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Hello all-
I wanted to share some interesting info with the community and proof of why quarantine is important for absolutely every coral. Im an avid collector or over 5 years and have experienced and survived everything- red bugs, acro flat worms, monti nudies, you name it! They have all been a pain but am always able to overcome with the knowledge provided by other fellow reefers and extreme care and attention of my reef. My 300 gallon mixed reef tank parameters are typically right on point. calcium 400, kh 9, nitrates apprx 0, phosphates 0, magnesium around 1400 or so. Im very consistent with my reefkeeping.
So my tank is extremely diversified with heavy sps and lps. About 3-4 months ago I posted a thread about my LPS receding. The first month consisted of strictly acans (about 15 species total), second month chalices, and then scollys and lastly lobos etc. It did not spread into the next species until all colonys of one particular species were affected. No euphyllias impacted so far. Anyways Ive lost over half my prized collection and the symptoms started as the corals simply not inflating properly and being recessed. Shortly to follow the recession, was a white line typically on one side of the coral that looked like white mucous on the edge. Once this line started, the recession spread quickly. Its been a very long, slow death process. I have tried dipping weekly and it tends to prevent the white line from spreading on the coral and the white mucous spot typically clears up after the dip, but apprx a week later or so the mucous line returns or the coral just continues to recede slowly (as in a multiple week timeframe). Its too weird considering most of the lps pieces are over three years old and have grown exponentially.
There are a couple interesting factors I must describe that took place around the timeframe of this initial receding incident. One thing I did notice was that I had slowed down on my feeding over the last 6 months as my tank stock has gone down. My nitrates typically run less than 5 but now are at 0 and my phosphates zeroed out as well. Also, I have had macro for multiple years and it has been dying off throughout this period. In addition, I have a reeflo orca skimmer that dropped to like 50 % of the bubbles that it typically produced during this period. I checked the skimmer for issues and it was flawless but still not producing the right amount of bubble action in the chamber. When I found out the phosphates and nitrates had zeroed out in the last month or so I decided to start feeding the tank heavier again. Instantly the skimmer picked back up to a full bubble tower/column and has been that way since the increased feeding. I was shocked as the skimmer had been performing pretty weakly for quite some time. I have been feeding the tank and corals heavier now and the visible white mucous lines on the corals have lessened but the tissue is still receding.
Another note I want to point out is that I started collecting Aussie acans around this time frame. I remember that the first acan that began showing these symptoms was a new aussie piece that a buddy brought back for me from florida. I did all of the precautions with dipping, two weeks in the frag tank, and then it lasted about a month in my display before the weak inflated polyps, recession, and then complete death. My buddy who also got a couple acans from the same spot reported the same symptoms for a good while but eventually his receding went away. He has a much smaller nano setup so this may have contributed to a quicker cycle of the disease or something. After this specific incident, a couple weeks later another acan showed symptoms and seemed to spread down to other colonies down the tank and then through other species over time. Again very weird that it hit all acans first, then spread to strictly chalices, then scollys etc. so weird. Almost like red bugs on acros which brings me to my next question about “black bugs” and then also bacterial infections. I have read a couple forums on the black bugs but they seem to be a fairly new issue with all of the new aussie corals being brought in. I have looked closely for these critters but am coming up empty handed. I also did a light interceptor treatment (one strong enough for red bugs but not as strong as the doses that others with similar issues seem to have success with) but no such luck. This leads me to believe that either a stronger dose is necessary or that the infection is bacterial.
Long story short, there is something that is causing similar issues in other reef tanks specifically affecting high end lps. It could be related to the low phosphates and low nitrates but again with how the process started and spread it seems like something else may be the culprit. I will most likely try a stronger dose of interceptor next week and will keep everyone posted with feedback. Its so sad to lose such rare, expensive, and difficult to collect piecies. I will not find many of these colonies again. Anyways, always remember to dip and if anything watch corals in your frag tanks for months rather than weeks. These diseases and pests take time to develop so with better care we can all avoid issues like this.
I attached some pics so you can better understand the damage. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and happy reef keeping!
