RPE Issues... Advise Please.

Reefer1225 · Jul 18, 2012

Hey all,

Need help troubleshooting an issue with my RPEs. All my other zoas/palys are doing fine. I believe the problem started when I started ramping up my LEDS (AI Sol Blues) for my SPS. I noticed my RPEs turning lighter and have a whitish ring around them, which I took as a sign of bleaching. I left it thinking that they would adjust, but they didn't. Mistake. The RPEs started having this brown growth in the base and stems. I thought it was algae, so I used a turkey baster to try to blow it off. It would not come off. Eventually, the polyps began to close and the brown crust/scab took over my colony. Amphipods pounced on their weakened state and half of my colony died off.

Stupid me, but it took this long for me to take action. I cut the colony off the rock and put it in the sandbed on a shaded area. RPE remained closed. Did research and concluded possibly zoa pox or a fungus. I tried the Furan2 treatment for 2 weeks (3 days of treatment and wait a week for next). It loosened up some of the brown scab/crust in the base/stem, and the some polyps started opening up, but after a while left alone the brown scab/crust comes back preventing it from opening fully. It is a hard crust that I tried to wipe off with a soft toothbrush and qtip, but it just comes back. So, I am stumped on what to do next.

Here are my parameters (I don't think its water quality as my other corals are fine)
Salinity - 1.026 (refract)
Cal - 430 (Salifert)
dKH - 8.5 (Salifert)
MG - 1320 (Salifert)
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate - 0 (API)
Phosphate - 0 (Hanna)
PH - 8.3-8.5 (fluctuates throughout day)

Here are the before and after pics:

Thinking of trying Lugol treatment or Peroxide treatment next, but I think they are stressed as it is after two weeks of Furan2 treatment.

Hope that's enough info. Thanks for any help you guys can think of.

reid429 · Jul 18, 2012

NitrAtes caused my cherry charms to look like that

Reefer1225 · Jul 18, 2012

Thanks, Reid. I know API isn't the greatest test kit, but it does read 0 for nitrates for me and I don't have any significant algae issues. What stumps me is that this is the only zoa/paly that is inflicted with this condition. So, if I did have a nitrate issue, wouldn't it affect all my zoas/palys or even my sps?

Tabasco1 · Jul 18, 2012

IDK, but I'd probably move it away from other polps if you don't have a qt. GL!

wysiwyg · Jul 18, 2012

give it a dip in a 50/50 mix of peroxide/tank water for 30 seconds

Reefer1225 · Jul 18, 2012

@Tabasco - Yeah, no QT. I have moved and isolated it from my other zoas/palys.
@wysiwg - Peroxide or lugols was my next step. I just didn't want to stress them further. Should I wait a while, or go for it? What do you think it is? A fungal infection?

FaviaFreak · Jul 18, 2012

I would try the 50/50 H202 dip as well and hope for the best

Reefer1225 · Jul 18, 2012

Peroxide it is! Will let you know results...

poomba · Jul 18, 2012

I would do the hydrogen peroxide dip, and then try and reduce the light it receives. My RPE seem very sensitive to high light levels.

reid429 · Jul 18, 2012

I had a zoa dominated tank with a rapid led kit and my LEDs caused issues just like that. I reduced the light to 8 hours a day and things haven't been better

Reefer1225 · Jul 19, 2012

I did eroxide dip. 2 parts tank water to 1 part peroxide. As soon as I put it in the the polyps started fizzing/bubbling. I left it in for 5 minutes and rinsed with tank water. Polyps remain closed but are slightly opening. Some of the brown crust started peeling off, so I blew it with a turkey baster. The brown crust is difficult to remove, so I tried brushing it off with toothbrush, which definitely irritated already weakened polyps, so I stopped and put it in tank in shaded spot. End result is some of the brown crust flaked off and you can see the smooth skin of the base and stem, but there is still a lot of it covering the polyp. I will let them rest for a few days and do another dip later. I would say it was more effective and cheaper than furan2, but a lot more harsh. The base and stem under looked very shiny and raw in some parts. So, I am worried that it is thinning out the skin of the base and stem. Reduce light intensity and hours as recommended above as well.

Reefer1225 · Aug 2, 2012

Just wanted to post updated pics. They are from my iphone and the RPEs are in a shaded area of my tank, so bad quality. Lost most of my colony. Here is what is left. The brown stuff is gone and polyps are starting to open. In sum, Furan2 didn't do much, peroxide did a lot more, but probably killed some polyps too.