Colt Coral In Distress, Please Help

[lgoins]

I've had my colt coral for a couple of months now and it has until recently been doing very well, with significant growth. All of a sudden It's started expelling some of it's algea and most of it's polyps are retracted. I tried putting an false perc in their but it contracted a skin infection so I took it out. Everything else in the tank seems to be thriving and water quality reads Nitrates: 0, Nitrites:0 , Ammonia: 0, pH: 8.2, Temp: 78, SG: 1.023.

List of Inhabitants: mushrooms, several different types of xenia, gsp, anthelia, toadstool, ricordia, blue damsel, etc.

 

Any Ideas??????

[lgoins]

It's gettin worse every day now, I would appreciate some advice.

[tinyreef]

could be something the perc dragged into the system. ime colt's are somewhat more suspectible to infections/bacteria than most other corals (anthelia as well).

 

symbiont algae expulsion is unusual in such a case tho. is it bleached white when expanded (if at all expanded)? it may just be retracted completely and looks somewhat bleached. did you medicate at all for the perc? if so, run carbon and switch often (3x week).

 

i would recommend upping the temp to around 80F at least and try some lugol's iodine dosing (for anti-bacterial properties). you may also want to up your salinity to 1.025~1.026. i find better resistance/health for my corals around there. hth

[lgoins]

I was guessing that the perc brought it in. No it's not bleached white, although today it has no expansion whatsoever. As for medication for the perc, I tried garlic xtreme, but only one drop, and the colt looked bad before that. I appreciate the response.

[lgoins]

I decided to give up on the colt, my anthelia have been affected also from this mystery bacteria in the tank. I'm hoping the anthelia will pull through