Some corals not looking good.

[SelectedByNature]

Some of my zoas (utter chaos and red people eater) and my devil's hand leather are looking terrible... 

 

 

The leather seems to be recently with these white spot deterioration and now it hasn't opened in two days. I noticed it always had hermit crab on it for the last week or two.

 

The zoas have been going downhill for about a month. However some of my other zoas have never looked better.

 

Things that have changed lately:

 

- Temperature fluctuations (ping pong 79-82) due to the addition of a dehumidifier in the fish room.

 

- Variable flow patterns change (my PHs are a too powerful for my tank IMHO, so when they are newly cleaned I can only run one PH (I stagger the cleaning and do one every other week)

 

- Dosing Vibrant Aquarium Cleaner (started 6 weeks ago).

 

- Summer schedule bad reefing: my back chambers hadn't been cleaned in two months and nitrates had risen to 20 PPM. Back down to 5 now last couple of weeks.

 

- TDS creep in my RO water. I noticed the tiger day after testing my water that my TDS had risen to 15 PPM.

 

Water changes schedule (weekly) continued religiously and base parameters have stayed consistent over the summer.

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks. 

[Thrassian Atoll]

What is aquarium vibrant cleaner?

[hersheyb]

looks like zoapox, =/   get some furan 2 and start dipping, lots of write ups with instruction, fairly easy process with great success... if you have more zoas I would just dip all of them just incase.  Highly contagious to zoas.  Have you tested your water?  what are the parameters?  Not sure what vibrant cleaner is... but just on a quick search, looks like a method of carbon dosing?  do you need it? high phosphate? high nitrate?  I like to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to dosing stuff...  post up your tank parameters.

[SelectedByNature]

2 hours ago, TILTON said:

What is aquarium vibrant cleaner?

Hmm it's like a miracle cure for nuisance algae. It definitely worked with no (currently attributable) side effects.

1 hour ago, hersheyb said:

looks like zoapox, =/   get some furan 2 and start dipping, lots of write ups with instruction, fairly easy process with great success... if you have more zoas I would just dip all of them just incase.  Highly contagious to zoas.  Have you tested your water?  what are the parameters?  Not sure what vibrant cleaner is... but just on a quick search, looks like a method of carbon dosing?  do you need it? high phosphate? high nitrate?  I like to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to dosing stuff...  post up your tank parameters.

I had what seemed to be zoa pox on another frag several months ago that I got from another reefer however that frag didn't make it. It didn't look anything these polyps though. 

 

I do see white blemishes in the pictures above however they are very zoomed in and in person the white specks are barely visible (not saying I don't have zoa pox though, I don't know).

[SelectedByNature]

Recent parameters:

 

Nitrate: 5

Phos: 0.03

Alk: 9

Calcium: 440

Mag: 1280 (have test kit on order this is from 3 weeks ago)

Salinity: 1.025

Temp 79-82 (see above)

[fishfreak0114]

For the leather, if I were you I would frag off the healthy parts, and give them an iodine dip.  I recently had to do that for a toadstool, and although it is in two pieces and smaller, it is healthy and recovering. 

[SelectedByNature]

3 minutes ago, fishfreak0114 said:

For the leather, if I were you I would frag off the healthy parts, and give them an iodine dip.  I recently had to do that for a toadstool, and although it is in two pieces and smaller, it is healthy and recovering. 

Yeah I was trying to find out if this is normal or why it is occuring too. I tried to find information online and some resources seemed to indicate this was part of the shedding process... I don't know look worse than common shedding though.

[Lula_Mae]

5 minutes ago, SelectedByNature said:

Yeah I was trying to find out if this is normal or why it is occuring too. I tried to find information online and some resources seemed to indicate this was part of the shedding process... I don't know look worse than common shedding though.

I dunno if the white parts are due to shedding, I haven't had a devil's hand but my toadstool has never had that when shedding.  I'd do like fishfreak recommends and frag and dip in Lugol's.

[SelectedByNature]

3 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

I dunno if the white parts are due to shedding, I haven't had a devil's hand but my toadstool has never had that when shedding.  I'd do like fishfreak recommends and frag and dip in Lugol's.

Thanks for commenting. I feel like waiting incase it gets better on it's own but I don't know... Maybe I should act fast.

 

Anyone have any thoughts on the zoas declining?

[Thrassian Atoll]

27 minutes ago, SelectedByNature said:

Hmm it's like a miracle cure for nuisance algae. It definitely worked with no (currently attributable) side effects.

You could be seeing your side effects right now.  Could be stripping the water of nutrients too quickly for the zoas.

[Lula_Mae]

Just now, TILTON said:

You could be seeing your side effects right now.  Could be stripping the water of nutrients too quickly for the zoas.

This, I think it may be part of the issue.  I avoid dosing things when I can and have heard of bad after effects from Vibrant just due to how it throws params out of whack.  I would look up zoa pox though, and make sure that's not the issue with yours.  It's curable but you do need to move on it.  And if you don't frag the leather, I'd at least do a Lugol's dip as that can help ailing corals.  1-2 drops Lugol's iodine in a cup of tank water for 3-5 minutes, adjust ratio as necessary.

[SelectedByNature]

8 minutes ago, TILTON said:

You could be seeing your side effects right now.  Could be stripping the water of nutrients too quickly for the zoas.

Definitely possible. When I dose amino acids, the next day the Red People Eaters look decently better. The Utter Chaos haven't improved no matter what I do.

 

I could definitely stop doing Vibrant and see if the Zoas improve... It's dosed once every two weeks and tomorrow is the next scheduled dose.

[Thrassian Atoll]

2 minutes ago, SelectedByNature said:

Definitely possible. When I dose amino acids, the next day the Red People Eaters look decently better. The Utter Chaos haven't improved no matter what I do.

