Whats wrong with my Garf Bonsai? Pic*

[Reef_a_holiks]

Hello everyone, so here is a pic of my garf bonsai that from one day to the next, it seemed to have completely lost its color, Almost looks like if it may have died out, but its not completely white on its skeleton, and you could see the polyps wanting to come out, from one day to the next overnight , it completely turned very pale and little to no polyp extension. I have been in the hobby for a while now and have not seen this happen to any sps. Almost looks like a sps that has been bleached from high lighting but there has been no change to light intensity, Maybe some pest but I havent found anything . All other sps in the tank seem to be doing well. Im Very confused what do you guys think.

 

[spspirate]

Have you checked for acro eating flatworms?

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

Have you checked for acro eating flatworms?

Ive been on the search but havent found anything , where do they tend to be , directly on the coral, nearby?

 

[spspirate]

Ive been on the search but havent found anything , where do they tend to be , directly on the coral, nearby?

Usually on the base and or anywhere on the acropora. Try hitting the coral with a turkey baster a few times and watch carefully to see if anything like flat worms fall off of it. You would also see little tiny bite marks like cookie cutter type holes from the tissue.

 

[jackson6745]

It's bleached badly. If you see polyps there's always a chance it could come back. Maybe the hammer coral extended a tentacle and stung it?

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

Usually on the base and or anywhere on the acropora. Try hitting the coral with a turkey baster a few times and watch carefully to see if anything like flat worms fall off of it. You would also see little tiny bite marks like cookie cutter type holes from the tissue.

im going to be on the lookout more often for flat worms, but havent seen anything like that yet. Im also going to give the turkey blasting a try

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

It's bleached badly. If you see polyps there's always a chance it could come back. Maybe the hammer coral extended a tentacle and stung it?

Yes it does look very bleached, its weird though as I havent changed the light intensity. The hammer coral is pretty far from it, a good 6-8 inches. looks closer in the picture

 

[jackson6745]

Oh, couldn't tell from the pic. It could be flatworms. You're not going to see them, and if you never dealt with them before it's easy for the damage to go unnoticed. I would dip that piece in bayer to be sure. You may lose the piece from the added stress of the dip, but you might lose it anyway. Small price to pay to know if you can save other corals in your tank AEFW damage.

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

Im starting to see this happen to other acros, can this be caused by nitrates?

 

[reefndude]

I've had sps start to look pale from high alk and low nutrients

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

I had this happen to my bonsai too it was from cooking it too much light. It looks like yours has been in there a while though.

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

My Alk is at 9 , nutrients are not low as im currentling battling nitrates, nothing major though, sitting at 5ppm trying to get back to zero. tank is 7 months old. There as been no change to lighting, unless water has became clearer letting more light in .

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

im starting to notice it , on another acro and on the digitata that on the picture. No pest seen,

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

do you have asterinas?

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

do you have asterinas?

No asterina starfish

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

I've noticed mine are eating pavona, birdnest, and an ORA purple acro they may have tagged the bonsai too, but I cooked alot of SPS just assuming it would be fine with my radions turned down.

 

[jackson6745]

I've noticed mine are eating pavona, birdnest, and an ORA purple acro they may have tagged the bonsai too, but I cooked alot of SPS just assuming it would be fine with my radions turned down.

IME you will see asterina stars on dying acros eating whatever , but I never actually saw them attack and eat healthy pieces before.

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

Found the problem! it was a new bi color blenny that I put in the tank, he was eating my sps. Caught him munching on other sps. you could see the bite marks on the coral same color as my bonsai. Got him out and traded him for a mandarin dragonet.

 

[TUSI]

That's hard to believe but anything is possible. When the tissue die algae start setting in maybe that's what he was munching on, unless you saw him going at a perfect sps coral tissue. I would keep a close eye on aefw. I had them and that's what they do.

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

That's hard to believe but anything is possible. When the tissue die algae start setting in maybe that's what he was munching on, unless you saw him going at a perfect sps coral tissue. I would keep a close eye on aefw. I had them and that's what they do.

The tissue isnt dead in any of my sps, even hurt how they are now. and before i bought the blenny everything was thriving. First started with the bonsai, then started seeing spots on my other sps. caught him today munching out on my Digitatas perfect tissue. With every bite it left a mark of polyps missing.