Acro loosing tissue from the tips

[Reefahholic]

Implemented advice! let's see what happens

Blue is much more gentle. Also, maybe bump down the Reds and Greens down. Not sure where you have them.

This may help for some solid proven settings. See total period, peak period, and intensity levels of the individual channels.

https://ecotechmarine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ReefWholesale_CoralLab.pdf

Although many people run 12hrs with different peak periods. Some as long as 14-16 hrs. I personally try to stick with God’s 12 hr days. He created everything like that so I figure it’s good for me too. I’ve done anywhere from 4-6 hrs peak, and the results seem to be close to the same depending upon PAR. DLI is something to look into.

 

[Troylee]

Do you have any emerald crabs or anything in your tank? It looks like it’s being eaten by something most likely at night.

 

[ovi_vl]

Do you have any emerald crabs or anything in your tank? It looks like it’s being eaten by something most likely at night.

No , just a red legged hermit , he is very peacefull , likes to hang out in the stylo milka.

 

[dwest]

If you are using phosphate removal media like GFO, I’d stop.

You asked earlier if you should clip the tips, and I personally would do that. Plus, I would then dab the cut area on the frag with superglue.

I prefer to run alkalinity in the 7-8 dKH range with nitrates and phosphates easily detectable by test kits. Your low phosphates number would concern me a bit and hence my GFO comment above.

Your lighting changes may help too.

It seems to me that you have lots of good things going. So if this acro doesn’t make, just know it sometimes happens.

 

[East1]

I disagree, clipping the tips will stress the coral - better leave it to settle, it'll grow over those relatively fast when it's recovered.

Lowering the photoperiod / intensity will help (corals care about the intensity and the amount of time together as a function, so high intensity for 8h can provide the same needs as low intensity for longer for example) because as this looks like a nutrient issue, it'll help the coral from burning too much of it's own tissue to compensate for the higher metabolism strong light gives.

 

[ovi_vl]

I disagree, clipping the tips will stress the coral - better leave it to settle, it'll grow over those relatively fast when it's recovered.

Lowering the photoperiod / intensity will help (corals care about the intensity and the amount of time together as a function, so high intensity for 8h can provide the same needs as low intensity for longer for example) because as this looks like a nutrient issue, it'll help the coral from burning too much of it's own tissue to compensate for the higher metabolism strong light gives.

So, i tested today using jbl aquatest pro , no3 seems to be between - 10-20 ppm , and po4 between 0.1 and 0.2 ppm (the colour shades are hard to tell apart), i have other sps like , montiporas and stylophora , and all are doing fine.

 

[East1]

So, i tested today using jbl aquatest pro , no3 seems to be between - 10-20 ppm , and po4 between 0.1 and 0.2 ppm (the colour shades are hard to tell apart), i have other sps like , montiporas and stylophora , and all are doing fine.

more than absolute levels, the level the tank it was in, and the amount of light it received factors in, so chances are it just came from a more shaded tank and the increased light pushed it - and if that tank had different nutrient levels to yours, it could make it worse.

but looking at the photos now if it's polyps are out as the most recent pics I'd expect it will recover.

 

[etcee]

I had this exact problem in my 20gal waterbox with SPS. I had this problem for months, on and off. The tissue would recede, and then grow back, and the cycle would repeat; it drove me crazy. I also noticed a loss of coralline at times when this happened. After adding Kalkwasser and not letting my PH below 8.0 I never saw this again.

 

[ovi_vl]

Not showing signs of heating, looks like it continue to stn , calcium steady at 400 , started dosing some aquaforest ca to increase it a bit, kh 8.3 , ph 8.3

 

[rbadred]

What salt are you using I recently observed this on one of my acros after a water change using Reef Crystals that was purchased a few weeks ago. My Acro gets spotty tissue loss over night with filiments on the areas with tissue loss and then through out the photoperiod it heals itself fully. The spots are only like 1 mm max in size on random coralites. The mag of the mix tested at 1050. I did 5 mag tests because I thought it was an error. I don’t think the mag caused mine to do this because my tank mag never got under 1200 but if mag is that far off I have no doubt other parameters are messed up. I did this water change about a week ago and it’s been an ongoing issue with this acro and but it always heals itself rapidly. I ordered some read sea blue bucket and will be using that from now on. Really at a loss for what’s causing it.

 

[ovi_vl]

What salt are you using I recently observed this on one of my acros after a water change using Reef Crystals that was purchased a few weeks ago. My Acro gets spotty tissue loss over night with filiments on the areas with tissue loss and then through out the photoperiod it heals itself fully. The spots are only like 1 mm max in size on random coralites. The mag of the mix tested at 1050. I did 5 mag tests because I thought it was an error. I don’t think the mag caused mine to do this because my tank mag never got under 1200 but if mag is that far off I have no doubt other parameters are messed up. I did this water change about a week ago and it’s been an ongoing issue with this acro and but it always heals itself rapidly. I ordered some read sea blue bucket and will be using that from now on. Really at a loss for what’s causing it.

I had prodibio salt wich mixes at very high alk, and bought a red sea blue bucket and for the last 3 -4 months I brought down alkalinity to almost 8 , from 11. Mag never an issue for me always tested above 1500

 

[etcee]

What salt are you using I recently observed this on one of my acros after a water change using Reef Crystals that was purchased a few weeks ago. My Acro gets spotty tissue loss over night with filiments on the areas with tissue loss and then through out the photoperiod it heals itself fully. The spots are only like 1 mm max in size on random coralites. The mag of the mix tested at 1050. I did 5 mag tests because I thought it was an error. I don’t think the mag caused mine to do this because my tank mag never got under 1200 but if mag is that far off I have no doubt other parameters are messed up. I did this water change about a week ago and it’s been an ongoing issue with this acro and but it always heals itself rapidly. I ordered some read sea blue bucket and will be using that from now on. Really at a loss for what’s causing it.

