SPS tissue loss at tips and strange feeding response

[mps026]

So im at a loss here. I have 3 of my 12 acros that are showing tissue loss at the tips only. Not all the tips just a few here and there. Also when i feed the fish or corals these same corals have a huge feeding response with filaments about an inch long in the tips with tissue loss. The unaffected tips are not showing the response either in the same colony.

My other acros are not showing this same feeding response. Two acro colonies that appear worst affected have been in my tank over a year.

I have had to stop dosing calcium now for a few days. It was 490 and has only dropped to 480 after several days-salifert. Norm calc is 430ish. Also had to stop dosing mag since it hit 1470 when norm is 1350ish.

I dose 2 part. Its a 50 gal aio. Salinity is 1.026. Phos is .07 with hanna. No nuisance algae in tank. I run gfo carbon and have a chaeto reactor.

Possible issues...

I used seachem fuel once a week over the last two weeks. I have stopped.

My alk is usually 8ish. I had an alk swing where it hit 10 but was corrected.
I am still dosing alk since it seems the only thing that is still being used.

I run reef breeder photon v2 light. I have a par meter and none of my acros are getting over 400 par. Lighting has never been an issue. No changes to lighting for a long time.

All my other leathers zoas lps appear unaffected. Lastly my bubble tip nem was looking bad so i got rid of him thinking he may be the problem.

I know this has happened to someone before. Any help is appreciated. I have sent water to triton just waiting for results. Thanks.

 

[HB AL]

Sounds like burnt tips, maybe a combination of the jump in alk and the nem realeasing some toxin, caused it. Hopefully it doesn't continue.

 

[FranklinDattein]

Very likely to be the Kalk spike.
I had the exact same issue a number of times, because my tank had high Aluminum levels and I was playing with a DIY dosing pump, which would cause .5 to 1.5dkh oscillation in a day.

The "Feeding response" is called mesenterial filaments and there are mixed opinions about them, some say it is feeding response and others that it is a defence/aggression mechanism.
It is effectively the guts of the corals and my experience and opinion is that it wastes a lot of energy throwing it, hence it is a bad sign.
In the worse case scenario they throw mesenterial filament, color fading, lack of polyp extension and peeling/RTN.

In my case, the high Al was boosting the Alk swing effect and I managed to find out about it with an ICP test.

 

[mps026]

Very likely to be the Kalk spike.
I had the exact same issue a number of times, because my tank had high Aluminum levels and I was playing with a DIY dosing pump, which would cause .5 to 1.5dkh oscillation in a day.

The "Feeding response" is called mesenterial filaments and there are mixed opinions about them, some say it is feeding response and others that it is a defence/aggression mechanism.
It is effectively the guts of the corals and my experience and opinion is that it wastes a lot of energy throwing it, hence it is a bad sign.
In the worse case scenario they throw mesenterial filament, color fading, lack of polyp extension and peeling/RTN.

In my case, the high Al was boosting the Alk swing effect and I managed to find out about it with an ICP test.

Thank you for the reply. What did you have to do to lower or get rid of the aluminum?

Did your acros heal?

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Here's a short read from a few year's ago with an interesting insight: It may be an attempt to increase its food sources since it has lost its zooxanthellae where bleached:

https://reefs.com/2011/07/23/when-corals-spill-their-guts/

 

[Ibn]

Like so?

Alk spike caused the tips to burn. Just bring alk back down to where it used to be and leave it alone if it's not getting worse. Clip off the ends if you're getting algae and you don't want to wait, but it'll eventually recover once your parameters are stabilized.

 

[mps026]

Exactly as the pic. Thanks for all the replies. Keeping my fingers crossed for everything to heal. Gonna let nature work it out.

 

[Rakie]

@Ibn you always have great pics to explain what you're talking about. This is exactly what I was envisioning when reading OP's post

 

[Randyp79]

I think the fuel may be your issue. I had the exact same thing happen when I started dosing NaNO3 to try and raise nitrates. I have since stopped and all my corals have recovered with the exception of a Tyree Pinky the Bear colony I have.

