Derek's 225g - Magnifica / SPS Reef
- Thread starter derek_SR
- Start date
divewsharks
Supporting Member
I first heard talking about it on the ReefBum podcast - he now cohosts.
Major tank surgery performed today. Pulled out the big red digi and had to significantly trim back the pacman acro, mainly because I accidentally broke it off. I also got wacked by my mantis shrimp - twice! No broken bones or bruising, but it hurt a bit.
Here's the little asshole:
Removed about a 5gal bucket worth of coral from the tank today:
Before - red digi and pacman:
After:
Pacman after accidental removal - had this thing in the tank since day 1 and it's always been happy, until the back started to die due to the red digi encroaching behind:
Here's the little asshole:
Removed about a 5gal bucket worth of coral from the tank today:
Before - red digi and pacman:
After:
Pacman after accidental removal - had this thing in the tank since day 1 and it's always been happy, until the back started to die due to the red digi encroaching behind:
Took a bunch of photos with the lights raised.
ARC master yoda with very nice color these days:
bkchem froot loops from @RandyC , received as a small single branch frag:
scoly still kickin at the bottom of the tank:
the humble green slimer:
poto cofefe i received in a trade at the last swap. still small but lots of potential:
spotted some green in my jawbreaker:
a very grumpy Walt disney, got bumped around during surgery:
some cool mushrooms:
more cool mushrooms:
koji wada:
ARC master yoda with very nice color these days:
bkchem froot loops from @RandyC , received as a small single branch frag:
scoly still kickin at the bottom of the tank:
the humble green slimer:
poto cofefe i received in a trade at the last swap. still small but lots of potential:
spotted some green in my jawbreaker:
a very grumpy Walt disney, got bumped around during surgery:
some cool mushrooms:
more cool mushrooms:
koji wada:
More pics
watermelon chalice:
rainbow chalice from @B the Nano Reefer
mummy eye chalice from @dangalang:
two gonis from @CaseyP (i think?):
JF HW, slow as ever:
the vinh:
the old PC rainbow contest frag - not looking so hot but growing like crazy right now, go figure:
vivid rainbow:
jf robin's egg:
watermelon chalice:
rainbow chalice from @B the Nano Reefer
mummy eye chalice from @dangalang:
two gonis from @CaseyP (i think?):
JF HW, slow as ever:
the vinh:
the old PC rainbow contest frag - not looking so hot but growing like crazy right now, go figure:
vivid rainbow:
jf robin's egg:
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
Damn, Holmes!!!
Dems some happy polyps
Dems some happy polyps
ksliech
Supporting Member
Fantastic shots!
Been a while since I updated - have been super busy with work and traveling almost every week.
Unfortunately, having some major issues with the tank right now. Seeing random corals with what seems to be some kind of infection. It's not RTN or traditional STN, although it's turning into STN in some cases. In many cases PART of the coral starts to look bad and then it spreads. In some cases things are just kind of turning brown and grumpy before eventually giving up.
I can't really figure it out - things I've changed:
1. swapped in some non ATI T5 bulbs I got on sale. These are actinic bulbs with (apparently) a heavy UV spectrum. Given that only some corals are impacted, this doesn't feel like the problem but I swapped back to the old ATI bulbs just in case.
2. Used a box of old AF salt after many months of using IO. Have since swapped back to IO and performed some water changes.
3. Stopped/started vodka dosing. I can't imagine this made things that grumpy, as I've done this in the past, but it's worth noting I guess.
Here's an example of what I'm seeing:
Bottom left of the coral looks great, top right is clearly something going wrong. This will spread.
Same thing on the fox flame - you can see the grumpy infection starting on the right. Other parts of the coral look fine:
Here's a maleficent frag that was finally starting to branch, now it's browning out with burnt tip:
My oregon tort has some weird, bumpy flesh:
Froot Loops turning brown with thinning flesh:
I suspect it's bacterial simply because I would be surprised if any minor changes in lighting or water chemistry are causing this. It very much has "infection" vibes to me the way it spreads around. Some rocks are impacted more than others - I lost every single coral on a specific rock, and it seemed to spread from there. Some parts of the tank are totally unaffected (so far...).
ICP results are all totally normal, have continued doing those monthly. Just going to try and ride things out and stay as stable as possible for now.
