Long Established Reef Rock Turning Black

Gareth elliott · Jan 30, 2019

Could this be mutagenic or virological in nature?

We blast our tanks with large amounts of uv could miscoded DNA simply be spreading faster than undamaged individuals. On the viral end, could this be similar Similar to CWPD(coralline white patch disease). There are more viruses that infect algae and plants by a wide margin than those that target protists or animals.

Gareth elliott · Jan 31, 2019

Found this study
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-018-1704-z

SnakeCharmer · Feb 17, 2019

Gareth elliott said:
Found this study
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-018-1704-z

Outstanding, thank you for sharing this.

The next step is to find means to stop, reverse, or treat the condition.

Gareth elliott · Feb 17, 2019

SnakeCharmer said:
Outstanding, thank you for sharing this.

The next step is to find means to stop, reverse, or treat the condition.

Maybe try reef flux? Fluconazole’s main use in pharmacology is as an antifungal. Mind you most antifungals very broad in what fungi are treated.

Gareth elliott · Feb 17, 2019

SnakeCharmer said:
Outstanding, thank you for sharing this.

The next step is to find means to stop, reverse, or treat the condition.

Maybe try reef flux? Fluconazole’s main use in pharmacology is as an antifungal. Mind you most antifungals very broad in what fungi are treated.

SnakeCharmer · Feb 17, 2019

Gareth elliott said:
Maybe try reef flux? Fluconazole’s main use in pharmacology is as an antifungal. Mind you most antifungals very broad in what fungi are treated.

Not a bad idea. I am hesitant to treat a stabilized reef with a medication but I can always remove an infected rock and place it in a small quarantine tank and treat it there. My only concern is whether the difference in environments (chemistry/lighting/temp/flow,...) between the reef and quarantine tank would play a part in the end result.

SnakeCharmer · Mar 21, 2019

UPDATE:

I removed a contaminated rock from the reef and treated it with Reef Flux in a quarantine tank for the recommended period. The med had no effect on the black portion of the rock.

Gareth elliott · Mar 21, 2019

Since the rock is qt’d perhaps some additional experiments.

1 cheapest, add some sugar as a carbon source.
Start with a low concentration(say .5mg per gallon and monitor for a week. Take a picture each day and see when maximum growth rate is achieved, early bacteria, day 6 or 7 its most likely fungal.

^will only work if follow the same rules for terrestrial studies no idea if it will. But perhaps will tell you if it is bacteria or fungal in nature.

Next set of experiments would be attempting to kill with some relatively reef safe options.

Round one h202, test if increased oxidation has an effect again cheap or free if have already start with a reef safer dose of 1ml per 10 gallon.

Skip if you dont have and no desire to use in the future.

Round 2 erythromycin, treat at fish safe levels wouldnt call reef safe but at least wont kill fish if properly used.

Round 3 coat the black areas in Neosporin.

Round 4 dip in an iodine dip. At this point as a last resort. Again only if you have i already made you buy reef flux with no effect.

Can_anne · Mar 23, 2019

SnakeCharmer said:
Thank you for sharing. That is indeed exactly what I have going on in my reef. It's the purple coralline algae that is specifically being attacked in my reef as well. That could be a key detail.

I am considering trying the live spore purple coralline enhancer product that reef keepers are talking about to see if there is any reaction or improvement. As I stated earlier, there is some areas of new growth/unaffected purple coralline in my reef, specifically at the edges of the reef. But overall, the blackening, then graying of many of the live rocks continues.

Hmmm, interesting. I came across an article, and a couple of the pictures of coralline white band syndrome (CWBS) have areas of untouched red coralline. You can see them here.

https://www.semanticscholar.org/pap...b7fee368528487d956b2cfcbce0d654d67c#extracted

Actually, a couple of the patches in my tank also have a distinct white band and are more gray than black. Have you noticed this in your tank as well? I also read that CWBS has a transition area between the healthy and diseased coralline, which is consistent with our experience, and is more prevalent on the flat upper surfaces of the reef. Despite the similarities, I didn’t find any pictures with these gross dark black patches.

RoyinSpain · Apr 16, 2019

I have been curing dead rock for nearly 4 weeks. 1st week in 10% bleach. Then well rinsed and into saltwater with vigorous water movement and heating at 25 deg C with weekly water changes. After 20 days the sulfur smell was terrible, and now the rock has turned black/grey. Anaerobic bacteria I guess. Anyone ideas what to do? Rebleach?

SnakeCharmer · Apr 27, 2019

I would think that bleach is going to do more harm than good. When I worked in retail, we would store the newly arrived live rock shipments in circulated vats without lighting to allow them to cure for a few weeks. We would add a dose of enzyme/biological supplement to each vat to help eat up the die-off.

If it was me, I'd remove this rock and let it air dry in the sun for one month. It can be used again one day as a base for healthy live rock.

SnakeCharmer · Jun 27, 2019

Another update. The black stuff seems to be slowly disappearing. There is only two small areas of rich black coloring left in the reef. The existing effected areas are now grey, like dead live rock. In fact, Coralline algae has regrown over some sections of the grey patches. See images for comparison.

The effected piece that I placed in my quarantine tank, some months back, remains mostly black.

Can_anne · Jul 7, 2019

SnakeCharmer said:
Another update. The black stuff seems to be slowly disappearing. There is only two small areas of rich black coloring left in the reef. The existing effected areas are now grey, like dead live rock. In fact, Coralline algae has regrown over some sections of the grey patches. See images for comparison.

The effected piece that I placed in my quarantine tank, some months back, remains mostly black.

This is promising - thanks for the update! Did you try anything else (extra water changes, etc.), or did you just keep up your regular maintenance? I still have all the black areas in my tank, but the purple coralline is slowly starting to grow over them in places, especially along the edges.

SnakeCharmer · Jul 7, 2019

Can_anne said:
This is promising - thanks for the update! Did you try anything else (extra water changes, etc.), or did you just keep up your regular maintenance? I still have all the black areas in my tank, but the purple coralline is slowly starting to grow over them in places, especially along the edges.

I added a small pump to increase circulation in the dead zones behind the rock. It blows detritus out into the open where it can be more thoroughly removed during water changes. That is the only thing I changed in the system and I am not sure that it has anything to do with the positive changes.

Arireef · Oct 31, 2022

SnakeCharmer said:
Another update. The black stuff seems to be slowly disappearing. There is only two small areas of rich black coloring left in the reef. The existing effected areas are now grey, like dead live rock. In fact, Coralline algae has regrown over some sections of the grey patches. See images for comparison.

The effected piece that I placed in my quarantine tank, some months back, remains mostly black.

Just wanted to pop in quick to say i think you're looking at coralline fungal disease

Possible control of acute outbreaks of a marine fungal pathogen by nominally herbivorous tropical reef fish - PMC

Primary producers in terrestrial and marine systems can be affected by fungal pathogens threatening the provision of critical ecosystem services. Crustose coralline algae (CCA) are ecologically important members of tropical reef systems and are ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov