Sick Bubble Coral

mempho reefer

mempho reefer

Member
I bought a bubble coral at Petco....first mistake.....a few weeks ago. I looked stressed when I got it but I thought that it would do better in my tank with a better water quality. It has since slowly degraded. It no longer fully inflates and a green algae seems to be growing on the inside of its skeleton. This morning it had a brown slime on the outside of its skeleton. Water parameters are:
amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10 (45 day old DSB...still cycling)
PH 8.2
Temp 81
Can it be saved? I'm attaching a picture.
 
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Woodstock

Woodstock

The Wand Geek was here. ;)
RS STAFF
Yes, It probably can be saved. I would dip it in an iodine dip. Make sure your trAtes stay low and your ca, alk and magnesium are balanced. Also, they do not like a lot of flow.
 
mempho reefer

mempho reefer

Member
Thanks for the advice. Ca is 480, just tested for Alk it's 14.7 dKH....haven't tested for that in awhile....seems high. Don't have a Mag test kit. As for the iodine dip, Lugol's is not available at the three lfs. I can get it from the net but I don't want to have to wait that long. Two of the stores have Reef Dip. Not sure if it's the same. How would I do an iodine dip? Can I use some of the current tank water in order to keep same PH or should I mix up a fresh batch? Woody, didn't I read on a thread that you had TrAte issues with your DSB? How long to reach 0 trates. I'm water changing like crazy just to keep it at 10 ppm.
 
Woodstock

Woodstock

The Wand Geek was here. ;)
RS STAFF
Reef dip should be the same. Follow the directions and use tank water for the dip water.
It took 2-3 months after adding my sand bed to drop from 5-10 ppm to a zero trAte reading.
 
C

cheeks69

Wannabe Guru
RS STAFF
mempho reefer said:
Thanks for the advice. Ca is 480, just tested for Alk it's 14.7 dKH....haven't tested for that in awhile....seems high. Don't have a Mag test kit. As for the iodine dip, Lugol's is not available at the three lfs. I can get it from the net but I don't want to have to wait that long. Two of the stores have Reef Dip. Not sure if it's the same. How would I do an iodine dip? Can I use some of the current tank water in order to keep same PH or should I mix up a fresh batch? Woody, didn't I read on a thread that you had TrAte issues with your DSB? How long to reach 0 trates. I'm water changing like crazy just to keep it at 10 ppm.
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Where do you have the Bubble in the tank and what do you have for lights and what is the Wattage ? It maybe a bacterial infection so an Iodine dip is definitely the way to go. Make sure the flow is not strong and the light not too intense where you place him.
 
mempho reefer

mempho reefer

Member
It sits about 3/4 of the way up in the tank. Lights are Coralife 65x2 50/50 10,000K white and actinic PC. Water flow is mild in the area.....no direct current. I orginally had it placed half way up on the far left side of the tank. Water flow there was very minimal. That's when the algae began to form on the extreme edges of the skeleton. I them placed it on the bottom sandbed. I figured lower light would limit the algae growth. Current in that area was a bit stronger. That didn't stop the algae growth and it opened less. Then I moved it to it's current position. Better lighting, less flow. It does seem to inflate more in this position but algae growth is increasing.
 
C

cheeks69

Wannabe Guru
RS STAFF
mempho reefer said:
It sits about 3/4 of the way up in the tank. Lights are Coralife 65x2 50/50 10,000K white and actinic PC. Water flow is mild in the area.....no direct current. I orginally had it placed half way up on the far left side of the tank. Water flow there was very minimal. That's when the algae began to form on the extreme edges of the skeleton. I them placed it on the bottom sandbed. I figured lower light would limit the algae growth. Current in that area was a bit stronger. That didn't stop the algae growth and it opened less. Then I moved it to it's current position. Better lighting, less flow. It does seem to inflate more in this position but algae growth is increasing.
Click to expand...

Algae will usually grow around the areas that have died within the coral skeleton and will go away in time.
 
mempho reefer

mempho reefer

Member
I treated my bubble coral with Reef Dip Saturday. It seems to be doing much better today. It looks to be a bit more inflated. Blue leg hermits are on the exposed skeleton cleaning it I assume.......dont' say anything Wit...crabs are evil but this is a necessary evil. There is still alot of green on it. Do I need to treat it again in a few days or just wait?
 
Woodstock

Woodstock

The Wand Geek was here. ;)
RS STAFF
Yay!! Great news :D

Watch the blue crabs carefully. You don't want them irritating the live flesh. I would wait before dipping again... hopefully, it will not need it.
 
mempho reefer

mempho reefer

Member
lcstorc said:
Great news! Glad to hear thing are going bettter.
Click to expand...

Yeah Lynn, I'm breathing a sigh of relief. It's such a beautiful coral and a great addition to my tank. My lights are PCs so I'm still not sure if it's getting what it needs in that regard. Hopefully the fungus will die off and everything will be ok. In the meantime I'll just continue to wait, watch, and see.
 
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