Fuzz on frag plug...is it anything to worry about?

[Joe31415]

I got this Cyphastrea not quite two weeks ago. Over the past few days I've noticed the plug has been collecting, what appears to be, white fuzz. I don't recall if it was there when I got it, though I feel like I would have noticed it. I thought it could have been something that got kicked up in the tank when I added another powerhead, but there's 3 other frags and some rock in the tank and this is the only place I'm seeing it.
My gut says to just keep an eye on it and see if it gets bigger or spreads, but, on the other hand, I'd prefer not to have an outbreak of something so I'm thinking I'll dip that frag again (also dipped it before it went in) and see if I can wipe some of it off.

 

[colossal_tater]

I’m not sure what the growth is, but it looks like there may be a vermatid snail on the left side in the picture. I would scrape that off with a razor blade. But if that kind of growth worries you, I would start to cut the coral off the frag plug and glue it on your own plugs. I always do this and I feel it has really helped me from getting any weird algaes in my tank. I go as far as preferring unencrusted plugs since it’s easier to get the coral off.

 

[Joe31415]

I’m not sure what the growth is, but it looks like there may be a vermatid snail on the left side in the picture. I would scrape that off with a razor blade. But if that kind of growth worries you, I would start to cut the coral off the frag plug and glue it on your own plugs. I always do this and I feel it has really helped me from getting any weird algaes in my tank. I go as far as preferring unencrusted plugs since it’s easier to get the coral off.

Whatever that is, was 100% not there when I got the frag. However, since I first noticed it a few days ago, it hasn't moved. I just assumed it was a tiny bit of the coral that had somehow split off and started growing there. I don't think it's a snail, but I'll get a better look at it now that you mentioned it.

I'm new to the coral thing (along with saltwater in general). I've heard and read that you should put frags on new plugs, but every time I've even tried, I felt like I was going to do more damage trying to pry it off the old one. I even have the extra plugs and glue. In fact, if you look closely, you can see that I glued the store's plug to a new one since theirs was flat on the bottom and would have just blown right off the eggcrate.
Also, it's worth noting that this LFS uses plugs with some type of marble pattern on them. Makes them look really dirty. In fact, I didn't buy any frags from them for a while because they always looked like they were covered in algae.

 

[Shaka_Reefer]

You can easily remove that coral off of that original plug

 

[colossal_tater]

Definitely look up vermatid snails and see if that is one. It’s always good to remove those ASAP.

As far as removing corals from plugs, corals are way hardier than your think. I do try to be gentle, but I don’t sweat it too much. I use a razor blade (the kind for scraping paint you can get at Home Depot that are single sided) to pry underneath a little bit and then use the blade like a lever and pop it off. If it was glued down, it usually comes off like pealing a sticker, but I’ve definitely popped ones off before and made them fly across the room. They’re doing just fine a year later!

 

[Joe31415]

I'm warming up some water to do a small water change later on. I'll redip that frag and try replacing the plug when I do that.

 

[colossal_tater]

O and if you have a harbor freight near by, these things come in handy for popping off corals or scraping weird stuff off plugs and rocks and even corals if need be.

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Stainless Steel Carving Set, 6 Piece

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[Joe31415]

I've got a HF just a few blocks away. But some quick looking online and I see people are going at them with screwdrivers and all kinds of tools I wouldn't have thought to use. When I tried to pop it off the day I got it, I was clearly being far too gentle with it. I'm going to try again in a little while and use a bit more force.

 

[Joe31415]

Alright. Got it popped off the plug it was on and glued to a new one. It actually popped off pretty easily, I was just worried about damaging something last time I tried and didn't use enough force.

Definitely look up vermatid snails and see if that is one. It’s always good to remove those ASAP.

I looked at pictures of vermetid snails and once I had the frag out of the water that certainly appears to be what it was. It stayed on the original plug and is now in the garbage.

As for the fuzz, since it was mostly on the plug, it's mostly gone, there is some around the edge of the frag (and it appears brownish, but that could just be the color of the coral, I'm not sure) that I didn't notice beforehand so it's still on there. I'll keep an eye on it. If it appears to be growing I'll pull it out and see if I can brush it off with a toothbrush or something.

 

[Joe31415]

And just to add on to this. Based on the little bit I've read about these snails, it seems that even this one tiny snail probably justified the time and cost of the coral QT they're in. My DT has been ready and waiting for a really long time but still remains empty as my first batch of fish and my first batch of corals are all in their respective quarantine tanks.

 

[Joe31415]

I have, what may be, a new problem...or part of the previous problem...or maybe not a problem at all.
Part of this frag is starting to turn white. I can't tell if it's algae or bleaching or maybe this is how it's supposed to look. Any ideas?
At the moment, my pH is 7.98, Alk 8.5, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5-10, phosphate .04