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I wanted to share some interesting info with the community and proof of why quarantine is important for absolutely every coral. Im an avid collector or over 5 years and have experienced and survived everything- red bugs, acro flat worms, monti nudies, you name it! They have all been a pain but am always able to overcome with the knowledge provided by other fellow reefers and extreme care and attention of my reef. My 300 gallon mixed reef tank parameters are typically right on point. calcium 400, kh 9, nitrates apprx 0, phosphates 0, magnesium around 1400 or so. Im very consistent with my reefkeeping.
So my tank is extremely diversified with heavy sps and lps. About 3-4 months ago I posted a thread about my LPS receding. The first month consisted of strictly acans (about 15 species total), second month chalices, and then scollys and lastly lobos etc. It did not spread into the next species until all colonys of one particular species were affected. No euphyllias impacted so far. Anyways Ive lost over half my prized collection and the symptoms started as the corals simply not inflating properly and being recessed. Shortly to follow the recession, was a white line typically on one side of the coral that looked like white mucous on the edge. Once this line started, the recession spread quickly. Its been a very long, slow death process. I have tried dipping weekly and it tends to prevent the white line from spreading on the coral and the white mucous spot typically clears up after the dip, but apprx a week later or so the mucous line returns or the coral just continues to recede slowly (as in a multiple week timeframe). Its too weird considering most of the lps pieces are over three years old and have grown exponentially.
There are a couple interesting factors I must describe that took place around the timeframe of this initial receding incident. One thing I did notice was that I had slowed down on my feeding over the last 6 months as my tank stock has gone down. My nitrates typically run less than 5 but now are at 0 and my phosphates zeroed out as well. Also, I have had macro for multiple years and it has been dying off throughout this period. In addition, I have a reeflo orca skimmer that dropped to like 50 % of the bubbles that it typically produced during this period. I checked the skimmer for issues and it was flawless but still not producing the right amount of bubble action in the chamber. When I found out the phosphates and nitrates had zeroed out in the last month or so I decided to start feeding the tank heavier again. Instantly the skimmer picked back up to a full bubble tower/column and has been that way since the increased feeding. I was shocked as the skimmer had been performing pretty weakly for quite some time. I have been feeding the tank and corals heavier now and the visible white mucous lines on the corals have lessened but the tissue is still receding.
Another note I want to point out is that I started collecting Aussie acans around this time frame. I remember that the first acan that began showing these symptoms was a new aussie piece that a buddy brought back for me from florida. I did all of the precautions with dipping, two weeks in the frag tank, and then it lasted about a month in my display before the weak inflated polyps, recession, and then complete death. My buddy who also got a couple acans from the same spot reported the same symptoms for a good while but eventually his receding went away. He has a much smaller nano setup so this may have contributed to a quicker cycle of the disease or something. After this specific incident, a couple weeks later another acan showed symptoms and seemed to spread down to other colonies down the tank and then through other species over time. Again very weird that it hit all acans first, then spread to strictly chalices, then scollys etc. so weird. Almost like red bugs on acros which brings me to my next question about “black bugs” and then also bacterial infections. I have read a couple forums on the black bugs but they seem to be a fairly new issue with all of the new aussie corals being brought in. I have looked closely for these critters but am coming up empty handed. I also did a light interceptor treatment (one strong enough for red bugs but not as strong as the doses that others with similar issues seem to have success with) but no such luck. This leads me to believe that either a stronger dose is necessary or that the infection is bacterial.
Long story short, there is something that is causing similar issues in other reef tanks specifically affecting high end lps. It could be related to the low phosphates and low nitrates but again with how the process started and spread it seems like something else may be the culprit. I will most likely try a stronger dose of interceptor next week and will keep everyone posted with feedback. Its so sad to lose such rare, expensive, and difficult to collect piecies. I will not find many of these colonies again. Anyways, always remember to dip and if anything watch corals in your frag tanks for months rather than weeks. These diseases and pests take time to develop so with better care we can all avoid issues like this.
I attached some pics so you can better understand the damage. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and happy reef keeping!
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<legend> Attached files </legend>
