What is causing this tissue loss (pics)

[marino420td]

Several of my sps are experiencing tissue loss and I can't figure out why. It is only affecting these three corals.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b39/marino420td/120%20Gallon%20Set%20Up/Coral%20Pics/IMG_0950.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b39/marino420td/120%20Gallon%20Set%20Up/Coral%20Pics/IMG_0949.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b39/marino420td/120%20Gallon%20Set%20Up/Coral%20Pics/IMG_0948.jpg

All other sps are fine. Millies, montis, poccis, birdsnest are all doing great. Here is a fts from tonight

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b39/marino420td/120%20Gallon%20Set%20Up/Full%20Tank%20Shots/IMG_0944_edited-1.jpg

I was experiencing some tissue loss around the edge of the bases of other corals about a month ago but that stopped. I believe my alk was a little low.

Tested params tonight:
Alk 7.7
Ca 400
Mg 1350
SG 1.026
Temp 78

System has a CA Reactor so I do not dose the water with anything (unless one of the params needs slight adjustment)

The tissue loss on these corals is slowly getting worse. When the lights are off I shine a flashlight onto them and I can see tiny critters crawling on the exposed skeleton. These are much smaller than pods, red bugs etc. I assume they are feeding on the dead tissue. I have not seen any known pests. I did have red bugs a few months ago. Treated with Interceptor and they are gone.

I hate to chop up these corals since they are the focal point of my tank but I feel I'm going to have to in order to save them. Any suggestions?

[midas blenny]

all coral look light in color. try feeding couple more times a day. they look like there starving . maybe back the lights of a hour or 2 . alk is a little low, but will not do that . i would get a second test kit and double check.

somebody else jump in

[juan bueno]

do you test for phosphate, alk i'll would go for 8- 9dhk, you use cal reactor how is your ph?you acros are rtnnig

[mjstover]

look for some AEFW for some reason there are alot of reports of people getting them after treating for red bugs maybe becasue the loss of pods ex.... no one knows. you really have to look close to see them if you have never seen one befor they are hard to pic out. let me see if I can find a pic.

[PUGroyale]

I agree [^^ with midasblenny] with the looks of the flow you have in there and the light the L-mini's put out... throw in a low Alk episode... IMHO that's your problem[s] ;)

Short term I'd seriously dial back your photoperiod, feed more, and set your base Alk level a little higher for safety.

[mjstover]

Check out this thread it has some pics

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/s...e&pagenumber=13

[recife111]

your tank looks very clean, might be too low nutrients,

do you feed coral food etc.

also i would frag some of the good coral and throw the rest otherwise it will spread to other corals.

[marino420td]

My Ph runs from 7.98 to 8.01.

I do not feed the corals anything other than an occasional feeding of frozen cyclopeeze. I only have 5 fish in the system and I usually feed them once per day. I switch between Ocean Nutrition flake and pellets and frozen mysis and brine. I also clip a small sheet of nori in there about 2 or 3 times per week for the tangs.

My photoperiod is 11 hrs per day.

Phosphates are undetectable on my Salifert test kit. I run a phosban reactor and I also have a 40 gallon refuge with chaeto.

My corals are light. I have always had this problem on this tank and haven't been able to improve their color. I have switched from 10k to 12k Reeflux bulbs and they are still very pastel. Maybe this tank is "too clean" I don't know. I also have a 65 gallon tank that gets very little maintenance, has a terrible hair algae problem and no additives or reactors but the color of these same corals is much better in that tank. I would post a picture of it but I'm too embarrassed by the algae problem.

I have checked diligently for AEFW's. I always look with a magnifying glass and I haven't spotted anything yet, other than the minute critters I mentioned above.

[hwynboy]

imo I would say it sounds like a red bug issue based on your comments in your initial post. If that is the case then you will experience RTN to the degree you have it and there isn't anything you can do until you resolve the red bug issue.

[marino420td]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11795392#post11795392 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hwynboy
imo I would say it sounds like a red bug issue based on your comments in your initial post. If that is the case then you will experience RTN to the degree you have it and there isn't anything you can do until you resolve the red bug issue.

The red bugs are gone. I treated with interceptor a couple of months ago. No trace of them anywhere. Even when I had redbugs, I didn't see this tissue problem.

[hwynboy]

hmm missed that sorry. SPS care is so tough with so many factors to manage and none of it is nailed down to an exact sience. I have lost SPS for seemingly no reason at all as well, bummer. How long were these corals in your tank before this?

[marino420td]

These corals were some of the first in the tank. Probably been in there since August 2006.

I wouldn't be so upset if they were not two of my largest colonies right at the top of my tank. They have encrusted so much onto that rock that it will be almost impossible to remove. I can frag off the living pieces but I think I will have to butcher them in doing so.

I guess I'm experiencing what makes sps such a challenge. Up to this point, it has been smooth sailing.

[PUGroyale]

fwiw I have 10 fish in appx. 90g of water and feed well 3x/day... photoperiod is only 8hrs...

[hwynboy]

in my experience the pieces you frag off will not make it either...once it starts to go it usually all goes. I once saved a colony after a dip in lugols but that was the exception rather than the rule for me and others I have known.

[StrategicReef]

TMPCC bottle mentioned something about stopping bacterial infection.. Any chance this is a bacterial infection that is systemic within the colony already and therefore fragging will not help?

[notenoughtanks]

sounds like the acro bacteria I went through. Vibrio. A good way to tell is if its acros but not montis or poccis. Frag healthy areas at least 1-2 inches from the recession and get them out of there. highly recommend quarantine, the bacteria IS transferrable.
keeping the tank at 75 helped me. I had a tank full of beautiful colonies grown from frags, I was only able to salvage two. I have been seeing more people with this problem pop up lately. Dips don't work on this and will only stress stuff more from my experience, but you are welcomre to try. The only cure is said to be chloramphenicol, but it's impossible to get. good luck and hope this helps

[StrategicReef]

if it is Vibrio why can't we use fish antibiotics that treats fish vibrio?

marino420td what is that green one, is it a yongei? I have a slow recession on my yongei after reading this post I just cut the 1/2" tip on top and threw the rest of the encrusted colony away :( I am not able to save the colony in the long run as the edges around the base has been turning white very slowly.. It is a well lit flat base that it put down for over a year.

Someone please let me know how serious it is, I don't even want to keep the frags if it is possible to spread this way.