What is wrong with this coral

[Juice780]

This is one of the first frags I got for my tank. Everything Seems to be do good and growing and I noticed this the other day. Seems to be receding and turning gray. Not the best picture. Anyone know what would cause this.

 

[bryanfuel]

What is it? What are youre tank parameters? How old is the tank?

 

[UCF Alum]

There’s a thousand things that could cause this. Let’s start with your tank parameters, how old it is, lighting, flow, etc.

Also, can we get a a better pic?

 

[Juice780]

I’ll try and get a better pic with not so much blue. Temp is 77-78 salinity 1.025. Calcium 400 alk 9 mag 1320 idk about nitrate or phosphate. I’m having some algae and they both read 0 but not sure if that’s true. Tank is a little over 3 months old. I have an ai hydra 26 running a modified saxby schedule with the whites turned down more. It’s a 50 gallon lagoon tank. The coral is in the bottom corner so I know it can’t be getting too much light. Maybe not enough? Flow is pretty low where it’s at. I’m pretty sure it’s some kind of favite

 

[Juice780]

Here’s a little better pic.

 

[UCF Alum]

What type of coral is that? Real hard to tell.

 

[Juice780]

Maybe a war coral. I bought it at a local store and didn’t know exactly what it was. It’s some kind of favite

 

[DSC reef]

It's a favites pentagona (war coral). Looks like tissue recession which could be caused by chemistry swings, coral warfare, etc.

 

[Juice780]

There’s not anything close enough to bother it so I know it’s not that. Everything I have been testing has been staying pretty stable.

 

[Samina]

Maybe test your nutrients to see if they are not too low. How long has it been in your tank? Did you dip it?

 

[Mikedawg]

Your parameters look pretty good. As DSCreef wrote, could be caused by several different factors, including STN if the coral was stressed/weakened. Some reefers use Melafix or dips to treat after removing/fragging any jelly, bad "spots" distant from the healthy tissue; not sure there is much else to do.

War corals are pretty hardy but I've had a few that "disintegrated" from stress/weakening due to water parameter issues (I think). Good luck

 

[Bleigh]

Could it be a leptastrea? I’ve had similar issues recently too. No clue what it’s from, but I’m trying more flow. Let me know if you find the issue and I’ll do the same!

 

[Juice780]

Could be low nutrients. Hey m running a pellet reactor. I might take that offline for now. Maybe stripping too much nutrients. I have light bio load.

 

[Bleigh]

Low nutrients could defineilty be my issue too. I’ve started feeding heavier than I use to this week.
I went from a biocube with no sump to a 60 gallon with a big sump, fuge, and skimmer and only added 5 fish. Definitely not the bipolar they were use to.

 

[Juice780]

The frag has been in there a couple months and seemed to be doing well up to about a week ago.

 

[Bleigh]

The frag has been in there a couple months and seemed to be doing well up to about a week ago.

lol same. ;Hilarious I switched mine over from
My biocube in July or August. They were all growing like crazy and just started looking bad a few weeks ago. Although, some other corals still look amazing. Haven’t a clue what’s going on. All the usual suspect have been eliminated. So I added some more flow and heavier feeds. We’ll see if that does anything. ;Nailbiting

 

[Juice780]

I was actually going to move this coral a little higher up in the tank with a little more flow. Don’t know if this will help or hurt.

 

[Bleigh]

I was actually going to move this coral a little higher up in the tank with a little more flow. Don’t know if this will help or hurt.

quoting @Dana Riddle quoting someone else, “it’s a chess game you’ll eventually lose”. It’s become my favorite quote since entering this hobby. ;Happy

 

[vetteguy53081]

Looks like war coral to me and generally a tough coral. The encrusting has diminishes as well as tissue.
I would suggest taking a water sample to a trusted LFS and have them check: Alk, MAG, CA, Salinity and Nitrate to confirm and compare readings with yours.
Moderate light and water flow is sufficient and mid tank for placement. If all else fails, check bottom of plug for bugs.
My suspicion is either High Salinity or Low Alk