I also had mesenterial filaments on my acropora. I would see mesenterial filaments on some acropora and not others. Some would brown out while others would recede at the tips. Only two things I changed in my tank was increase export (larger water changes) and added Kalkwasser. After I added Kalkwasser, I had a cyano outbreak maybe 4 - 6 weeks after and I had to cut back the Kalk to prevent my DKH from rising too high, I noticed the moment my PH dropped below 8.0 (from cutting back the Kalkwasser) I started to see the receding tips again. My tricolor validata was always the first to show symptoms. I bumped my dosage back up and basically said I don't care how high my ALK goes. My ALK went from 8.3 to 9.8, over the course of a week and there was no STN, or RTN and my corals tips continued to heal and this issue has not come back since I recovered from the Cyano outbreak. I have seen this kind of post multiple time's, and everyone seems to point to a DKH swing, or low nutrients and I don't think that's the cause. I have read multiple threads like this in search of an answer myself and I didn't find a resolution until my PH remained above 8.0 at all times. I have been wondering if it's something in my case bacteria related that just so happens to thrive or create an issue at night when the PH drops. This is also the first tank I have ever experienced this in, which is why I am wondering if its something bacteria related. I also switched from Brightwell salt early on to Aquaforest thinking maybe this was a problem, as my Brightwell parameters always seemed to mix lower than the bag states, but I still had this issue. I have never done an ICP, and at this point I only dose MG on top of my Kalkwasser at night. I would recommend a PH probe and at least understand your PH high and low point as it will be lowest at night. Just my two cents, throwing something out there that helped resolve this issue for me as you are just getting the typical answers, which brought me no resolution.

 

[ovi_vl]

I also had mesenterial filaments on my acropora. I would see mesenterial filaments on some acropora and not others. Some would brown out while others would recede at the tips. Only two things I changed in my tank was increase export (larger water changes) and added Kalkwasser. After I added Kalkwasser, I had a cyano outbreak maybe 4 - 6 weeks after and I had to cut back the Kalk to prevent my DKH from rising too high, I noticed the moment my PH dropped below 8.0 (from cutting back the Kalkwasser) I started to see the receding tips again. My tricolor validata was always the first to show symptoms. I bumped my dosage back up and basically said I don't care how high my ALK goes. My ALK went from 8.3 to 9.8, over the course of a week and there was no STN, or RTN and my corals tips continued to heal and this issue has not come back since I recovered from the Cyano outbreak. I have seen this kind of post multiple time's, and everyone seems to point to a DKH swing, or low nutrients and I don't think that's the cause. I have read multiple threads like this in search of an answer myself and I didn't find a resolution until my PH remained above 8.0 at all times. I have been wondering if it's something in my case bacteria related that just so happens to thrive or create an issue at night when the PH drops. This is also the first tank I have ever experienced this in, which is why I am wondering if its something bacteria related. I also switched from Brightwell salt early on to Aquaforest thinking maybe this was a problem, as my Brightwell parameters always seemed to mix lower than the bag states, but I still had this issue. I have never done an ICP, and at this point I only dose MG on top of my Kalkwasser at night. I would recommend a PH probe and at least understand your PH high and low point as it will be lowest at night. Just my two cents, throwing something out there that helped resolve this issue for me as you are just getting the typical answers, which brought me no resolution.

Very interesting...did you do something to the light scheduel during the healing process?

 

[RelaxingWithTheReef]

Very possible the cause is a trace element deficiency. Some elements like Iron, Manganese, Cobalt, and Chromium deplete rather quickly, and the deficiency cannot be identified using a standard ICP-OES test because normal levels are so low. Only elevated levels can be identified. In some cases even large water changes cannot keep up with the demand for these elements.

It took a while, but I determined this was the cause of on-and-off burnt tips on my JF Fox Flame.

You can try dosing Tropic Marin A- & K+ Elements. If this is the cause, you could see an improvement in a couple days. Once corrected, most of the flesh on the tips should regenerate rather quickly.

I would also recommend the very sensitive ICP-MS test by Oceamo to look for deficiencies and also toxins. Reef Moonshiners has a free spreadsheet for download that can help you interpret the ICP results.

 

[etcee]

Very interesting...did you do something to the light scheduel during the healing process?

No. I have always been set forget for my lights. My tank is getting 230 - 380 PAR and has been like that since day 1. I have not added anything else to my tank and I still do not dose anything additional. I have thought maybe it was Potassium or some other element that is deficient and I guess I cannot rule that out entirely (since I have not done an ICP), however, I have done nothing different but maintain an elevated PH in my tank and have not seen this problem for a couple months now. I guess the only other thing I have considered is my old tanks all had live rock, and I have wondered if maybe there wasn't enough good bacteria to support healthy acropora, and maybe in a lower PH environment I was just seeing these side effects, from a lack of bacteria? Not sure, but I can say I don't have the issue now, and instantly saw this problem go away by maintaining a higher PH (A week time the health of the tank was obvious). If you try changing salt, and you feel you can't figure it out from other advice in this thread, I suggest at least considering your PH. Since you have a stylo that is clearly doing well, I had this issue with Acropora, none of my Montipora experienced any tissue recession, stn or rtn. I also have had no issues with my Deresa clam that is over a year old now, just Acropora.