Bleaching Or Something Worse?

[Nick James]

I noticed white on the tip of new growth on the Setosa yesterday, a few days after I moved it a little lower in the tank. I also noticed a bit of white which is near the base of the side that didn't have much growth yet. I switched to Steve's LEDs about 3-4 weeks ago now and have been slowly raising the power on them. Everything seemed to be doing well so far. I am at 44% power on the LEDs and I am not going to increase until I figure this out.

Here are pics..



You will notice a little white on the lower left new growth. I am not sure if it is smaller or the same as yesterday.



Coloration thought the coral is good other then these spots. Doesn't seem faded.

I keep salinity 1.026 and temp is 78.

Tests Sunday were fine except Mag was low.. 1100. All was 8dkh, calc was 420, phosphates and nitrates were undetectable. Tests were done in the evening.

I tested again just now. Mag was 1160, calc 460, alk 7.5, phosphates and nitrates undetectable. I was going to do a water change before work just because but will have to wait till tomorrow.

I do 10% water change religiously every Sunday.. Nothing else seems out of sorts.

Any ideas from the gurus?

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Have you inspected for pests?

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Anything nearby that could sting it?

 

[Nick James]

Have you inspected for pests?

Not since I brought it home a month or so ago. I'll do a closer inspection when I get home.

It is not near anything else.

 

[Nick James]

I did just change my chemical media, Chemi-Pure Blue and Purigen on Sunday. I have read that even a swing of .4 Phosphate in 24 hours could cause Alk swing (mine dropped) which could in turn cause what I am seeing. Does this make sense?

 

[David Caplan]

Looks like Monti-eating nudi marks. Setosa is very hard to bleach. An alk swing is more likely to cause browning and tissue necrosis. I've never had Magnesium that low, so no idea what that could cause.

 

[Nick James]

Looks like Monti-eating nudi marks. Setosa is very hard to bleach. An alk swing is more likely to cause browning and tissue necrosis. I've never had Magnesium that low, so no idea what that could cause.

.. Insert expletive here...

 

[David Caplan]

Your pictures aren't super clear, but in the second one right under the frag plag, there are two spots of white (one has the shape of a nudi) is that dry glue? If not, you've found your culprit.

 

[Nick James]

Dry glue

But I am going to inspect closely when I get home.
This is the only SPS coral I have.. And only have 5 corals total. Would the nudibranch die off with no sps in the system?

 

[Nick James]

I took a good long stare at it and don't see anything that resembles a) eggs or b) any bugs/nudies/pests..

I would be really surprised if there were nudies on this or any of the corals because of where they came from.

 

[Nick James]

I did another 10% water change today. Will do another tomorrow as well. Mag was up in the 1200's but this moron forgot to read the level of titrant left in the vial before he poured it out. That's called distracted testing..

Didn't test alk or calc due to time restraints before work.

 

[scubasteve]

if its bleaching it should still have polyp extension still on the white spots if not i would say its slow tissue necrosis or nudibranch. for the most nudies stick to one species (ie. zoas, monti, acros) did you dip and quarenteen before putting in display? even a trusted source you should dip at the very least. i would say do a coral rx dip a couple times a week or once a week for a month and see if it helps. it normally helps alot for not just pests but rtn or stn and even infections and algae

 

[David Caplan]

if its bleaching it should still have polyp extension still on the white spots if not i would say its slow tissue necrosis or nudibranch. for the most nudies stick to one species (ie. zoas, monti, acros) did you dip and quarenteen before putting in display? even a trusted source you should dip at the very least. i would say do a coral rx dip a couple times a week or once a week for a month and see if it helps. it normally helps alot for not just pests but rtn or stn and even infections and algae

I have found exactly the same. It even helps grafting. Of the monticaps I grafted, the ones that have done best are the ones that have been dipped in coral RX every week.

 

[scubasteve]

I have found exactly the same. It even helps grafting. Of the monticaps I grafted, the ones that have done best are the ones that have been dipped in coral RX every week.

great minds think alike i have a small chunk of red digi and blue digi thats grafted together and growing well im selling at the show. even my corals that look sick or arent doing well normally do fine after a few dips. that stuff is gold in my books.

 

[Nick James]

I did not quarantine.. I don't have a quarantine setup or the equipment at the moment. I guess we know what I'll be investing in next...

I am leaning towards STN.. I have seen no sign of bugs or pests. Would a dip help with stopping STN or possibly cutting off the bleached tip of the new growth.. Fragging above it?

My parameters got out of whack. I am not sure how as I do frequent water changes and have had no major changes other than the switch to LED, and I replaced my Purigen and Chemi pure last week. I have read a swing in alk has been associated with STN.. It could also have to do with low mag.. Which I had both at the low end of things this week.

I have read when slowly corrected the coral could grow over the white/dead part. I also realize that it could also be the end of this coral.. Which sucks..

I'll keep doing what I can to hopefully reverse what happened. Water changes and maybe I'll try dipping it as u suggested. I have coral Rx ready to go..

 

[Nick James]

Update pic.. The dying at the base has spread a bit... The living part of the setosa still has PE and the polyps have actually looked more extended recently.. Everything else in the tank seems fine. All parameters are good. I did dip it again in coral Rx...

 

[Nick James]

One drastic measure I could take.. Frag it above the STN.. Glue it to a new plug.. And cross m my fingers... Or I could leave it as is and hope it recOvers.

 

[reef keeper]

Unless I'm slow....is the white part on the dark side of the moon? Also looks like monti eating nudi. It doesn't matter where it came from. If they had a single egg that ended up on your frag.... Nudis.

Your parameter are moving an awful lot to be considered stable, which really is paramount to being successful with sps. Mag must remain over 1300, or you will bottom out alk.

Alk stability IMO is one of the keys. And the key to stable alk is stable mag.

Pests will die without their host - nudibranchs are type specific. Dip the coral, and add a melanarus wrasse.

 

[thehvacman]

I had Monti eating nudibranchs for years and did even know until my green Christmas wrasse jumped out, and the population exploded. All wrasses will eat nudibranchs so it is option for control, but they never eat all of them. Good luck.

 

[Nick James]

I haven't seen any nudis.. Even dipped the coral in Coral Rx and inspected it closely. They get between 1mm-3mm long and you would think I would of be able to see something. Tried with lights out and a flashlight as well.

In any case, I ordered Potassium Permanganate and will do a dip with that. If there are microscopic ninja nudis on it they will die