What's up with my Acro?

[shesacharmer]

This is my first Acro...a turqoise staghorn that suffered multiple falls to the sandbed and got snapped off the base twice and reglued. Naturally it browned out after such indignities and has mostly just sat pouting for nearly three months. Yesterday it began sloughing off the outer brown layer...it was literally flaking off to reveal this lime green color underneath. It's nowhere near the turquoise color it started out being but is it on it's way there or is it now dying?

 

[leveldrummer]

Sorry, thats STN, slow tissue necrossis, its dying.

 

[shesacharmer]

It wasn't very slow...it did this overnight.

 

[cloak]

RTN perhaps? (rapid tissue necrosis)

Check this out.

http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/eb_jl_111598.html

 

[grant778]

I don't keep Acros and know almost nothing about them, but let me make sure I understand you correctly. It was brownish all over like the upper part of the frag, and then the brown coating on the lower part peeled off to leave the green flesh? If I got this right, then how is it dying if it is coloring up much more than before? As I said, I have never kept an Acro and know little about them, but I am curious as to how it is dying if it seems to be coloring up more.

 

[shesacharmer]

My limited understanding was that for Acros any color but white does not necessarily mean death...I wondered if the light green, having been covered by brown might actually turn a darker shade? You can't really make it out in the picture but the encrusted base still has a bit of darker green on it.

You understand correctly Grant. I brought it home dark turquoise and I didn't have enough light. I added more light but a series of catastrophies browned it out then yesterday the brown started flaking off and it's light green underneath. I guess if it bleaches white I'll know for sure. If it is RTN I doubt I can save it.

 

[DDon]

The light green part of the coral in the picture is dead and is green because of algae in the skeleton (no coral flesh is left). I have had this happen to a few pieces, sometimes it stops but majority of the time continues on the affected coral. What i have done is I frag the coral (cut off the dead part) and attached the living part to a new frag plug or piece of rock. Sometimes this works sometimes unfortunately I have lost the whole piece. If you do this you would cut approx. 1/4" above where it is dying. It also looks like the part encrusted on the frag plug is still alive as well. You could also cut as much of the dead part away from the frag plug as you can what is left on plug may survive and overgrow where you cut.
Or you can do nothing at all and hope for the best, there is a chance it stops rtn/stn and eventually overgrows dead part.
Parameters you listed all look good, any swings that may have caused it?

 

[shesacharmer]

I added some new corals which Cloak's link says is sometimes associated. (Monti Danae, mini frag of Blasto Merleti, Goldeneye Chalice- not near this coral, and an ORA Mint Pavona- also not near this acro.) Other than that the parameters have been pretty stable. It's my only acro and has been troublesome from the start. The necrosis has continued so I think I'll snap it off the base and see if I can save what's on the plug. Thanks all.

 

[shesacharmer]

The fragged pieces also necrosed overnight so I snapped them off and will try to save the encrusted plug.

 

[tmz]

The light green is likely some surface algae . It's bare bone/calcium carbonate skeletal mass;there is no tissue there. It is dying . It may stop/ more often not. Why is a complicated question ; anything from parasites ( red bugs or acro eating flatworms)to variations in alkainity ,nutrients, pH, salinity etc. Fraging it a qaurter inch or so into good tissue might save a piece of it.

 

[shesacharmer]

The fragged pieces did not survive but, knock on wood, so far the encrusted plug is not showing signs of necrosis. Time will tell I guess. It's quite a fascinating illness if you read through the article that cloak posted. I'm glad I don't have any other acros that will go through this. I will continue to keep some SPS but I don't really think Acros are my thing.

 

[shesacharmer]

Two more days have passed and the encrusted plug seems to be okay...no evidence of necrosis...very strange but I'll take it.