Pocillopora Damicornis possible RTN

[Dexters Reef]

Been having bad luck with SPS...

My tank parameters have been stable at the following levels:
Alkalinity - 8.8-9.4 (9.1 this morning)
Calcium - 390 - 430 (430 this morning)
Magnesium - 1320 - 1335 (1330 this morning)
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0
Phosphate - 0
Salinity - 1.025
Temp 78.8 evening, 81 mid-day and afternoon
Dual Korali Evo 1400's on wavemaker, alternating every 30 seconds
Mag7 Return, not throttled back, dual lockline output

7 days ago, I bought a 3" frag of Pocillopora and wanted to try a easier SPS. The LFS aquacultured it themselves, and had several frags of this size they told me they grew in their tanks, and that it was a hearty, easier SPS to start with.

I acclimated it and put it in the tank, and for 7 days, every day and night the coral looked great, aside from the tips being white which the LFS said is normal and a sign of growth. Last night, I noticed white strings between the Pocillopora, and a large 6" clove colony I purchased the same day I got the Pocillopora. I read up and found out its a form of "coral warfare" when two corals are too close. I moved the Pocillopora to the center of my tank before bed last night, mid tank height, and with a minimum of 5" between it and anything else. All that is near it is two zoanthid colonies, with 5" of spacing.

This morning I wake up, turn on my T5's, and see that 80% of the coral is lost. Last night, despite the strings touching it, it looked healthy.

I performed an emergency 5G water change this morning and had to head out to work. I’m hoping that its still alive when I come home, so I can do another water change which hopefully helps.

What could cause this? Would this be a result of the Clove coral? Me moving it to another spot? Is there anything I can do?

Pic 1 - Original placement, top right, taken 9/6 1AM
Pic 2 - New placement, middle, taken 9/6 5PM
Pic 3 - Coral on 9/2, looked like this every day up until this morning
Pic 4 - Coral on 9/7, 8AM

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I doubt that is tissue necrosis, that happens often with pocillopora's. The polyps retract for a few hours up to a few days. Then it will start to look normal again. That happened to mine when I first put it in the tank. It happened a few times after that, now that I have had it for about a year, I haven't seen it do that for about 6 months now.

I would speculate that they are getting used to the new environment or that it is a form of defense. That particular coral is very hardy so I wouldn't do anything drastic and just keep an eye on it.

 

[Dexters Reef]

That would be great news...I tried a birdsnest about a month ago, and it had RTN and the tissue literally all peeled off the skeleton over the course of a day.

This doesnt appear to be the same thing, no peeling, just about 80% closed out of nowhere. Do you think it was a good idea for me to move it away from the cloves?

I did blow the strings off with a baster, and they would reappear a few minutes later. I did this 3-4 times, and they kept coming back, so then I moved it fearing possible stress. Weird, becuase they were both next to each other for 6 days, with no strings, then last night they appeared.

 

[Allmost]

Mine usually did that in 3 cases.
if pottasium was low .... but since you are not carbon dosing that cant be the case.

water got too clear too fast ... some coral food solved that.

something nipping it or bothering the coral ... crabs or fish ... find it and kill it ASAP. it could be the same guy that killed the birdsnest !

or it could simply be getting used to new tank as said above .

 

[Dexters Reef]

only fish are 4 green chromis, black/white clown, mono sebae. None of these fish have EVER been interested in any coral in any way. No pest crabs or creatures, but I will monitor closely when Im home.

As for coral food, the only thing I have is the BRS Reef Chili. Do you think it would eat that?

I called the LFS that grew it and they strongly felt this was due to the clove polyps strings last night that touched it. They said soft and sps corals can sometimes have warfare like this, and advised me to move the coral away (already done) and to dip it.

I have coralRx at home and will dip it, unless people feel that will stress it further and advise against it. Can dipping it cause more harm than good at this point?

Starting to think this isnt tank/water/creature related, and was due to the clove polyps getting angry. LFS felt the same way over the phone

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Blowing at it could have triggered the event as well. Keep an eye on it, I’m certain that it will rebound from this. Unless... it is a predator in the tank as Allmost suggested.

Did you dip it before you placed it in the tank? I wouldn't redip it, just let it run its course.

BTW like the avatar, is that a reference to the series on showtime?

 

[Dexters Reef]

Yes, avatar is a reference to the TV show =) Looking forward to the new season, previews look good!

I did dip it before I put it in the tank, that was 7 days ago. 1QT of 50% tank water, 50% freshly made saltwater, and 1 cap of coralRx

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

yeah I would just wait it out. What I wouldn't do is start taking drastic measures and possibly through the entire tank out of wack.

I looked up yesterday as to when the new season comes out, I knew that it was going to be in September, but pushing it out to the 30th isn't really September though...

 

[Dexters Reef]

The suspense was killing me, told my boss I have a sick pet and asked if I could finish working from home (computer IT stuff). He said no problem! Came home to a much happier coral! Looks like its liking the new spot so far and is mostly recovered! Little bare on the very inside of a couple branches, but Much Much better than it looked at 8AM. Thanks everyone for calming me down, seems like it was coral stress and hopefully the recovery will continue.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Good to hear, I'm glad that you didn't over react by dipping or putting additives into your tank.

Jimmy

 

[Dexters Reef]

Thanks! It's good to have the forum with experienced people to help guide me in the right direction.

I ended moving a large zoanthid rock about 4" from the cloves, sure enough, white strings from the cloves began going to the zoos, and started making little spider webs on them. At that time, the Poc. (about 2 feet away) started looking stressed again. I called the lfs and told them I do not want this Clove rock in my tank anymore and they agreed to let me exchange it for something else. It's getting returned on Saturday.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

return the cloves!

Clavularia, Paraclavularia, Xenia and Kenya Tree all make for good return items. Oh.. let's not forget "cabbage coral" and all other types of Sinularia.

You might want to consider getting rid of Sarcophyton, too.

 

[Dexters Reef]

Cloves were returned today and exchanged for a large rock of armor of god zoanthids. I had some Xenia in here, and moved it to a different tank a few days ago. My only leather is my toadstool, which my clown hosts so I'm not goin to move it. Had it for about 3 years and never had any issues with it, and never saw it slime up or do anything questionable.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

tips

tips

*research allelopathy
*run carbon and perform regular partial water changes

 

[Dexters Reef]

*research allelopathy
*run carbon and perform regular partial water changes

Started reading about allopathy, space is getting filled up in my tank, and didn't have anywhere to put the cloves so they were exchanged for something more peaceful. Didnt think cloves would do that and neither did the LFS.

I run 3 bags of chemipure elite in my sump

I do water changes every 2-3 weeks, and add 2g rodi every 2-3 days. Have my skimmer set to thick, stinky dry skimmate.