What's wrong with my acro?

[drouner]

When I bought his back in late Sept, it had this void of tissue spot on it. I was not very big. But it seems to have gotten larger. I posted a picture to id it several weeks and the picture revealed a few red bugs. Now for the several nights I have been searching for those beasts after lights out and not seen any.

So the question is what is happening? What can I do about it? I thought I could cut the frag down below that area and see it it would heal back up. But that breaks the corals axis and my affect the gowth. I realize these are slow growers. I do see PE at night as I hunt for the red beasts. The frag is in a direct flow pattern of my CL. So it should be getting plenty of flow.

Everything else in the tank is doing great. I tested the water a few days ago and everything was in range w/ no Ph or Nitrites.

 

[drouner]

Here is another shot

 

[REEF-DADDY]

Have you treated for the RB's?

 

[drouner]

No, not since I have not seen any in awhile.

 

[Lobster]

Looks like its simply not growing, so other things are growing on the skeleton and the coral tissue is losing ground. Since you've had it, has it grown any? Is your alkalinity stable? Are phosphate or nitrates high? Is the current too direct? Red bugs probably arent helping, and if you saw them once, they are there.

I've bought frags with spots like that cheap off an LFS, scraped the dead area and covered it with a very thin layer of super glue, and the frag will grow right over that. It has to be healthy and happy in your tank first though.

Is that a tort? For comparison, I got a fresh-cut oregon tort frag not two months ago and it has encrusted the plug already. And I do have red bugs currently.

 

[drouner]

Since you've had it, has it grown any?

Maybe some around the base.

Is your alkalinity stable? Are phosphate or nitrates high?

Alk is tad low, everything else is good.

Is the current too direct?

Are you saying too much flow is hampering the healing and possibly making it worse?



Do red bugs ever just die off?

 

[Serioussnaps]

well to put it bluntly..why the [profanity] did you buy it with that lump on it...
[violation]

good one

 

[sdmotel]

Yikes!

 

[REEF-DADDY]

Imho It looks like it was stung by something. The Red Bugs are holding up the healing process. Don't kid yourself you have red bugs, no question about it. Get yourself some interceptor and treat your tank. If you need help finding some shoot me a pm. Steve

P.S. It's a nice acro, no reason it can't be saved if you take action

 

[drouner]

well to put it bluntly..why the [profanity] did you buy it with that lump on it..

Sounds like first hand experience.

Thanks for the tough love, but that is not helping the issue at hand.

 

[slojmn]

well to put it bluntly..why the [profanity] did you buy it with that lump on it...

drouner, gotta agree with you on first hand experience there . But, in all seriousness, these kind of comments are not helpful one bit and you give off a certain impression of yourself when you kind of lay into people when they are asking for some help. We have all bought stuff in hopes of getting it to recover. I don't know one reefer in my circle over the years that has not bought a few corals near death in hopes of helping them. This coral was just a little banged up, no biggie.

Torts, which it looks to be, can be slow growers for sure, despite Lobster's experience with his Oregon tort (wish mine woudl pick up the pace a bit, Lobster can you have your Oregon tort give my oregon tort a call and motivate it to grow faster). The Oregon tort is actually a great example of slow growth, generally. I also have had a cali tort for over a year that has only grown maybe double in size from the original frag. It has been stung a few times by other corals and this certainly slows down the growth process so it can heal. Mine looks a lot like you r picture when it gets stung. In comaprison my acro stoddarti which has grown 15 times it size in less than a year. I wouldn't worry to much about the slow growth at this point but the red bugs should be dealt with IMO. A certain amount of flow is neccessary for healing but Lobster's idea of some super glue over the exposed skeleton may be a good idea. Usually I do notdo this, I let the coral heal over itself but if it is getting worse or the growth is not covering algae spots then super glue can be helpful. Check all of your params and keep them stable. The oral is stressed and any fluctuations in params will hinder healing. Good luck .

 

[dirtyreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8436305#post8436305 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Serioussnaps
well to put it bluntly..why the [profanity] did you buy it with that lump on it...

good one

Dude you fly off the handle way too much on here What's up with that retarded post?

drouner: I would just put some crazy glue over it so that it doesn't spread. Doesn't seem too serious but it will eventually grow over the glue once healthy again.

 

[Reefer421]

drouner: It all started with a 10 gallon Wal Mart FW combo.

That is so true...LOL!!!

 

[xtm]

Since it's on the tip anyways, can't you just break that piece off so it wouldn't spread?

 

[Lobster]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8436818#post8436818 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by slojmn
Torts, which it looks to be, can be slow growers for sure, despite Lobster's experience with his Oregon tort (wish mine woudl pick up the pace a bit, Lobster can you have your Oregon tort give my oregon tort a call and motivate it to grow faster). The Oregon tort is actually a great example of slow growth, generally. I also have had a cali tort for over a year that has only grown maybe double in size from the original frag.

It was a surprise to me as well. I got a big frag of cali tort at the same time and it has only put down a dime-sized base. The oregon tort is going over the edge of the plug. Not that I am complaining! I'll try to find the pics of when I got them and make before/afters.

 

[drouner]

Let's see the before and after...........