Red Color and Bubble forming on corals foot??

[Eddie M.]

Hello Everyone

Was wondering if someone could help identify what may be happening. Mushroom Leather Coral has been in my tank for over two months and has grown at least 3 times it size since i got it. Within the past week it has begun to develop a reddish color at its bottom stalk and bubbles develop on it. Not sure what this is or what is happening. It doesn't look like it is rotting and it seems that part of this red color is seeping into the rock. It opens every day and it eats reef roids i feed it twice a week.

Any thoughts on what this could be and what to do?

All other live stock and corals are perfect.

Tank Parameters
75 gallon with 30 gallon sump refigium
PH- 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: < 5 ppm
Calcium: 450 ppm
KH: 11
Phosphate: < 0.25 -- i think this elevated because of some film algae on the glass and green Coraline algae on the rocks.

 

[DaveK]

The red color is cyano. It usually grows over dead areas of the coral. The bubbles are likely to be oxygen from the cyano, but could also be from the coral decaying on the inside.

The best thing to do is give the coral the smell test. A normal coral will smell bad, but one with dead areas will smell really foul and rank. If that is the case, you frag off the good areas and discard the bad parts. That way you at least save something.

 

[StevesLEDs]

I concur completely with DaveK, I had to do the same thing with a Kenya and it saved it's life. (Mine smelled like lunch meat that sat out on the counter too long (thanks kids!)).

-Jeff