How should I dip this??

[Mr. D]

Hey everyone,

I have this bonsai sps that needs to be dipped for worms. Any suggestions on how to do this? Normally I'd break off the colony, but there is some growth onto the rock that may house the worms as well.

So I'm looking for the communities help here.

 

[NanaReefer]

What kind of worms?

 

[Velodog2]

I'd put my hand upon your hip. When I dip you dip we dip.

Never mind please ban me.

Following. I have a stringy white worm that seems to be consuming a stylo.

 

[Dan_k]

Are you talking about aefw?
If so they are on more then the bonsai
How's the rest of the SPS in your tank look

 

[Mr. D]

I'm not sure what type of worm it is. The other sps, on the same rock show no signs of stress. They have normal polyp extension, and I cannot find bite marks.

 

[mrcoffee2]

I dip my SPS in bayer. I am not sure id dip a rock in it though...

 

[x3m_coral]

Need to ID what worm you have, flat worm or bristle worm.

 

[Mr. D]

I appreciate that I need to ID, but I have tried to find what ever is doing it. I can't find them during the day or night. So I'm looking for methods of dipping in general right now.

I feel like my only option is to break the colony off, then do my best to get the growth off the rocks. By that I mean killing the growth by prying it off the rock since whatever bugs may be there, could be hiding there too.

 

[rovster]

That thing is bleached! If you are serious about treating, you need to treat all the acros,and remove that base. Bayer works well. Bonsais for some reason seem to be pest magnets! GL!

 

[Mr. D]

It does look bleached. I believe it almost entirely due to stress right now.

The other two acros are not showing any signs of this. Sill remove them and treat?

Also, any suggestions on removing the growth off of the rock?

 

[NanaReefer]

I don't believe it to be a worm of any kind. Frag it!!

 

[rovster]

I don't believe it to be a worm of any kind. Frag it!!

Why would you frag a bleached acro if its showing no sign of recession?

The answer here is if you confirm worms dip and place lower in tank (sometimes only way is to dip and see if what comes off). If no worms, place lower in tank and figure out why its bleaching. Worms can cause bleaching, but in my personal experience, they cause more browning and an overall "ragged" look.

 

[NanaReefer]

Fragging versus removal of the entire coral to dip. Thus allowing the healthy looking encrusted part to continue to grow...maybe It was just an idea as I'm definitely no Acro expert.

 

[Mr. D]

The reason I'm considering removing the growth that has encrusted is bc, from my understanding, the worms or whatever kind of bugs, will hide under branches or other overlaps. Some of the growth overlaps small holes and such in the rock itself, giving the critters a place to hide.

I think my goal now is to remove and dip.

Does anyone have suggestions for removing the growth from the rock itself? Other than just picking away at it, or at least just the parts that overlap with holes in the rock.

Thanks for all the replies so far!

 

[ZIGGY63]

Sorry to hear that, I'll be following my Bosnia has been show some of the same signs. Dipped mine and did not see anything out of the usual

 

[Mr. D]

Well, after doing a water change I broke off the colony with a flat head screw driver and then broke as much as I could with the flat head also. I dipped in coral rx. I saw maybe two little worms, but it was really hard to tell they were so small. The picture of the dip water is pretty much useless, but thought I'd include it. Unfortunately, damage to the bonsai was something I had to deal with. Hopefully it bounces back in the coming weeks.

Thanks for the help. Especially Rob who came to my house and pointed it out to me.

 

[rovster]

Maybe a flow or light issue? I see that your zoas and chalices look very nice, and I don't see any algae so your nutrients should be all good. So its probably flow, light or pest related. If its AEFW, which I doubt, but possible, they are hard to miss on the dip. They look like little translucent discs. The larger ones you cannot miss, as they are more tan colored and stick out like a sore thumb. Bonsais in general don't like a ton of light, so that might be something to look into as well. But the main causes of bleach are too much light or too little nutrients. I would look into light and flow personally. A dip can't hurt. I would do bayer because its more gentle than the other stuff. I think moving to the sand is a good idea. What you want is for it to start browning out and darkening up. Don't worry about the purple now, that is a few months down the road IF the coral recovers.

 

[Mr. D]

Maybe a flow or light issue? I see that your zoas and chalices look very nice, and I don't see any algae so your nutrients should be all good. So its probably flow, light or pest related. If its AEFW, which I doubt, but possible, they are hard to miss on the dip. They look like little translucent discs. The larger ones you cannot miss, as they are more tan colored and stick out like a sore thumb. Bonsais in general don't like a ton of light, so that might be something to look into as well. But the main causes of bleach are too much light or too little nutrients. I would look into light and flow personally. A dip can't hurt. I would do bayer because its more gentle than the other stuff. I think moving to the sand is a good idea. What you want is for it to start browning out and darkening up. Don't worry about the purple now, that is a few months down the road IF the coral recovers.

Thanks for the info. Whatever it was, hopefully it's fixed now. I'll glue it to a more stable base soon and just leave it on the sand for a while and see what happens.