Acan lord help!!! :(

[tangerine3486]

Hey. My new acan lord seems to be receding/melting. I have been out of town for a few days but the lady said it has not always been like that. Lights have been on for about 2 hours---does it look like this when it is closed????
All of the other corals---zoas, GSP, acan echinata all seem good and are open.

What should I do?

Please help!!!!

Thanks,
Jay

 

[jcgardner]

How long have you had it? Mine started to do this shortly after I got it, it lost 3 heads but there was still some heads that were still fleshy so I just left it in the tank and after about a month or so it is starting to come back. Maybe someone will have more info than I do.

 

[tangerine3486]

i had it for a few days, then it got all puffed up like it should, but then it started to do this.

It is finally coming back. I'm wondering if it was the acan echinata. How far away do they have to be? It gets this way even if it falls over or a shrimp or hermit gets near. it really lets you know when it is unhappy.

 

[Reefmack]

It might be the acan echinata. I have different acan lords touching with no problem, but an acan echinata I got rid of would try to digest anything near it by putting out mesenterial filaments. This was my purple echinata attacking a brain. It did the same to a toadstool and anything else too close to it:

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Great pic Terry !

 

[Reefmack]

I was in the right place at the right time! I always wished I had taken pictures of the echinata killing my toadstool that fell on it one too many times.

 

[BigJay]

Have you had any other LPS showing signs of tissue recession? That coral is pretty far gone but I'd probably try to give it a dip. I had something start on a small acan colony I ordered that traveled to most of my LPS in the tank wiping out a massive colony of duncans I had and did it very quickly. Not quite as fast as brown jelly. Once it started on my favias I pulled all my LPS and did a dip and it stopped the infection. Not saying its going to happen in your tank but I'd keep an on it.
My guess is the tissue was nicked during the fragging process. It looks very far gone but it does still have a polyp with a mouth so dipping it may save it. If you do , turn off all the powerheads and lift the coral very slowly and gently to make sure the tissue isn't further pulled away from the skeleton. Good luck!

 

[BigJay]

I was in the right place at the right time! I always wished I had taken pictures of the echinata killing my toadstool that fell on it one too many times.

sick picture for sure! watching a coral consume another is incredible.

 

[tangerine3486]

It might be the acan echinata. I have different acan lords touching with no problem, but an acan echinata I got rid of would try to digest anything near it by putting out mesenterial filaments. This was my purple echinata attacking a brain. It did the same to a toadstool and anything else too close to it:

Amazing pic!!! They were about 4 inches apart, and now nothing is within 6" of the echinata. Seemed to work at first but now I am not so sure.

Have you had any other LPS showing signs of tissue recession? That coral is pretty far gone but I'd probably try to give it a dip. I had something start on a small acan colony I ordered that traveled to most of my LPS in the tank wiping out a massive colony of duncans I had and did it very quickly. Not quite as fast as brown jelly. Once it started on my favias I pulled all my LPS and did a dip and it stopped the infection. Not saying its going to happen in your tank but I'd keep an on it.
My guess is the tissue was nicked during the fragging process. It looks very far gone but it does still have a polyp with a mouth so dipping it may save it. If you do , turn off all the powerheads and lift the coral very slowly and gently to make sure the tissue isn't further pulled away from the skeleton. Good luck!

The echinata seems pretty fine. the fleshy part of him is spread over the stony part of the frag, so that sounds good, right? His colors are still good. I will be paying very close attention. He seemed fine in the store but i do not understand why the polyp is not fully round, the nicking sounds good. plus i think the store had really good conditions. Here is a pic of a few days after I got him:

Not a good depth of field for this but he is a little puffy. He got this way for a few hours a day for 2-3 days, but yesterday he started looking the same way in the first pic.

What should I dip it in??

Thanks for the help everyone!

Jay

 

[Reefmack]

Sometimes you'll get polyps that aren't complete and round, due to then sawing apart larger colonies into frags. If yours survive they'll grow back with time. I'm surprised to hear the echinata was 4" away, but I'm not sure how far the echinata can stretch the filaments. I would think (hope) that 6" would surely have to be enough. I had to give away that echinata in the picture - it was too difficult being able to add other things in my small 34G nano. The brain did survive - it was missing a piece of flesh for a while though.

 

[reeferman]

get some Coral RX and dip it in that.its a lot gentler on tissue than Lugols and it seems to help a lot of things.its stopped recession on several of my corals when nothing else would.

 

[tangerine3486]

Sometimes you'll get polyps that aren't complete and round, due to then sawing apart larger colonies into frags. If yours survive they'll grow back with time. I'm surprised to hear the echinata was 4" away, but I'm not sure how far the echinata can stretch the filaments. I would think (hope) that 6" would surely have to be enough. I had to give away that echinata in the picture - it was too difficult being able to add other things in my small 34G nano. The brain did survive - it was missing a piece of flesh for a while though.

I see. one of the polyps is eating now, so I guess I will give it a few weeks.

Yikes! good the brain survived, looks like a sweet echinata . yeah I think I need to start verging away from the LPS for now until I get a larger tank, even though I want another acan lord! I think acans are awesome and colorful but maybe its just not meant to be with me haha.

Do echinatas sting other echinatas?

 

[reeferman]

yes they will.although whats happening in the pic is not stinging.thats the echinatas intestines devouring nearby competition.they are just preserving theyre space.echinatas are notorious for this as i had one devour most of my Miami Hurricane chalice.not pretty!

 

[Reefmack]

Good info. Reggie!

 

[BigJay]

I'm personally using seachem's coral dip and have 0 complaints. If one company's dip is better then other , I have no idea, but there are several formulations being sold specifically as dip now. As a matter of course I dip every new coral and frag in a solution of tank water/required # of drops of mix for approximately 5 to 15 minutes. Then its dipped into a second bat of pure tank water for about 5 minutes then into the tank itself.
The dip is at least mostly iodine so rinsing step after the dip is essential.

 

[tangerine3486]

well I ended up leaving it be and it seems super happy. Just need to wait a little and hope the color gets better again. This has been the best news for my tank for a while. It sat in very low light for a few days cause i broke my new LED lights :dunce: :dunce: :dunce: :dunce: :dunce: :dunce: :dunce: :dunce: :dunce: :dunce: :dunce: :dunce: :dunce: I will put up pics this weekend to show improvement and for future reference for people. I dont know if the lights had anything to do with it but it seems happy.