Unfortunately, having some major issues with the tank right now. Seeing random corals with what seems to be some kind of infection. It's not RTN or traditional STN, although it's turning into STN in some cases. In many cases PART of the coral starts to look bad and then it spreads. In some cases things are just kind of turning brown and grumpy before eventually giving up.
I can't really figure it out - things I've changed:
1. swapped in some non ATI T5 bulbs I got on sale. These are actinic bulbs with (apparently) a heavy UV spectrum. Given that only some corals are impacted, this doesn't feel like the problem but I swapped back to the old ATI bulbs just in case.
2. Used a box of old AF salt after many months of using IO. Have since swapped back to IO and performed some water changes.
3. Stopped/started vodka dosing. I can't imagine this made things that grumpy, as I've done this in the past, but it's worth noting I guess.
Here's an example of what I'm seeing:
Bottom left of the coral looks great, top right is clearly something going wrong. This will spread.
Same thing on the fox flame - you can see the grumpy infection starting on the right. Other parts of the coral look fine:
Here's a maleficent frag that was finally starting to branch, now it's browning out with burnt tip:
My oregon tort has some weird, bumpy flesh:
Froot Loops turning brown with thinning flesh:
I suspect it's bacterial simply because I would be surprised if any minor changes in lighting or water chemistry are causing this. It very much has "infection" vibes to me the way it spreads around. Some rocks are impacted more than others - I lost every single coral on a specific rock, and it seemed to spread from there. Some parts of the tank are totally unaffected (so far...).
ICP results are all totally normal, have continued doing those monthly. Just going to try and ride things out and stay as stable as possible for now.
PizzaOven
Supporting Member
Has this happened before? I had a similar issue I couldn't figure out, I also assumed it was bacterial. Cipro helped. If I were to do it again, I'd take out all my bio bricks during treatment. Good to know even the Acro masters have issues. I always assumed your tank just never stops growing. Hope you figure it out, let us know what works.
No, this is the first significant coral loss event I've had in the nearly 3 years tank has been running. Did some big water changes over the weekend and am just going to let things ride now and hope I see some recovery.
At this point I am suspecting either the lighting change (unlikely?) or the box of AF salt. I've always tinkered with carbon dosing, nutrient levels, alk levels, trace dosing - I can't imagine any changes to these things would cause what I'm seeing.
tribbitt
Supporting Member
Oof, that bumpy flesh looks sketch. Real bummer, but I'm really glad you posted this so it's added to the pool of knowledge, especially with quality photos.
I'm sure you've already checked, but no swings, poorly calibrated devices / bad salinity, leaky magnets or pumps, and no weird chemicals making it in?
Did many corals start suffering all at once? How quickly did this disease set in? It almost looks like a single event weakened the corals' immune systems or something, but that would only make sense if it came on relatively quickly.
Do you think this is a continuation of the tissue-paling issue you noticed a few months ago?
I'm sure you've already checked, but no swings, poorly calibrated devices / bad salinity, leaky magnets or pumps, and no weird chemicals making it in?
Did many corals start suffering all at once? How quickly did this disease set in? It almost looks like a single event weakened the corals' immune systems or something, but that would only make sense if it came on relatively quickly.
Do you think this is a continuation of the tissue-paling issue you noticed a few months ago?
It would interesting to see what bacteria is causing this. I know they have the Aquabiomics tests, but I am not sure how accurate it is and if they employ strict collection and transportation procedures as they may affect test results. My thought is do a water change, change out mechanical filtration if you have any, employ UV, and introduce other bacteria in the system to have them outcompete the pathogenic strains. I never had this issue before, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
andyman
Supporting Member
When this happened to me I tried everything. I had the typical old tank syndrome and I had no clue what was killing my corals and fish (tanks atleast 10yrs old). what I tried: I was originally on T5 and went to AI Vegas when they first came out. Things were fine for a while. but as I started dealing with STN/RTN I switched back to T5 but that didn't make a difference. I then installed UV, big and little water changes (20% at first for a year then 40% when I didn't see any difference). I then tried cleaning my sump and just removing as much detritus etc. I was very close to shutting down my tank and just selling the entire thing.
