Sick acan

slfcaptain

Active Member
For the past few weeks my acans have not been looking great. I thought maybe they needed to be fed more so fed more often, 3 times a weeks. No change.

Today I moved it to a spot where I could get a good photo and this is what I see.



Looks like worms are on it. Anyone know what is going on? I am thinking of giving it a dip.

steve
 

pgrtgunner

Member
Before you dip it, you may want to try using a turkey baster to squirt it with fresh water and see it's reaction.
I feel for ya dude.....Mark
 

slfcaptain

Active Member
I have squirted it to see if they come off but they didnt budge. Though, I didnt try fresh water.

I have been observing the strings and they dont appear to be moving at all so I dont think they are worms. This acan was looking great a few weeks ago and its sad to see it like this. Not sure what is going on.

steve
 

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
I would try a dip in Coral RX in case it's have parasite issues. I think that would be better than not doing anything as it's appears to be melting away. Hope you update with better news soon!
 

Surfnut

Active Member
It doesn't look like a parasite to me. It looks like the coral is puking up its guts: I've had it happen a few times with corals in the past. The coral is unhappy and is expelling something from it's innards that it doesn't much care for. The tendrils will retract back into the coral in short order usually: A few hours to a couple of days from my experience.

They could also be offensive tendrils from another coral. Some corals will attempt to kill other corals that grow too close to it using long stinging tentacles or bundles of internal tendrils that will migrate to nearby corals and begin to release digestive fluids to irritate or kill the targeted coral.

Was this coral within 6" of another coral?
 

slfcaptain

Active Member
The only other corals near it are other acans and a toadstool. I wonder if the polyps will recover?

steve
 

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
The only other corals near it are other acans and a toadstool. I wonder if the polyps will recover?

steve
I'm thinking your Toadstool Leather may have have shed...when they do, the shed skin can cause damage to corals that it lands on. When my leathers close up for a day or two and start looking wax coated, I start watching them close and siphon off the shedding as I see it. Not sure this is what has happened but it might be.
 

slfcaptain

Active Member
The toadstool didnt shed. It did a few months ago but it didnt bother anything then. I am at a loss.

BTW, my latest tests results are:

Salinity: 35 ppt
pH: 8.1
NO3: 0 ppm
PO4: 0.02 ppm
Ca: 440 ppm
Mg: 1400 ppm
Alk: 135 ppm (7.5 dKH)

Alk is a little low, I usually keep it between 8-9 dKH.


steve
 

jimv

Member
I had one of my corals do this after I dipped it. It was just showing it was displeased. It eventually retracted them and plumped up.
 

slfcaptain

Active Member
Still not looking good. I haven't dipped it for fear of hastening its demise. I dont see any signs of parasites so I dont know if a dip would make much of a difference.




steve
 

aaromano

Member
It looks angry like its trying to attack something nearby. My echinata does that sometimes when it senses the chalice thats growing about six inches above it. Alkalinity fluctuations can also make acans do that.
 

slfcaptain

Active Member
I dont think there is anything close enough to attack it or be attacked. Its been like this for a while and hasn't improved and is getting worse. I think I will end up losing it. I dipped it in coral rx today just in case there are some bad critters on it. All that I saw was a now dead brittle star and some sponges that are probably dead now too.

steve
 

Iamonlyme

Member
What lighting do you have and placement also what do you feed and do you target feed?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

slfcaptain

Active Member
I have the standard RSM 130 lighting, 2 55 watt PC, 50% white 50% blue, and a 12 watt blue stunner strip. The tank is about 20 inches tall and the acans are in the sand bed. I replaced the bulbs last Oct/Nov.

Until a couple of months ago the acan were happy and fully extended and puffed up most of the time.

I feed the tank reef frenzy almost every day and spot feed the acans about once a week. I tried. Spot feeding them more often but they didnt seem to respond to the extra food.

Whatever happened is affecting all three of my acans. I wonder if they are being affected by the rapid growth of some zoas, though, they are not near each other.

steve
 

Akshay

Member
Don't do excess feeding and I'm with Diana on checking ur leathers, they can be very toxic specially for acans.
 

Iamonlyme

Member
Treat it like a nps indirect light and target feed every two days that worked for me I started target feeding with marine snow now the eat mysis and tentacles are always out begging here is pic of my smallest one recovering
yme2usy7.jpg



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

slfcaptain

Active Member
My leather shedded a few months ago. Could that event still be causing them to look bad and regress? Its been a steady decline not a quick one.

Would adding carbon help? I currently dont use carbon.

steve
 

slfcaptain

Active Member
Still not looking good.



I have tried to feed extra but they dont seem to be responding. Are these guys a goner? I am not sure what else to try.

steve
 

Iamonlyme

Member
Maybe the best thing now is to not intervene but let nature take its course I am sorry they are not doing well but nature surprises us all the time please keep is updated


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Gastel

New Member
Acan sometimes expel their stomachs onto nearby corals to digest the tissue right out of the skeleton. When ready they will retract the stomach back inside.
Just let it do is thing.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
 
Top