I'm wondering if this acro is showing a feeding response or maybe it's stressed out?? I'm not really sure I see these whitish like snotty filaments coming off the tips of the corals. What do you guys think.
Feeding response
- Thread starter bklynreef123
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What other critters do you have in there? Parameters? Do you have polyp extension at all?
bklynreef123
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This piece has less pe than others in the tank like my pink lemonade and red planet but there are some polyups out on it. 10.25 salinity Ph 8.1 alk 8.0 ca 450 mg 1300 no3 5ppm po4 .05 Reef safe fish and snails. I'm dosing aquaforest pro bio s. I stopped dosing the np pro a few days ago because no3 was bottoming out.
Is it spreading or staying the same?
Scorpius
2500 Club Member
There are two camps on mesenterial filaments on Acropora.
One believes they are a feeding response and/or a defense mechanism.
The other believes it to be a stress response.
I can say from experience that it's a little bit of both, and I don't like to see mesenterial filaments out at all. To me it means my coral are upset about water parameters or they're starving. When my tank was new and I was trying my hand at Acropora I saw these filaments routinely, but as my tank matured and became more stable I saw them less and less.
To sum up what I'm saying is that I'd take it as a warning sign that you're coral is upset about something. Whatever you do don't go changing fifty different things on your tank. Keep things rock solid stable and observe.
One believes they are a feeding response and/or a defense mechanism.
The other believes it to be a stress response.
I can say from experience that it's a little bit of both, and I don't like to see mesenterial filaments out at all. To me it means my coral are upset about water parameters or they're starving. When my tank was new and I was trying my hand at Acropora I saw these filaments routinely, but as my tank matured and became more stable I saw them less and less.
To sum up what I'm saying is that I'd take it as a warning sign that you're coral is upset about something. Whatever you do don't go changing fifty different things on your tank. Keep things rock solid stable and observe.
bklynreef123
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Thanks for the response. I have heard its a feeding response as well, but for some reason my gut tells me that its upset. My parameters are in good range and I keep them stable so I will see what happens.
DarkSky
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I just received a bunch of new SPS frags in the mail, when I finished dipping and acclimating them they all were throwing mesenterial filaments. My previous batch was the same way, from the box and to the tank, all having filaments.
Once they settled in and started to encrust/grow, they no longer do it. I'm in the camp of "stress response."
Once they settled in and started to encrust/grow, they no longer do it. I'm in the camp of "stress response."
bklynreef123
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@jackson6745 just saw it and said Its not doing well. We seem to think its due to low nutrient and high alk. I have had burnt tips before and it was more severe then. My No3 hovers between 2-5ppm my alk at its highest was 9.3 Dkh on 4/27 I had it down to 8 Dkh yesterday. I took Rowa offline about a week ago when po4 was at .05. I did so because I had minor stn on the base of my pink lemonade. I fragged it and managed to save the majority of the colony and pass on some frags to some friends. I have a hannah po4 meter but I question how valuable the results are. Ive seen the brs video on it and the meter that registers ppb as opposed to ppm. I am currently looking into options for measuring po4 accurately. I would rather not spend $200 on a photometer but if it makes sense it is what it is. the current plan is to allow alk to fall down to 7-7.5 range and attempt to raise no3 I feel that my current fish load is close to the limit of space in my display (only 65 gallons) I have a pair of clowns a pair of lyretail anthias a blotchy a corris wrasse leopard wrasse mckoskers wrasse female flame wrasse a purple fire fish and a blue chromis. Im waiting on phosphate rx to arrive. I plan on trying this for po4 export as opposed to rowa. Interesting how delicate the balance of nutrients/alk/bacteria/carbon source is.
Did you figure out the problem? I've been having this same problem for over a year now. It happens when I feed and when I do water changes. I've been sniping off the tips of my SPS for long time now and would like to stop. At first I thought it was an ALK swing so I test ALK every day and its not that. I try to keep my no3 at 2-5 and po4 at .003 by dosing.This problem comes and goes good for a couple of months and then happens agin. The last time this happened my no3 were at 0. Could this be the problem? The only other thing I could think of is the PH swing in my tank from 7.95 to 8.44 daily.