 

I could definitely stop doing Vibrant and see if the Zoas inprove... It's dosed once every two weeks and tomorrow is the next scheduled dose.

Yeah, your phosphates and nitrate numbers are in line with what SPS like.  Too clean for zoas in my opinion.  

[SelectedByNature]

7 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

This, I think it may be part of the issue.  I avoid dosing things when I can and have heard of bad after effects from Vibrant just due to how it throws params out of whack.  I would look up zoa pox though, and make sure that's not the issue with yours.  It's curable but you do need to move on it.  And if you don't frag the leather, I'd at least do a Lugol's dip as that can help ailing corals.  1-2 drops Lugol's iodine in a cup of tank water for 3-5 minutes, adjust ratio as necessary.

I think I will stop dosing and see what happens. If the leather doesn't improve I will frag it this week. I've look up Zoa pox before as I'm fairly certain I had it on another frag (not much concrete information of Zoa pox other than Furan2 and hope for the best). This definitely doesn't look like what I think Zoa pox was from previous experience (but again it could very well be and I can try to furan2 regardless shouldn't hurt).

4 minutes ago, TILTON said:

Yeah, your phosphates and nitrate numbers are in line with what SPS like.  Too clean for zoas in my opinion.  

I do not have any SPS.

 

Perhaps I'm stripping a bit too much to curve algae woes, the zoas perking up after amino acid dosing kind of supports this line of thinking.

 

(Also why I started using Vibrant. GHA was becoming too unsightly.) Now I have some kind of turf-type algae that no one seems to eat (CUC wise). I don't have any grazing fish sadly.

[Lula_Mae]

5 minutes ago, SelectedByNature said:

I think I will stop dosing and see what happens. If the leather doesn't improve I will frag it this week. I've look up Zoa pox before as I'm fairly certain I had it on another frag (not much concrete information of Zoa pox other than Furan2 and hope for the best). This definitely doesn't look like what I think Zoa pox was from previous experience (but again it could very well be and I can try to furan2 regardless shouldn't hurt).

Yeah, I'd try not dosing for a bit and see what happens.  Try a Lugol's dip on all the unhappy corals and see if it helps, I have had it make a difference before.

[Thrassian Atoll]

That's the hardest thing with a reef tank in my opinion.  Keeping nuisance algae down while having enough nutrients for corals.  

[SelectedByNature]

3 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Yeah, I'd try not dosing for a bit and see what happens.  Try a Lugol's dip on all the unhappy corals and see if it helps, I have had it make a difference before.

Thanks for your help. I don't have any Lugol's but I have Revive. I can try to dip with that and see.

2 minutes ago, TILTON said:

That's the hardest thing with a reef tank in my opinion.  Keeping nuisance algae down while having enough nutrients for corals.  

Yeah exactly. Also I have Acans that I enjoy feeding and that complicates things a bit...

[fishfreak0114]

I used plain old iodine tincture form Walmart for my dips.  I just add enough to the water that it is a bit yellow when held against a white background.  It seems to work well.

[cju84]

You really shouldn't be using RO water.  RO/DI or distilled only

[SelectedByNature]

1 hour ago, cju84 said:

You really shouldn't be using RO water.  RO/DI or distilled only

Haha I meant RODI.

[Clown79]

The white is not shedding.

 

When leathers wax over, they shrink up, darken in colour, and have a clear shiny buildup on them.

 

That buildup when it sheds is see through.

 

The white parts on your leather, if you touch it, it most likely crumbles apart. That's like dead flesh.

To prevent it spreading, cut the white area off and a little past it.

Dipping the coral in lugols will help.

 

What lighting is the leather under and what flow? 

[SelectedByNature]

5 hours ago, Clown79 said:

The white is not shedding.

 

When leathers wax over, they shrink up, darken in colour, and have a clear shiny buildup on them.

 

That buildup when it sheds is see through.

 

The white parts on your leather, if you touch it, it most likely crumbles apart. That's like dead flesh.

To prevent it spreading, cut the white area off and a little past it.

Dipping the coral in lugols will help.

 

What lighting is the leather under and what flow? 

Hi Clown,

 

Thanks.

 

I'd say is in a decently flowing area. Stock LEDs on my Biocube so nothing intensive. Yes crumbly and since my last post a couple of pieces have fallen off and I disposed of them. I also got concerned because my YWG look a little limp and was near the glass and I now haven't seen him in two days, and one of my clowns refused to eat yesterday for the first time ever. I also had a zoa/paly duo frag that was in a low light area and basically dying which I removed and did a 25% waterchange late last night as I was concerned. This morning my clown is eating and generally looks much better (last night she could barely keep herself a float - I didn't think she'd last the night).

 

This morning the leather extended it's polyps though before I left for work they were retracted... There is one remaining area that has some white on it that I will remove today during lunch...

 

Not sure if the dying zoa or leather is/was putting something out in the water but that's the onlky thing i can imagine...

[Clown79]

Is there any chance anything got in the tank? Like chemicals, air freshener, scented candles being used etc?

 

Do you make your own ro/di? 

Did you change the filters yet?

 

If you are seeing tds in rodi, that means there's other contaminants as well that passing through filtration.

[SelectedByNature]

12 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Is there any chance anything got in the tank? Like chemicals, air freshener, scented candles being used etc?

 

Do you make your own ro/di? 

Did you change the filters yet?

 

If you are seeing tds in rodi, that means there's other contaminants as well that passing through filtration.

It's possible something got in. I've been having Temperature creep lately due to the addition of a dehumidifier in the room which throws out heat, at night I had been keeping the top open for cooling.

 

Yes I make my own but my last batch of RODI I noticed TDS creep. I have filters on order. Think it's something from my water?