Some Acropora rapidly browning ???

[markalot]

I might need help, or I'm beyond help.

So I have had a slimer for almost 2 years now and it's color has gone from medium green to vivid green off and on but yesterday, after cutting and removing an invasive pipe organ coral, it browned out rapidly, very very rapidly. It didn't even slime up, just lost most of its color.

Here is a FTS taken 2 days ago.

You can see the slimer in the back. On the front of the rocks, in front of the slimer and a few other acros, is that damn pipe organ. It has been growing inside rocks and around corners and finally popped a few polyps up next to a milli and killed it. Time to go. I was able to remove the rock it was on but I had to cut and scrape a lot of it off rocks which clouded the tank a bit.

This is what the slimer looks like today, about 24 hours after I removed the Pipe organ.

This is the 'blue' acro right in front of it.

The really frustrating thing is that not every acro is effected. If this coral lost color I can't tell it from this shot. It's on the other side of the tank.

Like I said above, this is the worst the slimer has ever looked for me, it's hardly green! Could this be some reaction to killing the Pipe Organ? I replaced carbon last night after maintenance and when I noticed the slimer lacked its normal green sheen I added two caps of Prime in case I released something bad.

KH 8.6
Calcium 450
PO4 ~.05
NO3 10
Salinity 35
Mag not tested

 

[markalot]

Well,

my best guess now 24 hours from the event is I either had something on my hands, crushed some ugly pallys, or the pipe organ spewed something toxic. Under blue lights you can really see what acros got hit while others seem unaffected.

I added carbon when I noticed some shrooms shriveled up, which I thought was odd since they always appear unchanged. They looked normal by morning but I suppose whatever was in the water did the damage.

Perhaps the lesson here for me is ... this is why people run SPS only tanks.

 

[UTCReefer]

How are you measuring Po4, and salinity?

 

[markalot]

How are you measuring Po4, and salinity?

Salinity is a calibrated Refractometer with some 35ppt fluid.

PO4 is Salifert double everything, which has been reliable enough for me in the past. I've had what I think was a PO4 brownout in the past, when it hit .2 on the salifert test, and the slimer did not brown out. I've never had the slimer fade like this, and I've never had any acro fade so rapidly.

You can see, in the FTS though, that good acro colors have not been easy for me. My smallest frags show good color, but the larger ones are mostly turds. Miami Orchid is the exception, but it doesn't photograph well.

 

[markalot]

Here's an example of a smooth skin acro that still looks good on top but is showing some stress on the underside.

I guess there isn't a good answer, it could be anything. I was just shocked, still am shocked, at how rapidly the slimer lost color. I've had that thing since it was a little fraglet, I would hate to lose it now.

 

[UTCReefer]

I would try to use a photometer to measure the PO4. It may be higher than you think. What is your growth like?

 

[robs.mark]

I would buy a hanna meter for p04 and get a more accurate reading.

its strange that the slimmer would brown out so quickly though even with a p04 spike, as you said perhaps the pipe organ released a chemical, or the rock you removed stired up a p04 spike.

My advice, fwiw, would be not to change anything too fast and risk further stress to the coral. Maybe you could do a series of 10% wc's over a week and take regular photos to see if you notice any change in color of the affected corals.

 

[markalot]

Thanks for the posts.

I took some top downs this evening and it appears to be some sort of toxin issue that must of happened during maintenance. Acros on the right side of the tank show almost no color loss while those near the area I was working show extreme changes. All acros have very little polyp extension while other SPS are doing just fine.

This was taken today, this coral sits 2 feet away from where I was working.

March 17th

This jacquelineae sits to the right of the subulata

Today

March 17th

This smooth skin sits in the middle of the tank, just to the right of where I was working.

Today (some browning)

March 17th

Here is what the slimer looks like today. :headwally:

The big green slimer makes such a big impact on the look of the tank the loss of color is huge. I'm super relieved that now 48 hours away from whatever happened things seem to have stabilized. Rox carbon put in the sump might have saved my colors.

I have a Hannah checker, I just didn't want to get into a big discussion about it. I get different values depending on the reagent packets used, I find it very unreliable, but it's probably me that's the problem. Salifert PO4 still shows minimal amounts ~.05. I do appreciate the suggestions though, all advice is welcome!

 

[Big E]

You can see the slimer in the back. On the front of the rocks, in front of the slimer and a few other acros, is that damn pipe organ. It has been growing inside rocks and around corners and finally popped a few polyps up next to a milli and killed it. Time to go. I was able to remove the rock it was on but I had to cut and scrape a lot of it off rocks which clouded the tank a bit.

What you're describing isn't pipe organ coral..............pipe organ is like a stoney coral. It has a purple hard skeleton that polyps grow from.

It sounds more like green star polyps(encrusting gorgonian). You stressed the corals while working in the area and probably released a bunch of toxin into the water column by scraping & releasing clouds of who knows what.

Makes sense that the acros around that area got a good dose of the stuff before it dissipated.

I think things will come back to normal in a week or two. It's good you didn't go off half cocked and start making a bunch of changes............once you do something like that you start a chain reaction and down a road of angst for months.

 

[markalot]

Thanks Ed, I've made that mistake before. This time I measured KH, saw it was climbing, turned off the dosers, added fresh carbon, and waited to see what happened.

KH usage is back to 90ml a day so things seem to be recovering.

I'm pretty sure it is a pipe organ, I've had it for years. It's sold as metallic green pipe organ and is much larger than some of the prettier varieties. Hard paperlike purple skeleton and seemingly peaceful. Most of the fragile skeleton grew out an away from the rock, as expected, but the base ended up acting much like GSP, the purple skeleton climbing up through tiny holes in the rocks, just small enough to fit a single polyp. I was able to remove the primary rock it was on, but the removal on the surrounding rocks must have released too many toxins.

Here's a picture of a piece I moved into my 29 gallon, closed up.

 

[Big E]

That's interesting.........I've never seen them invasive like that. The one's I have had always seems so sensitive and wimpy.

Still, all the short term stress does fit the bill......scrubbing any coral "in tank"is probably going to cause stress.

Glad to see things shaping back up.

 

[kevin_e]

Besides the slimmer, everything looks the same.

Judging by the soon to be heavy bubble algae and calurpa density, you defibately have elevated nutrients.

 

[markalot]

Besides the slimmer, everything looks the same.

Judging by the soon to be heavy bubble algae and calurpa density, you defibately have elevated nutrients.

That's a different tank Kevin. And yes, it's a mess, by design.

 

[markalot]

Update to this, just for closure.

I am certain it was a toxin issue. No other corals besides those near where I was working lost color. I'm glad the slimer reacted so fast, otherwise I might not have added carbon until the next day.

The slimer is well on it's way to recovery now, polyp extension is almost normal and the green shine is coming back. I wish all acros could bounce back this fast!

Chalk it up to yet another lesson learned. Only 374 left to go.

 

[acrohead500ppm]

Hmmm, maybe Tubipora musica has developed a certain compound to combat specifically with Acropora yongei.

Some species of xenia release compounds that only effect certain species of Montipora?

 

[markalot]

Hmmm, maybe Tubipora musica has developed a certain compound to combat specifically with Acropora yongei.

Some species of xenia release compounds that only effect certain species of Montipora?

Yea, I wonder, but it could also have been unrelated to this, or I did something careless that I wasn't even aware of. There are some of those invasive Seafoam pallys around that I might have disturbed, it's also possible I had something on my hands, though I washed them before working on the tank.

All I can say is that in the 2 years I've had this slimer I have never seen it react so fast. I was scared I might have killed it.