SPS Bugs but not red!

[neonstingray]

Hey everyone,

I've had my tank running for a little over half a year now. Over Christmas break I had someone babysit it for 2 weeks. When I returned my reef controller for some reason had stopped running the powerhead, which usually runs on a random cycle, so the only water flow I had was the return from my sump. My friend didn't notice this as he knows nothing about reef keeping. The tank looked fine except for some of my birdsnest showing bleaching starting from the base moving outward, and on closer inspection I could see some tiny tiny greyish bugs moving around - too small to see any detail, just grey specs moving. Since nothing new had been added to the tank in awhile, I figured they were something already in the tank and the lack of flow let them multiply, so I decided to wait a bit, but they're still there. I then tried a strong Coral RX dip last night, and it looked like they started to fall off, but today I still see them. Does anyone have any idea what these are, or how to treat them? They're definitely not acro-eating flatworms, and as I said are grey in color, not red.

 

Thanks for any help!

[Deleted User 3]

Could they be pods?

[neonstingray]

Hmm, if they were pods though why would they only be on the bleached part of the coral?

[patback]

The birds aren't bleaching. They are suffering from either rapid or slow tissue necrosis. Some pods will eat decaying matter.

[neonstingray]

Ok, so at this point I'm guessing there's nothing I can do besides keeping water quality in check and hoping for the best? Man, up until now the birdsnest seemed like the easiest coral to take care of - clean water, flow, light, and tons of growth. Thanks guys.

[JJshiv]

It does sound like pods but it also sounds like you have some STN. Definitely keep the water quality up and watch to see if the STN stops. If the coral continues to lose tissue then one thing you can do is frag the pieces that are still healthy. That usually stops the STN and at least allows you to save part of the coral.

[patback]

If its slow enough, try super gluing from a bit above the affected area and down. Sometimes larger colonies look better doing this than making a dozen or so frags. If its being destroyed quickly, just chop it up and cross your fingers.

[neonstingray]

Well I only have about 2 small colonies and 3 frags to begin with. One colony is fine, the other is almost dead, and the frags look half and half, so I don't know if it's worth trying to split them up further. Thanks again guys.