What killed my acro? (PIX PIX PIX)

[fattyratrat]

sorry about the pix pix pix, it just seems thats the only way to get any attention around here anymore. I put my first acro in my tank a few months ago, and then about one month ago i noticed he was starting to bleach out. After he died i took him out and found these little buggers crawling around on him. Just recently on a new montipora, I spotted some little black dots that look kindof like the ones on the acro. What are they? How do i get rid of them?

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/branwitch/Anemones/Acrokiller1.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/branwitch/Anemones/acrokiller2.jpg

thanks for the help.

[orbit]

i think its be red bug,

i heard ppl using Interceptor but u have to get your inverts out of the tank

[fattyratrat]

they eat montipora too?

[fattyratrat]

no, i just read up and redbugs and they don't eat montis. anyone else have any idea of what these guys are?

[IslandCrow]

Are you talking about that brown thing on the second picture. If you could, circle what you're talking about. I don't see any red bugs, but those picks are pretty blurry, and red bugs are tiny. . .not to mention, they're red. FYI, redbugs feed exclusively on acropora, and usually just the smoother skinned acropora at that (which it looks like yours does qualify).

[fattyratrat]

yea it is that brown thing in the second picture and the brown things in the first. sorry, im not very photoshop gifted, it would be an all day thing for me to circle that.

[kau_cinta_ku]

that brown thing looks more like a pod and they are very harmeless. but again the pic. is to blurry to tell.

any way what are all your parameters? numbers please.
what do you have for flow?
what do you use for lighting?

[fattyratrat]

I dont think it is a pod. They didnt have legs or anything. They looked like they slithered on their bellys. I would think flatworms, but they moved very quickly, even out of water.

My water is flawless, there is no need to post numbers (jees that sounds cocky, sorry). I have a bunch of koralia's for flow, and I have two 150 watt Halides, and 440 watts of actinic VHO in a 1 ft tank. Do you think its possible that this guy died because he hated where he was, and then something started chewing on his dead skin?

[snorvich]

Please define "flawless".

[IslandCrow]

There are definitely things that might snack on dying acro skin that wouldn't bother it normally, but if you want us to answer your questions, you're going to have to bear with us and answer some of ours. I've heard people say their parameters were "perfect" and their definition was literally nitrates under 50ppm, and oh they've never tested for phosphates. Not saying that's you, but if we're to move on to other possibilities, we have to eliminate the most likely suspects. Also, how many is a "bunch" of koralias, and of what type? Lastly, do you have any other acropora in the tank, and if so how are they doing. If not, is this your first attempt at keeping acropora in this tank (or other tanks)?

Anyway, that brown thing is most certainly not a redbug. It almost looks like it could be a small stomatella snail. That's a bit of an imaginative stretch on my part, but any chance that may be a snail?

[fattyratrat]

no, it couldn't be a snail. it was way too small, and there was definitely no shell. this was my first acro, but not my first sps. I have tons of birdsnest, monti caps, monti confus, and pavona thriving. One of the weirdest things is, when i first got the big colony that died, a piece about 1/2 inch broke off, and i glued him to a frag plug, and he is still alive, almost 2 weeks after the death of the parent.

water-
SG- 1.025
T - 77-80
Ca - 400
Alk - 9
Mg - 1350
No3 - 0
PO4 - 0
PH - 8.4

thanks for the help.