Undata acting strange

[jroovers]

The last few days during lights out my undata has been sliming up across almost the entirety of the coral. At first I thought it was possibly spawning, but now that it has done that four days in a row that would seem unlikely. Seems like it is annoyed. I don't see anything on it, but my cleaner shrimp like to hang out by it at night so it is possible they are climbing on it at night. They move away to another area during lights on. When the lights are on, it seems okay, but the polyps aren't fully extending. I can't see anything on it otherwise. All my parameters are good (Alk 7.4, Ca 390, Mg 1275). All my acros seem happy as can be. Has anyone seen this before?

 

[jroovers]

The only logical explanation I can come up with is that my cleaner shrimp are irritating it, or even trying to eat it... I've been feeding light lately so maybe they are hungry. They may have to be moved to my sump temporarily to find out if this is indeed the issue. Anyone else have issues with cleaner shrimp and SPS? I've had them before and I've never seen this.

 

[chessmanmark]

Your undata is pure perfection. The size of it is astonishing and the color is superb.

IME, this piece can be temperamental. I have never been able to get one to look the way you do.

I had one look like it had died off. The polyps disappeared and I figured it was dead, however the tissue was still there. It receded a little and then a couple months later polyps began to show again. It seemed like it came back from the dead.

Did you just rearrange your tank? I thought I read that you got rid of some corals and just kept the bigger colonies. Could you have disturbed the sand or rock in some way that irritated the undata. When was the last time you changed your carbon? Did you change your phosban or biopellets recently? Changed bulbs or spectrum?

Just throwing out some questions to help you think of the process to eliminate some and narrow your focus.

Good luck with the piece Jordan.

 

[jroovers]

Thanks for you input, appreciated! I really haven't made any changes so that is why I'm perplexed. I did change my substrate, but that was months ago. I recently topped up my biopellets, but that was at least three or four weeks ago, and this issue has only popped up in the last 4 or 5 days. I changed my rowaphos about 3 weeks ago. Other than that, I haven't really stirred up anything, moved anything around etc. that would account for what is going on. My best guess is it is the cleaner shrimp, followed by a water quality issue. I have been skimming fairly heavy and feeding pretty light, and my corals have paled a touch. Maybe it is just peeved at that, but I'm not certain. I'd hate to lose it, as you noted it is huge and has had great colour. I'm going to move my cleaner shrimp to the sump and see if that helps, and try and skim a bit dryer and feed a touch heavier and go from there. This really has me annoyed!

I haven't really added anything to the tank either - the last coral I added was a couple of months ago now I did a thorough Bayer dip, although I guess it is possible I have some type of montipora pest. I can't see anything on it though. I wonder if I should do a dip. I can take the whole rock out that it is on, it is really huge and would need a large container for a dip, but it is doable.