Acros are dying

Spkarim · Dec 16, 2020

dragon99 said:
.

PC rainbow

Closer shots of the yellow tip posted above.

Any new living additions to the tank? Any pest/bug possible given how these pictures look?

roninmagik1 · Dec 16, 2020

also following, my foray into sps has been rough, maybe i'll learn something

maksim serebro · Dec 17, 2020

When this was happening to me I tried Everything. Removed ceramic media. Put on and then took off algae scrubber. Separated lps and sps thinking there was warfare. Only water changes seemed to help. We ended up moving afterwards so corals are better in the new water but time will tell

Vwluv10338 · Dec 17, 2020

I am far from an expert but isn’t .01 po4 low? You even mention that it was higher before. No one in here is running phosphate that low

Tank Parameters Of Some Masters

Tank Parameters Of Some Masters To this day one of the most frequently asked questions I get, and actually that many “old time hobbyists” get is “How do I get rid of the algae in my tank. My first question then is “what are the parameters of...

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maksim serebro · Dec 17, 2020

Vwluv10338 said:
I am far from an expert but isn’t .01 po4 low? You even mention that it was higher before. No one in here is running phosphate that low

Tank Parameters Of Some Masters

Tank Parameters Of Some Masters To this day one of the most frequently asked questions I get, and actually that many “old time hobbyists” get is “How do I get rid of the algae in my tank. My first question then is “what are the parameters of...

www.reef2reef.com

From my experience po4 had no impact on sps dying. I had it low and high. Almost something leaching into water and only waterchanges helped. My 2 cents.

gilman · Dec 17, 2020

Looks like 100% Acro Eating FlatWorms to me . You can see the bite marks in the last few pictures you took . At this stage I would just remove all of the Acropora . Frag good parts and dip them . Melafix marine 50ml in 1 gallon of tank water for 5 minutes then dip in clean saltwater . Dont put the frags back on the rock scape . If possible put them in a qt tank and leave the display fallow 30 days so any eggs hatch and worms starve out .
Hope you get this figured out

jdiefenbaugh · Dec 17, 2020

gilman said:
Looks like 100% Acro Eating FlatWorms to me . You can see the bite marks in the last few pictures you took . At this stage I would just remove all of the Acropora . Frag good parts and dip them . Melafix marine 50ml in 1 gallon of tank water for 5 minutes then dip in clean saltwater . Dont put the frags back on the rock scape . If possible put them in a qt tank and leave the display fallow 30 days so any eggs hatch and worms starve out .
Hope you get this figured out

+1. I would only recommend a longer fallow period. I'd start inspecting for egg masses, AEFW are hard to spot for the untrained eye, but you should easily be able to see egg masses.

maksim serebro · Dec 17, 2020

Pic of AEFW.

ScottB · Dec 17, 2020

In declining order of probability:

a) Low PO4. Hanna has an error range of +-.02. Zero PO4 will weaken and kill all acropora. My Hanna reads consistently .1 higher than ICP shows!
b) AEFW (image below, very hard to spot on the flesh. this one is 1/4 inch long)
c) Tegastes acroporanus

MrPike · Dec 21, 2020

Looks like AEFW to me too. Have you noticed browning out on sections of coral while other sections look mostly ok?

dragon99 · Dec 21, 2020

Thank you everyone for the feedback!

I've looked hard to find any sign of AEFW and haven't. No definite bite marks or eggs. More importantly I've never been able to blast a fw off of a coral when basting them. I've been through AEFW on my previous tank and this has been different. I had corals with AEFW endure for months without dying. This time a coral will melt away in a few days.

I addressed the low PO4 early on. While I doubt it would cause this, I've raised it up to ~.08-.09 for the last month.

I'm hoping it's all been a reaction to the rusty screw with some just dying later from the stress. No new casualties this week.