What’s eating my Acros?

[NJ Reefer]

I’ve lost several acro frags over the last few weeks. I thought it was STN due to some minor swings in Alk and a larger drop in Calcium. I brought both back in line, but noticed STN starting on a couple of my favorite acros. I read another post which recommended looking at the acros after lights out to see if there were any pests, and sure enough I found these tiny “bugs” crawling all over them. Can anyone help identify what I’m dealing with? And is there any way to treat the tank vs removing these corals? I’m concerned that if these bugs could be anywhere and everywhere in my tank.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I'm not sure what they are, have you looked into interceptor tablets?

 

[NJ Reefer]

Thank for the response, I am looking into it…sounds potentially promising but perhaps difficult to obtain since it requires a prescription. I also saw some people have used Dr. G’s coral dip with mixed success. Also potentially hard to get. I would really like to identify the pest first if possible.

 

[Backreefing]

I am also not certain of what they are, but my first instinct is they are pods ? Eating the dieing flesh of the coral. . If you’re just getting started with acropora then the likelihood of pests are reduced.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Interceptor ??
These are Mere copepods which are food source for fish and coral.
You have STN and something is going on with the water hence the tissue loss. Stressors such as increased temperature either modify the structure of the coral microbial symbiotic community or trigger the production of virulence factors. Temperature stress can increase chances of coral disease development in several ways by creating stress in the coral zooxanthellae and decreasing its resistance to infection, increasing growth and virulence of opportunistic coral pathogens, and decreasing the production of antimicrobials by symbiotic bacteria in the coral mucus, thereby facilitating the growth of opportunistic and potentially pathogenic bacteria.

Some possible triggers of infection are:
- Alkalinity spike
- Temperature spike
- Salinity spike
- Low dissolved oxygen
- Poor water quality related with phosphate levels up to 5 ppm
- Change in water flow
- Additions of sand
- Changes in brand of salt
- Bad test kits giving faulty results
- Levels of minor elements such as Iodine, Potassium, Strontium
- Light intensity
- - Changes in water flow
- Addition of new corals
- - Pesticides
- Airborne Contaminants or sprays

The key to successfully keeping SPS corals is tank stability. SPS corals can start turning brown if there are elevated phosphate and/or nitrates in the water and if there is not enough lighting. Both these factors increase the production of zooxanthellae. To prevent your corals from turning brown, test the water parameters regularly, keep up with water changes, and ensure your corals are receiving adequate lighting.

Assure lighting not too low and water flow not too strong.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I am also not certain of what they are, but my first instinct is they are pods ? Eating the dieing flesh of the coral. . If you’re just getting started with acropora then the likelihood of pests are reduced.

They are going after the algae in the dead spots

 

[Ultra Aquatics]

Yep agreed, those are just pods. There’s an environmental factor stressing your corals.

 

[NJ Reefer]

Thank you all for the quick replies. I agree they do look like pods. I thought they might be the culprit, but it makes sense that they are merely taking advantage of dying flesh caused by something else. The puzzling thing is my tank is about 10 years old. It is fairly stable, with the exception of my calcium which had a sudden decrease a few weeks back (425ppm to 260 ppm). I didn’t think calcium fluctuation could be the cause of STN, but perhaps it can. (I have subsequently brought it back up to 425ppm). No other significant changes have occurred in my parameters.

PO4: 0.03ppm
Ni: 0.5 ppm
Alk: 8.4 dkh
Mag: 1250 ppm
Temp: 78.1°
Salinity: 1.026
PH: 8.18

 

[Backreefing]

Those parameters are pretty close to what you need , but that is a snapshot of your aquarium.
in my experience I have had so much trouble with nutrient levels in my aquariums . For me it’s persistent low nutrients.
calcium levels are maybe the most forgiving of all the parameters. Alkalinity is far more important. They are tied together calcium and alkalinity with magnesium .
low lighting levels take time to kill .
hope you figure it out.