Help! My corals are peeling!

[Tom Vick]

I have three acoporas, and a monti losing flesh...the acoporas are new but the monti is/was established. Any ideas?

175g Bowfront, 3 400w 10k MH, 2 96w Actinic CF, 200 gallon sump/refugium, ETS Skimmer, Geo Calc reactor, a Carbon Canister, Chiller, and return pump turning things over 3-4 times an hour. I have a ozonizer hooked up to a Neptune controler that also controls two tunze power heads and the lights. T

Water Parameters: Temp 78
PH 7.99-8.15
KH 6meg/l
CA 385
MG 1250
O2 9
ORP 390
No measureable nitrates or phosphates

 

[UnderWaterParadise]

Sorry but with SPS this happens from time to time. If you did not acclimate the new Acros to that light it will surely kill them IMO. That is a lot of light

 

[mattie]

its rtn acro's get
rtn is were the skin peel's off
monti's don't get it
its posible the new corals were sick and spread to your system
but there is a nudi branch that is very small and white that east montipora's too
if it's only the rtn desease for acro's
i would say the acro's are gonna be dead by tomorrow. the only chance you have is to make frags of the good tip and place them in the on the bottom and hope for the best
i do find it strange that the montipora is effected becouse the chance of haveing that nudi branch on a new acro is very weird
good luck
sorry to hear about this

 

[UnderWaterParadise]

It has also come to my attention that there has been an increase of Acro's coming in with the Flat Worms. These type of flat worms actually feed on the tissue of the Acro's

 

[Tom Vick]

Cool...thanks for the tips...I plan on doing a big water change and make frags of what is left...I'm I hearing correct that they might be getting too much light and the frags should be put low in the tank...the corals that are peeling are about 10'' and 14" below the surface. Two of the corals are from the same place...maybe an Iodine dip when I frag them?

 

[UnderWaterParadise]

I'm not an SPS expert but I don't think Iodine dips help at all. If you don't acclimate corals to the lighting it could effect any coral. 3x400 on a 175g is a ton of light and if those corals were sitting at the wholesaler for a couple days with no light then at the LFS you could shock them

 

[Tom Vick]

I guess I'm using the "shotgun" approach...dip in case of infection...and I will move the frags down to the subsrtate to try an save them. Next new purchase will start at the bottom!

 

[fishhead]

Too much light YIKEs go to the 250W?

 

[mattie]

his tank is 175g bow front
400w's are fine
lighting acclimation may help
10k's are little bright but i wouldn't change it as long as the bulbs weren't yellow

what are the dimensions of the tank 6 ft by 2ft by 2 ft bowed sort of?

 

[Witfull]

if i recall correctly, 175bows are the same as a 150 72x18x26 then the bow is 24". i dont think its to much, its alot, but not overkill. an option also is changing to a different bulb.

 

[Jerome]

Here is my opinion:

I don't think lighting is the ultimate cause. Eric Borneman says that RTN is a stress response caused by a myriad of causes. Reducing light temporily is recommened, however, lighting alone is not likely the cause. He also say there is anecdoltally that Lugal's solution can be effective as "SPS dips". He also say that there is some evidence that antibiotic treatments can help as well. His book Aquarium Coralshas a large section on SPS disease. I have noticed in my own experience that to much direct current can lead to RTN or coral peeling.

My tank has 2 175 watt XM 10k MH and 2 65 watts PC and is only 50 gallons. So, if you have to much lightng so do I. I have placed at 25 SPS corals in the top 1/3 of my tank and never had a problem with RTN. Though I have acculamated my these coral to the tank I have never had an issue or a need to acculamating them for long peroids to the lighting. The vast majority I bought from dealers tank as "brown outs" from low light and high nutrients along with unstable water conditions from the vast amount of water turn over each day from "bagging corals and water" for people who have purchased corals. My point being it's not your lighting, it maybe that your lighting was the final "stress" that caused RTN if it shocked your new corals.

I think there a lot of reasons for RTN and that you should consider a variety of factors. The problem with this disease you may never know a specific cause of the many unknown factors effecting SPS corals.

 

[Tom Vick]

You may be on to something with the direct current...effected corals were placed about 1-1.5' from a Tunze Turbelle Stream 6060. These pumps are supposed to give higher flow with low velocity but they are still pretty strong.

 

[cheeks69]

I have had cases of bleaching and STN because of lighting issues. You must slowly aclimate your corals to that amount of light, they can and will adjust but they need time if you all of a sudden blast them with that much light I have no doubt they could RTN especially if they were in previous lower lighting tanks.

What type of 10k bulbs are you using are they XM's ? Where did you place the Acro's when you added them to the tank ? Do you know what type of lighting they were under when you bought them ?

As Jerome mentioned very well ^^^there could be a myriad of reasons for the RTN and direct flow could also be a problem. You want small eddies and swirling masses of water that cause the water to flow in a chaotic manner through the aquarium.

 

[Tom Vick]

I think I have/had two problems going on...the two new corals were placed high in the tank...I assumed they were in bright light at the retailer (online)bad move I guess. The three others I lost were do to flow I think...I changed my return pump to a smaller one and added some wave makers to make up for it.The effected corals were close (12 -14") and got blasted. The bulbs are not XMs...the bulbs are relatively new but when I replace them I will make the switch. I am not happy with these bulbs and should not have chinced in that area. I lost five peices all together but the crisis seems to be over...I hope. Remaining corals still have their skin but are closed up.

 

[UnderWaterParadise]

If your powerhead had direct flow on the Acros that is your problem right there IMO

 

[Jerome]

Bounce your powerheads off the walls so they converge in the middle against the wall.

I have my powerheads facing the same way as the return and powerhead on the opposite side of the tank.

 

[Tom Vick]

Well...I thought the hemmorging was over...two more sps lost...one was established and no where near a powerhead...was growing fine...this is getting expensive and frustrating!!!!!

 

[UnderWaterParadise]

Sorry to hear. That's why I HATE Acro's!!!!

 

[cheeks69]

Are you having any drastic swings in ph between the AM/PM ? Do you drip kalk ? In your first post you mentioned a KH 6meg/l IMO that is very high ! I can't say for certain but it appears you water chemistry is unbalanced.

 

[Tom Vick]

Yes I do drip Kalk on days when my ph will drop below 8 (lights off)...ph does swing from 7.98 to 8.08. I mostly rely on the Calcium reactor. KH was a little high but have brought it down to around 4. I did a large water change (around 30%) and am testing the water regularly. Only thing not in line was Mg which was low. I have only five Acros left and they show no signs of peeling. Two have opened up pretty good and are starting to grow a little...the other three are not showing polyp extension but look healthy otherwise.