SPS has patches of no tissue. Could it be a parasite? (pic included)

[cheech]

You can see some patches that have no tissue on there. Anyone know what can be the cause? The base of the coral is doing well, as are the tips, which is why I'm thinking it might be a parasite eating away at the sps.

I don't think I have flatworms (haven't seen any in the months that my corals have been in there).

Any advice would greatly be appreciated.

All levels are good, tank has been stable for months, and growth has been great.

I didn't think anything of it until a friend of mine told me that it shouldn't look that way.

 

[minhvu]

Probably red bugs. My sps looked like that when I get red bugs. Use a magnifying glass and check for them

 

[cheech]

Thank you,

I'll look into that.


Here's another picture if it can help anyone with other suggestions

 

[andbob25]

What fish do u have in the tank?

 

[cheech]

A desjardini tang, and a couple of ocelarrus clownfish. And a regular cleanup crew. Hermits, and turbos.

They've all been there for years

 

[aquaph8]

Probably red bugs. My sps looked like that when I get red bugs. Use a magnifying glass and check for them

I was thinking the same thing but my infected acro's never had that good of PE with red bugs.

 

[REEF SMAC]

Looks like some kind of random STN possibly to me.
Doesn't really look munched on.

I would keep a close eye on it and see if the patches get larger. If they do then you might have to frag off the dying portions to save it.

 

[downbeach]

What other coral do you have nearby, i.e. anything with long sweeper tentacles?

 

[Reef Bass]

In the second pic, on the main branch where both a left and the larger right branch branch off are a number of spots that look suspect to me.

 

[cheech]

I'm going to do a coral dip to start, to see if any critters (flatworms and such) come out of the piece and ill take it from there.

 

[cheech]

Can anyone help me out with this? I never thought I had flatworms, but after inspecting the tank I found a patch of this stuff. I always thought it was simply algae, but now I'm thinking they might be a type of flatworm that may be causing the issues I'm having.

What do you think?

 

[Bandos reefer]

They don't look like flatworms to me. Have you tried scrapping them off?

 

[potterjon]

flatworms have a very distinct fork like shape to them. Those aren't flatworms.

 

[potterjon]

I know everyone hates to answer this but what are your water parameters?

 

[cheech]

I know everyone hates to answer this but what are your water parameters?

Nitrates +-5
phosphates 0
cal 460
alk 9.5
mag is quite high (which is strange cause I haven't dosed in months) like 1600ish
temp is stable at 78

 

[tbryan]

started using gfo recently? Gfo shock has caused patches on mine like that before.

 

[cheech]

Nope no gfo. My kh was off afteral. My timer stopped working and alk dropped to 7.9. I'm thinking that might have done it. I'm slowly getting it back up to about 10 dkh and ill take it from there