Brown jelly ID/ question

[rmlevasseur]

If you read a recent thread of mine, you know I added a new sump this last weekend and in the process I really disturbed my tank. The water is almost back to normal, but I did a lot of damage to several of my corals.

I have a very large show-piece frogspawn, probably 50 heads. The froggie has still not opened up. I've noticed brown streaks not on the "tentacle" portions but rather on the fleshy part that attaches the head to the calcium base. I've never had brown jelly before so I don't know what to expect. The brown streaks are on the bases all of the heads. Here are some pics and what it used to look like.

Does this look like jelly to you, and if so what should I do? I couldn't bring myself to toss this out. The brown does kinda blow off, but requires a decent amount of flow. Some of the head on the very edge do seem to be deteriorating a little.

This is really breaking my heart. Anything I can do besides wait it out?

 

[seafansar]

That does not look like brown jelly to me. Brown jelly really looks like clear/brown jelly growing on top of the coral and blows off easily. You could try dipping the coral in iodine solution. If it does have a disease, that should help. Sorry about your coral. Hope it recovers soon! That's a nice piece!

 

[BigAl07]

Honestly I've never seen those "Streaks" but that doesn't mean it's NOT that dang BJD. Hoe large is that colony?

If it does turn out to be BJD you'll want to FRAG that colony, do IODINE/FW dips and increase flow. If it were my tank and it does come out to be BJD I'd remove some un-affected heads to another tank somewhere ASAP! It's FAST so keep an eye on it.

What a LOVELY animal.

 

[ReefLady]

I'd say no. Brown jelly is more like a mass of gelatinous "goop" on the coral. Keep a close eye, increase the flow if possible. Personally, I wouldn't move it, dip it, or anything. Maybe do another WC, blow it off with a turkey baster. Watch it closely.

Best of luck!

 

[rmlevasseur]

Thank you all for the replies so far. I think I'll just wait it out. I did an iodine dip on some zoanthids once and lost the whole rock, so I've been kinda soured on the iodine dips. I have increased flow a tad, although I'm sure that will hinder it opening up. Its been 4 days now since its been closed up, and it has always been a trouble free coral until now. I also hate the thought of fragging it up, but I'll do what I have to.

 

[ReefLady]

Please keep us posted. All params test okay now?

I'd look at dipping/fragging both as a last resort. IME/IMO, both stress the coral.

(fingers crossed for you)

 

[rmlevasseur]

Yea, params are all perfect. Tested everything last night. Water is still a little cloudy, but almost back to normal. Something is still a little weird though. Normally my ORP is around 400, but i've been pumping in ozone and can only get it at 305. I'm also having a hard time getting the skimmer readjusted in the new sump, but otherwise i'm not sure why it isn't back to normal yet.

 

[funkpolice]

 

[vdituri]

My view would be that you disturbed the tank (and sandbed?) like you said.
This caused particals to enter the water column and this irritated the frogspawn.
This caused them to slime up a little bit extra.
The slime caught extra particles out of the water causing them to look brown.

I say wait it out and run some carbon.
Do not toss that beautiful colony.

With brown jelly an entire head will melt into brown goo.

 

[sasquatch]

allelopathy?

 

[BLAKEJOHN]

Brown jelly looks like this......

 

[reefer4200]

i would definately be running carbon, and imo it is not BJD....i hope that colony recovers asap its a beautiful piece!

 

[kospaintball]

Wow, how long have you had that Frog spawn? How many heads were there when you acquired it? Also what do you feed it?

Do be careful about the flow you put towards it as i have read that frog spawn can cut its self on its on coralites under heavier flow and in a period of stress could develop a disease.

 

[rmlevasseur]

Thanks. There was no sand bed disturbed. All I did was add a new very large sump and plumb it in. The cause of the cloudiness is a complete mystery to me. I don't think it was the TFE paste, but I won't use it again anyway. What is bothering me the most is that the colony is making no attemp to reopen at all. I have been running extra amounts of carbon nonstop since the addition of the new sump. The skimmer is still foaming like crazy, but it is a very clear foam. I'm not pulling much out via skimmer at all. Water is a lot clearer but the corals still haven't responded.

 

[BigAl07]

Something is "Off" in there. Any chance for a larger than usual water change to help dilute the "Mystery" ailment?

At least (trying to make a POSITIVE moment here) it's most likely NOT BJD or the colony would be pretty much GONE by now.

Did the new sump have any silicone (fresh or otherwise) in it?

Was it DIY or purchased built?

 

[rmlevasseur]

No silicone as the sump is all acrylic. It was made by Midwest Custom Aquarium. What is strange is that other critters that I consider to be more sensitive appear unaffected: my shrimp, BTA, mandarin, Purple Tang, other euphies.

The water is back to normal clarity now but the frog is still all closed up. The only reason I hesitate to do another large WC is because I added about 100 gallons of freshly mixed when I added the sump this weekend.

Has anyone ever bleached a monti? I'm wondering if they will come back.

 

[ReefLady]

No answers for you; wish I could help more. Just crossed fingers that everything turns out okay.

 

[BigAl07]

Update? :scram:

 

[rmlevasseur]

Well the tank is now back to perfect clarity but the damage has been done. I lost 3 sps frags, 2 monti caps, most of my xenia, and half of my favite is on the way out. On the iffy list is my torch coral, who doesn't seem to be dying but definitely lost some color and is not acting quite normal, and of course my huge frogspawn. I did increase flow but I'm wondering if maybe I could coax it open by turning it down a bit now? The frog doesn't look too bad but it still refuses to open. I haven't thrown anything out as I'm hoping that maybe there's some life in the ones hardest hit, especially in the montis.

On the plus side the rest of the corals seem unaffected and the fish and inverts suffered no ill effect.

This one is gonna boggle me for quite some time. I have stirred up my tank quite a bit before and none of the corals seemed the worse for it. Although I'm saddened by the losses perhaps it was a good wakeup call for me. I had done so well up to now maybe I was forgetting how sensitive corals can be. I know there are others out there like me that like to keep tinkering and improving, but I think its time for me to sit back a while and just let stability reign for a few months.

 

[vdituri]

Sage wisdom in your post.

If it was me I would still be tempted to do another large water change to dilute whatever it is may have been released into your system.
All corals are unique individuals with their own tolerance levels.
Whatever it is that affected you tank would not necessarily affect all the different corals the same way.

I see my corals all acting differently all the time. When one is happy, someone else is sulking. I've come to the conclusion that I can make all of the corals happy some of the time, and some of the corals happy all of the time, but I can't make all the corals all the time. :closed: