Mysterious white spots on leather coral. Bristle worms?

erinangele · 04/21/2012, 06:39 PM

I have a used 125 gal. tank. Set up march 17, home to a starry blenny, 1 Halloween hermit, a brittle star, snails, some Kenya trees, a huge leather coral, and a billion bristle worms (okay I'm exaggerating, but there are lots and I'm always seeing babies). I just added 2 fairy wrasses two days ago. Before that I had not been feeding the tank at all since there is plenty of hair algae for my blenny.

A few weeks ago I noticed a white spot on my leather. I did not think much of it at first but now there are lots of them. They happen at night. It seems every morning there are new spots. Everything I have read about bristle worms says they are good, don't eat coral, and have population explosione due to over feeding. But I have not fed the tank at all (well up until yesterday) and I have A huge population of them. Could they be attacking my coral due to lack of food? I have never actually seen anything on the coral. However one night I saw a huge (at least 5 inches) bristle worm on the rock near the coral.

What do you think? Could anything else be causing this? I have a picture on my phone but my computer isn't working and I'm not sure how to post from my phone.

sucker_fish · 04/21/2012, 06:59 PM

a picture's worth a thousand words...I doubt it's from bristle worms, but then again, you never know.

ajcanale · 04/21/2012, 07:09 PM

How is the coral responding? Is it opening up, or staying shriveled and closed? What do the white spots look like? What size? Do they move? Picture(s) would be very helpful Could it be possible that the coral is sliming up and sand particles are sticking to it?

erinangele · 04/21/2012, 07:18 PM

The coral is acting fine. The spots dont move and look like dead areas. Every morning there seem to be a couple more spots. Most are circles, but today I noticed some looking more irregular. I installed a photobuckt app on my phone so let's see if this works.

Coral open

Coral closed up

ajcanale · 04/21/2012, 07:58 PM

Those are some funky looking spots... almost look like stings from an anemone or "hole in the head" that affect certain types of marine fish. It does look to be opened up pretty happily during the day light stage. Maybe it could be a result of a deficiency of some sort? are you dosing some source of iodine? If not, I'd pick up a bottle of seachem iodide. Soft corals are a sucker for the stuff. The few soft corals that i have, have thanked me for dosing it.... brilliant increase in coloration.

ajcanale · 04/21/2012, 08:00 PM

Maybe its just the picture, but there appears to be a lot of green hair algae surrounding the coral. How are your phosphate levels? If they are high, that could prove to be some insight to why you are seeing spots like this.

erinangele · 04/21/2012, 08:23 PM

I have not tried iodine. I will have to give it a try. The leather was temporarily in my biocube while this tank cycled with no problems (no bristles worms in there). It was about a week or two after moving it that the first spot appeared. Since then they have gradually increased.

Yes, I have a hair algae problem. I initially filled with tap water which I'm guessing is the culprit. I have set up a phosphate reactor, cheato, Algon, the blenny, snails, and done a couple large (40 gallon) water changes, and cut back on the lights (6 hours of day light). The algae problem has improved dramatically. Maybe the coral did not like the large water changes?

ajcanale · 04/21/2012, 08:30 PM

Oh my. What are you running in your phosphate reactor?!? If GFO, you are good. But if it is one of the aluminum oxide based products (such as Seachem Phosguard) then that could very well be your your problem. I learned from experience. Lost some very rare and beautiful zoa colonies from using that crap.

erinangele · 04/21/2012, 08:47 PM

I'm running Phosban in the reactor (GFO right?). The first spot appeared before I installed the reactor.

ajcanale · 04/21/2012, 11:03 PM

Yeah phosban is safe.

04/21/2012, 06:39 PM	#1
erinangele Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Bay Area Posts: 91	Mysterious white spots on leather coral. Bristle worms? I have a used 125 gal. tank. Set up march 17, home to a starry blenny, 1 Halloween hermit, a brittle star, snails, some Kenya trees, a huge leather coral, and a billion bristle worms (okay I'm exaggerating, but there are lots and I'm always seeing babies). I just added 2 fairy wrasses two days ago. Before that I had not been feeding the tank at all since there is plenty of hair algae for my blenny. A few weeks ago I noticed a white spot on my leather. I did not think much of it at first but now there are lots of them. They happen at night. It seems every morning there are new spots. Everything I have read about bristle worms says they are good, don't eat coral, and have population explosione due to over feeding. But I have not fed the tank at all (well up until yesterday) and I have A huge population of them. Could they be attacking my coral due to lack of food? I have never actually seen anything on the coral. However one night I saw a huge (at least 5 inches) bristle worm on the rock near the coral. What do you think? Could anything else be causing this? I have a picture on my phone but my computer isn't working and I'm not sure how to post from my phone.

04/21/2012, 06:59 PM	#2
sucker_fish Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Covington, TN Posts: 441	a picture's worth a thousand words...I doubt it's from bristle worms, but then again, you never know. __________________ <------- Have you ever seen tortoises playing leapfrog? Current Tank Info: 40 B w/ T5's and tunze 9002 skimmer. no sump. 90 gal. mixed reef, 36"x16"x16" sump/fuge, reef octopus xp2000 skimmer, water blaster hy5000 return.

04/21/2012, 07:09 PM	#3
ajcanale Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Memphis 10 Posts: 1,098	How is the coral responding? Is it opening up, or staying shriveled and closed? What do the white spots look like? What size? Do they move? Picture(s) would be very helpful Could it be possible that the coral is sliming up and sand particles are sticking to it? __________________ If the spirit moves ya, let me groove ya Current Tank Info: 150g Starphire Pensinula SPS

04/21/2012, 07:58 PM	#5
ajcanale Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Memphis 10 Posts: 1,098	Those are some funky looking spots... almost look like stings from an anemone or "hole in the head" that affect certain types of marine fish. It does look to be opened up pretty happily during the day light stage. Maybe it could be a result of a deficiency of some sort? are you dosing some source of iodine? If not, I'd pick up a bottle of seachem iodide. Soft corals are a sucker for the stuff. The few soft corals that i have, have thanked me for dosing it.... brilliant increase in coloration. __________________ If the spirit moves ya, let me groove ya Current Tank Info: 150g Starphire Pensinula SPS Last edited by ajcanale; 04/21/2012 at 07:59 PM. Reason: type-o

04/21/2012, 08:00 PM	#6
ajcanale Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Memphis 10 Posts: 1,098	Maybe its just the picture, but there appears to be a lot of green hair algae surrounding the coral. How are your phosphate levels? If they are high, that could prove to be some insight to why you are seeing spots like this. __________________ If the spirit moves ya, let me groove ya Current Tank Info: 150g Starphire Pensinula SPS

04/21/2012, 07:18 PM	#4
erinangele Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Bay Area Posts: 91	The coral is acting fine. The spots dont move and look like dead areas. Every morning there seem to be a couple more spots. Most are circles, but today I noticed some looking more irregular. I installed a photobuckt app on my phone so let's see if this works. Coral open Coral closed up

04/21/2012, 08:23 PM	#7
erinangele Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Bay Area Posts: 91	I have not tried iodine. I will have to give it a try. The leather was temporarily in my biocube while this tank cycled with no problems (no bristles worms in there). It was about a week or two after moving it that the first spot appeared. Since then they have gradually increased. Yes, I have a hair algae problem. I initially filled with tap water which I'm guessing is the culprit. I have set up a phosphate reactor, cheato, Algon, the blenny, snails, and done a couple large (40 gallon) water changes, and cut back on the lights (6 hours of day light). The algae problem has improved dramatically. Maybe the coral did not like the large water changes?

04/21/2012, 08:30 PM	#8
ajcanale Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Memphis 10 Posts: 1,098	Oh my. What are you running in your phosphate reactor?!? If GFO, you are good. But if it is one of the aluminum oxide based products (such as Seachem Phosguard) then that could very well be your your problem. I learned from experience. Lost some very rare and beautiful zoa colonies from using that crap. __________________ If the spirit moves ya, let me groove ya Current Tank Info: 150g Starphire Pensinula SPS

04/21/2012, 08:47 PM	#9
erinangele Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Bay Area Posts: 91	I'm running Phosban in the reactor (GFO right?). The first spot appeared before I installed the reactor.

04/21/2012, 11:03 PM	#10
ajcanale Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Memphis 10 Posts: 1,098	Yeah phosban is safe. __________________ If the spirit moves ya, let me groove ya Current Tank Info: 150g Starphire Pensinula SPS