What did it for me was I started this first.
https://reefmoonshiners.com/pages/witchhazel-reeftank-treatment
Before I started treatment I took some test so you have a baseline.
aquabiomics
https://aquabiomics.com/uncategorized/introducing-microbiome-2-0
Have you tried getting a aquabiomics test? Also which ICP test are you getting? maybe get a 2nd opinion on the test to confirm.
https://reefmoonshiners.com/collect...eef-moonshiners-oceamo-icp-ms-test-kit-marine
My tank is completely healed now and I'm at the point where I just give away or kill all fast growing corals. I also stopped doing water changes and I have not changed my water in 2 years. my corals are growing fast.
What did it for me was I started this first.
https://reefmoonshiners.com/pages/witchhazel-reeftank-treatment
Before I started treatment I took some test so you have a baseline.
aquabiomics
https://aquabiomics.com/uncategorized/introducing-microbiome-2-0
Have you tried getting a aquabiomics test? Also which ICP test are you getting? maybe get a 2nd opinion on the test to confirm.
https://reefmoonshiners.com/collect...eef-moonshiners-oceamo-icp-ms-test-kit-marine
My tank is completely healed now and I'm at the point where I just give away or kill all fast growing corals. I also stopped doing water changes and I have not changed my water in 2 years. my corals are growing fast.
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What changes did you see on your AB results after starting the witchhazel?
andyman
Supporting Member
I saw a rebalance of bacterial colony to move more toward what a healthy tank should be. The score on AB site for me is.
diversity
before: 312 (72). (below 170 is yellow. red is below 120)
after: 355 (82)
balance:
0.26 (41) (0.20 is the start of the danger zone). above 0.20 is green. scale goes to 0.8
0.46(79)
I also had 1 coral pathogen (Serratia_marcescens)
that was eliminated with treatment (can't remember what I did to treat it). The follow up test showed it was removed.
I also did a Dr. Tims waste away treatment to reduce diatom. Before Dr. Tims treatment my asterina population was exploding. I could remove 20 of them daily. Some times I'd pull out 50 and it doesn't seem to end. After the treatment of Dr. Tims I noticed a significant decrease in asterinas. I still get them but its significantly reduced. That was 2 yrs ago. Today I have a hard time finding 10. I can still pull out 2-5 if I search hard with a flash light.
diversity
before: 312 (72). (below 170 is yellow. red is below 120)
after: 355 (82)
balance:
0.26 (41) (0.20 is the start of the danger zone). above 0.20 is green. scale goes to 0.8
0.46(79)
I also had 1 coral pathogen (Serratia_marcescens)
that was eliminated with treatment (can't remember what I did to treat it). The follow up test showed it was removed.
I also did a Dr. Tims waste away treatment to reduce diatom. Before Dr. Tims treatment my asterina population was exploding. I could remove 20 of them daily. Some times I'd pull out 50 and it doesn't seem to end. After the treatment of Dr. Tims I noticed a significant decrease in asterinas. I still get them but its significantly reduced. That was 2 yrs ago. Today I have a hard time finding 10. I can still pull out 2-5 if I search hard with a flash light.
I've checked all the basics - with two different methods for most of the big ones. No swings in parameters or anything out of normal ranges for my particular tank.
Corals have not all started suffering at once. Some corals are not impacted at all (so far). That's why I think it's some kind of infection. Certain corals in certain parts of the tank are hit pretty hard and others are totally unaffected, and look great. This is the case across SPS+LPS+Softies - examples of each with issues and each doing great.
Of the corals impacted - they are kind of presenting symptoms in different ways at different rates. Some are grumpy, some died off relatively quickly.
I don't think it's related to my tissue concerns, seems like a very different problem. It all started relatively quickly about a month ago.
I kind of suspect the box of AF salt because I did a round of big water changes about a month ago with this salt, and according to my journal that's around the time things started to turn. It's also when I swapped in the cheap non-ATI Actinic bulbs I got during the BF sale. I'd be surprised if this is a light issue but worth noting.
ONLY other thing I can think of - when I was working in the tank around this time, i irritated some zoas pretty badly. I actually saw them squirt out some black inky stuff - never seen that before. Possible they released some of that palytoxin and it did damage?
Anyway, have one more box of AF salt PIF if anyone interested
