0.01-0.04ppm and start using GFO to keep it there & when it climbs again usually a week to four weeks it varies (a week is a good medium for me as i change carbon weekly) dose with phosphate rx to your desired level & change out GFO .. rinse and repeat.
I suggest dropping back on feeding if it keeps climbing "daily to high levels (over 0.05ppm) after you have dosed phosphate rx & put in GFO" then that means rocks are soaked in phosphate and virtually need to be cured which is a long process, use phosphate rx every day to two days to get it all out over several weeks until it then stays stable with GFO in the reactor .. keep the feeding down throughout this time & clean out sand bed/any detritus or waste in sump that could be causing the high po4/algae & skim wet too remove as much waste as possible until you have it all sorted out.
can you post full tank shot/sump so we can get an idea of your filtration etc.
Do you test MG/CA/ALK regularly thst could be another potential factor in regards to the cyphastrea ? are you dosing at all yet or are waterchanges enough ?
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
Running carbon weekly & making sure to change it out will help you get it on the mend faster if chemicals in the water are affecting it which they very well could be and in saying that any coral warfare that could be going on/chemicals they are putting into the water will affect every piece of coral in the tank in one way or another wether that be softies lps or sps .. how do your other corals look ?
You dont test po4 ..
you will most definitely need to get a phosphate test kit if you dont test its probably very high, judging by algae im going to assume its high/rocks soaked in phosphate and will leech into water column over time even if it tests out a little lower .. get a test kit, use something like phosphate RX or any type of lanthanum chloride to drop it down to 0.01-0.04ppm and start using GFO to keep it there & when it climbs again usually a week to four weeks it varies (a week is a good medium for me as i change carbon weekly) dose with phosphate rx to your desired level & change out GFO .. rinse and repeat.
I suggest dropping back on feeding if it keeps climbing "daily to high levels (over 0.05ppm) after you have dosed phosphate rx & put in GFO" then that means rocks are soaked in phosphate and virtually need to be cured which is a long process, use phosphate rx every day to two days to get it all out over several weeks until it then stays stable with GFO in the reactor .. keep the feeding down throughout this time & clean out sand bed/any detritus or waste in sump that could be causing the high po4/algae & skim wet too remove as much waste as possible until you have it all sorted out.
can you post full tank shot/sump so we can get an idea of your filtration etc.
Do you test MG/CA/ALK regularly thst could be another potential factor in regards to the cyphastrea ? are you dosing at all yet or are waterchanges enough ?
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
4x4cubereefer
New member
Lol and the anemone is an invertebrate so it doesnt bleach it dies [emoji14]
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
4x4cubereefer
New member
Your using RO/DI water yeah ?
if not thats also where po4/algae could be coming from.
id say if you get all these things right in the next 2 months or so your anemone "may" even come back in the months too follow after that with proper feeding .. but it will be a very slow recovery & its hard to tell as they have a very slow metabolism and it personally looks too far gone .. maybe remove it also as an anemone dying in a tank has the potential to crash it from what ive seen in other systems in the past where a bta goes through a powerhead etc while people are away all to come back to everything dead.
once you get these things right id go ahead & add another bta and feed it once a week and should flourish.
its not so much that theres something wrong with the anemone its the consistency of water quality around it.
They need prooer consistency.
if you have clowns try elegance/goniopora/torch etc mine host my elegance atm till the tank is consistently stable enough & ready to add a h.magnifica.
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
if not thats also where po4/algae could be coming from.
id say if you get all these things right in the next 2 months or so your anemone "may" even come back in the months too follow after that with proper feeding .. but it will be a very slow recovery & its hard to tell as they have a very slow metabolism and it personally looks too far gone .. maybe remove it also as an anemone dying in a tank has the potential to crash it from what ive seen in other systems in the past where a bta goes through a powerhead etc while people are away all to come back to everything dead.
once you get these things right id go ahead & add another bta and feed it once a week and should flourish.
its not so much that theres something wrong with the anemone its the consistency of water quality around it.
They need prooer consistency.
if you have clowns try elegance/goniopora/torch etc mine host my elegance atm till the tank is consistently stable enough & ready to add a h.magnifica.
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
I've had consistent parameters for a long time. I do use RO water and it looks like phosphate isn't the issue. I'm not sure what's wrong with that anemone because it's never really been healthy. It looks better now that the coral's moved at least. Its mouth is closed. Still not its full size though. It hasn't been for a long time...
My hammer coral seems to be doing bad right now too. I guess once all the chemicals from the coral and BTA fighting are filtered out by the carbon it'll be fine.
4x4cubereefer
New member
good stuff man 0.08 is high .. id keep that carbon in check & drop it to 0.02-0.04 and hold it there with gfo keep nitrates around 5-8 and you should see a vast improvement in colouration.
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
4x4cubereefer
New member
ideal po4 for algae control & coral health is 0.05 and under.
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
4x4cubereefer
New member
it will keep going up over time as waste accumulates in your system .. weekly water changes will drop it down yes .. but in saying that if theres nothing in place to keep it where you want youll have a lot of hair algae .. ca/mg/alk are very important yes but nitrates & phosphates for long term health of a reef and inhabitants are equally as important so you'll still need something in place to keep it at the right levels .. personally i use a product called phosphate rx to bring it to where i want it 0.02-0.03 then use GFO in a reactor to hold it there once i see it rising i will dose phosphate rx & put new GFO in to hold it there .. po4 will keep rising as you feed.
id also start using No3o4-x to keep nitrates in check between water changes.
i use;
phosphate rx & gfo
for po4.
no3o4-x for nitrates
weekly changes are a must even if its a small amount.
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
id also start using No3
o4-x to keep nitrates in check between water changes.i use;
phosphate rx & gfo
for po4.
no3
o4-x for nitrates weekly changes are a must even if its a small amount.
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