 

[mps026]

Yeah i suspect the fuel myself. I have run my tank alk at 10 in the past with no probs but with do many variables you never really know. Anybody know how long triton takes to get test results? They received my vials this past monday so far no results.

 

[markalot]

So im at a loss here. I have 3 of my 12 acros that are showing tissue loss at the tips only. Not all the tips just a few here and there. Also when i feed the fish or corals these same corals have a huge feeding response with filaments about an inch long in the tips with tissue loss. The unaffected tips are not showing the response either in the same colony.

My other acros are not showing this same feeding response. Two acro colonies that appear worst affected have been in my tank over a year.

I have had to stop dosing calcium now for a few days. It was 490 and has only dropped to 480 after several days-salifert. Norm calc is 430ish. Also had to stop dosing mag since it hit 1470 when norm is 1350ish.

I dose 2 part. Its a 50 gal aio. Salinity is 1.026. Phos is .07 with hanna. No nuisance algae in tank. I run gfo carbon and have a chaeto reactor.

Possible issues...

I used seachem fuel once a week over the last two weeks. I have stopped.

My alk is usually 8ish. I had an alk swing where it hit 10 but was corrected.
I am still dosing alk since it seems the only thing that is still being used.

I run reef breeder photon v2 light. I have a par meter and none of my acros are getting over 400 par. Lighting has never been an issue. No changes to lighting for a long time.

All my other leathers zoas lps appear unaffected. Lastly my bubble tip nem was looking bad so i got rid of him thinking he may be the problem.

I know this has happened to someone before. Any help is appreciated. I have sent water to triton just waiting for results. Thanks.

Howdy,

you mention Calcium but not Alkalinity, which is most important. All dosing should be set by measuring Alk, not Calcium. When you start dosing just one part of two part you are headed for trouble, so I suggest stopping all dosing and figuring out what Alk usage is, then start up dosing based on that. Just make sure your doser is in fact doling out equal parts two part.

The alk spike may have long term consequences so don't panic, just get the tank rock solid stable (Alk stable) and keep it steady for everything to heal back up. Any additional changes now will only exacerbate the issue. I know it sounds a little overly dramatic but this is how I, and many others, have lost a lot of acros.

Try and keep Alk in the 7 to 8 range, closer to 7 is better IMO. This is a safe range for a low nutrient tank, which yours appears to be. I switched over to droplet dosing a year ago and have never looked back. I even bought a bunch of dropper bottles off Amazon for this purpose. It's too easy to add caps full of "good stuff" and throw a tank out of wack. My biggest dose of additives in my 150 gallon is 2 drops of AF Vitality (vitamins) daily. Very small dose, yet makes a big difference.

 

[Rakie]

I think the fuel may be your issue. I had the exact same thing happen when I started dosing NaNO3 to try and raise nitrates. I have since stopped and all my corals have recovered with the exception of a Tyree Pinky the Bear colony I have.

I have this happen whenever I introduce glue into the tank, or Reef Welder, or Prime, or on some corals, metronidazole.

My corals don't appreciate any foreign contaminants.

 

[Butcher333]

Like so?

Alk spike caused the tips to burn. Just bring alk back down to where it used to be and leave it alone if it's not getting worse. Clip off the ends if you're getting algae and you don't want to wait, but it'll eventually recover once your parameters are stabilized.

I think the fuel may be your issue. I had the exact same thing happen when I started dosing NaNO3 to try and raise nitrates. I have since stopped and all my corals have recovered with the exception of a Tyree Pinky the Bear colony I have.

Holy cow. There has got to be something to this. I added some fuel and I thought I might be having too low of nitrate because salifert tests came back nearly undetectable, I purchased some sodium nitrate and my Acropora started having mesenterial threads first then tip STN. I should have just left everything alone.
I’m gonna bring alk down to 7.5 and never add Fuel again or sodium nitrate and pray.
strange that when I googled the mesenterial threads thing not much comes up but I google tips burning on acros I find this. Hmmm.