What could this be on my Nasuta?

[goody]

Noticed my nasuta wasn't looking "normal" a few weeks ago. Corallites look bumpy, and color has faded a bit. I still get some polyp extension, but not as much as I used to. I've included photos of what it used to look like and now

A couple of days ago, I did a large water change, and my water level dropped below this piece so it was exposed to air. After filling up the tank with new water, this piece had a lot of strings of slime coming off. The next day, I noticed the coral looked a little bit better, but it still wasn't normal. I took a turkey baster to it and a lot of stuff started flaking off. It is still not back to normal and it looks like the "bumpy" stuff is starting to grow again. What could this be? This is the only coral in my tank that looks this way. Here are some shots after the water change and turkey basting (pic 1 is day after water change, and the last two are after turkey basting-notice the difference after the "stuff" blew off)

 

[Aquaph8]

No idea, never seen anything like that. Good luck figuring it out.

 

[lakeviewink]

Wow, that just gave me the heebee jeebers. It looks like an infection or infestation of some sort. Beautiful Nasuta, I hope you figure it out.

 

[RalphsReef]

Everything sounds normal (slimy strings from being stressed, etc) except for the end result. How long was it exposed to air? I am wondering if it partially died, and it is a form of algae growing on the dead part. That is the only thing I can think of.

 

[goody]

Everything sounds normal (slimy strings from being stressed, etc) except for the end result. How long was it exposed to air? I am wondering if it partially died, and it is a form of algae growing on the dead part. That is the only thing I can think of.

It actually got better after being exposed to air. Almost as if the air killed off whatever was making the bumpy look on the corallites.

 

[islander84]

Looks like maybe some of the flesh has thinned and is scaly. The bumpiness could be too much Ca. Some times acros will have funny growth due to excess ca

 

[DBarsotti]

A long a long time ago I had this happen to one of my corals. In my experience its some sort of disease that not only affects the tissue but the skeleton as well. When it happened to mine the skeleton pretty much turned to mush, it was no longer hard as if the disease was eating away at it. I bet if you grabbed one of those branches you'd see what I'm talking about. From what I know, it'll keep growing but I never got rid of it and eventually just took the coral out of my system.

 

[mcarroll]

Very hard to say for sure from just a picture, but I'm gonna guess it's some kind of sponge or less likely some kind of encrusting soft coral, maybe gorgonian or something similar. Almost looks like it wants to be some tiny version of green star polyps...sorta acting that way too.

I would frag it off the main colony asap...grow it out in another tank, or at least a separate space if possible.

-Matt


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[Dtech07]

Wouldn't hurt to give it a good did in Coral Rx, Lugos, or Iodine.

 

[Dowtish]

Looks like maybe some of the flesh has thinned and is scaly. The bumpiness could be too much Ca. Some times acros will have funny growth due to excess ca

I overdosed Cal. one time in my tank, and just 2 corals started to grow abnormally. Weird bumpy patterns and clusters. It eventually grew past it, but it did not look good for a few months.
Although, I'm not sure if this is the same thing as it seems to be a slime of sorts, but the growth pattern definitely reminded me of when I overdosed Cal.

This is a pic of my Hawkins when it happened.

 

[Reef Fever]

i know its kinda out there but are there any Vermetid Snails hiding in that colony. I know I had one on a purple rim monti awhile back and its web made it kinda look like that from the irritation

 

[Mr.Acro]

The same thing is happening to my setosa, beautiful Nasuta by the way.

 

[Mr.Acro]

Did you ever figure out the solution/ what happened?

 

[Jimbo]

Bumping this again. I have similar growth on my Hawkins, anyone know what causes it?

 

[Frick]

Misbalance in the big 3. Recheck your Calcium, Alk, and Magnesium. Get a second opinion with another test if your initial test results are "okay". There is a good chance one of them is too high.

 

[Coral Revolution]

Nasty looking, hope you figure out what's going on.

 

[IGROZOAS]

That is weird looking.

 

[Frick]

Here is what happened to one of my A. granulosa that was in a small tank that constantly had high magnesium. I struggled to get the Mg down and it eventually straightened out. High calcium can have the same effect.

 

[Frick]

I am sure there is a technical name for the phenomenon, i am not sure what it is yet, but I read somewhere someone used the metaphor of the coral being constipated. Yes constipated. Basically, When the elements are not in proper proportions then the coral will end up being "blocked up" as it tries to grow. I could try to go in to more depths about Acropora energy consumption and usage, which is the cause and effect of what is really going on.