What's wrong with my Nasuta?

[triguy]

I picked up this frag almost a year ago at MAX. It has been growing nicely in my tank, but it has started to look weird. Let me say that I did run FWE in my tank about a month ago to get rid of my red planaria problem. It was my first time, and I didn't read the directions carefully, and I discovered I wasn't running the correct amount of carbon. So a few of my corals lost PE for a few days and color. I'm wondering if that mistake has anything to do with what I am seeing now. All other coral are doing great. I've included some growth shots so you can see what it has looked like over the past year.

Weird new look

 

[watchguy123]

Not sure much is wrong.

Sometimes frags look so dramatic but the mother colony is just ok, its the tips that have the drama. so your frag can look great but your colony not so great.

Also possible, the lighting and parameters in your tank have led to a change in the ideal color of the frag/colony. Lots of people talk about one frag/colony doing great in their friends tank but in their own tank it is very different. Heck, sometimes two frags from the same mother colony will look different in the same tank because of different flow and light ing characteristics.

Oh, the joy of reef keeping

Forgot to say, its probably your alkalinity. Its always alkalinity. That might be a wee bit narrow sighted. But its always alkalinity.

The reason its alway alkalinity is because if you check your alkalinity, you will probably check all the other testable parameters. So my recommendation: check your alkalinity.

 

[SULLY736]

It still looks good. I wouldn't worry about it unless it starts looking stressed

 

[spartanomega21]

I dont know if it explains it but one of my acros looks similar to that where it is getting pounded with flow

 

[t4zalews]

Look at night for red bugs..something is bugging it..do you run carbon?

 

[speedstar]

Did the die off of FW's cause a mini cycle in your tank? I got that look when my tank cycled over.

 

[animalkingdom]

I'd double check your calc with another test kit. I had something similar happen to a nasuta when my calc got low after my two part pump died.

 

[Frick]

And while you are at it might as well do a Mg test. When SPS grows like this it usually means there is something out of wack with the big three; Alk, Ca, and Mg.

 

[REEF SMAC]

Looks to me like you somehow increased the amount of flow it is getting.

 

[biggles]

It looks like the calcification process has been compromised, as others have said it is highly likely that one of the big three is or was out of whack. I've seen the same thing in my old tank when calcium was down around 300 for 2 weeks even though alk was fine at 9 - wasn't testing as thought i had everything under control :debi: When you squeezed a branch between your fingers the new deformed growth was very soft and crumbled easily compared to normal growth. Only 2 colonies reacted this way out of about 25, the others never missed a beat. If you look very closely does it look like the coralites are overgrowing themselves, as if the skeletal length growth can't keep up with the outside tissue growth and is being over run as that's what mine looked like. Good luck, if my description fits don't stress, both mine recovered normal growth but it took a few months to hide the malformed growth.

 

[tmz]

I know of other pos t FWE scenarios and declining sps. It's usually got something to do with alkainity,flow,detritus accumulations or pests of one kind or another ,though.

 

[stevedola]

Ive had this happen before...my calcium was on the low side 390ish and I bumped it up and it went away eventually. Id bet its your levels...although consistent they may not be balanced correctly.what are alk/calc/mag levels?

 

[tmz]

As long as alk is relatively constant and there is enough calcium and magnesium ; there is no precise optimal balance among them that is desireable or acheivable in an active reeef tank as a general rule . Pushing numbers around to get one or the other often leads to trouble. A steday alk within the range of 7 to 11 dkh; calcium 380ppm plus up to 500 or so and magnesium 1280 and up to 1500 or so will work just fine. So, if your alk isn't jumping around and you have enough calcium and magnesium, I'd look elsewhere forth trouble.
Perhaps the flatworm die off or the FWE messes with the organics to a point where coral symbionts are effected or it might reduce O2 in certain areas; don't know but other experienced sps keepers have had similar experiences with FWE particualry when it and dead flatworms and organics are not promptly removed via gac, siphoning and partial water changes.

 

[stevedola]

i was just stating what my experiences were with bubbled tips and odd coralite growth but if you guys feel that its the FWE then more water changes,plenty of carbon and time would probably help.

 

[tmz]

i was just stating what my experiences were with bubbled tips and odd coralite growth but if you guys feel that its the FWE then more water changes,plenty of carbon and time would probably help.

It could be a deficiency or swing in alk or calcium below recommended ranges; I don't have the op's numbers. It's just not a "balance issue" per se . If his alk is/has been steady and calcium is not deficient then it's something else and FWE is a good supect ,imo.

 

[triguy]

Whoa! haven't checked back because I had only one reply and he was leaning towards Alk which checked out just fine. I will check my Ca and Mg levels tomorrow. Reason I don't think it is my water parameters is because this is only on this piece. Now, I did a big water change the other day to where my water level dropped below this piece, so it was exposed to air. After refilling the tank with new water, my nasuta had lots and lots of stringy slime coming off. The next day it looked different, and appeared as though some "stuff" could be blown off. I get the turkey baster and sure enough, some "stuff" comes off. It is still not normal, but looking better after turkey basting; however a few days later and it appears the bumpy coralites my be spreading again. Could this be some sort of sponge?
After WC, but before basting

After basting

 

[Borchers]

You may want to remove that colony until it can be identified. Looks like mold almost but that's really weird. Good luck.

 

[triguy]

You may want to remove that colony until it can be identified. Looks like mold almost but that's really weird. Good luck.

This piece is encrusted to my large shelf piece. I would have to cut it near the base to try and remove it, which would be good because then I could dip it. But before I resort to that, I am going to try another large WC and have it exposed to air longer.

 

[aqua80]

never seen anything like that !
please keep us updated...

 

[stevedola]

The A.Gemefera that was affected in my tank was the only piece showing signs of bubbled flesh. Your A.Nasuta looks much worse than mine did after you basted the flesh off it. I remember I could pull the flesh off the bubbled tip and my tang actually took a liking to the tips (nibbler). I would strongly suggest checking calcium and mag levels. Not knowing or monitoring 2 critical chemistry levels in your tank may have been working fine for years but to diagnose why this issue has affected the Nasuta you will need all the information you can ascertain. Also, try to frag a piece of the coral...maybe even give it to a friend to keep it safe for the time being. I have stated that my calcium level was low and since raising it to 470 my bubble tips are disappeared and the coral has regained its normal structure and color.