Help - Sick LPS

[DaFrog]

Hi,

I have this peral coral that started misbehaving a few days ago - Symptoms are:
1) Brownish coloration at one end
2) Not inflating fully during the day
3) Fully closed at night (no hunting white tentacles anymore)

Is this just a phase?

Rest of the tank is foing great, including a mgnificent Frogspawn that is dividing

 

[Anonymous]

How long have you had it? What is your water testing at? Add anything new to your routine?

 

[DaFrog]

I got it about 9 months ago
PH=8.2 - SG = 1.022 - NO3 = NO2 = NH3 = 0, PH4 =0, CA = 450mg/l

Only recent change is cutting down on light to help fight some spots of cyanobacteria I have on a few rocks
Lights are fue for changing in a couple months (Compact Fluorescent, changing every 6 months)

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm, is the brown color tissue that has gone bad, jelly like or just darker? Sometimes when LPS begin to go downhills they get a brown jelly like slime, some say it is a bacterial thing.

 

[DaFrog]

It is kind of tranluscent - like jelly... Should I just watch and monitor? Bigger question; could 'it' spread to my frogspawn or some of the small tbe corals I have?

 

[Anonymous]

So sorry it took so long for me to answer. Well, if you google "LPS Brown Jelly" you will find tons of articles on the phenom. It's a bacterial infection usually stemming from an injury, treatment is a bit hit or miss by dipping the coral. Another issue seems to fuel it is lower than normal SG, and your tank is on the low side for what's generally accepted as good for most corals. IME, it is usually confined to one colony, though it may spread to different heads of the same coral.

I would recommend you start raising the SG slowly no matter what. Read the articles, and decide if you want to try dipping the coral. It seems to be a toss up whether those treatments work, depending on how much damage the coral has sustained.

Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

What is the flow like around that coral?


Sounds like it could use a bit more water movement too.

 

[DaFrog]

Thank You!

I moved the coral to a different spot (slower current - I must have messed up the current pattern when cleaning the powerheads) and raise the SG to 1.022 - It already looks better!

 

[Anonymous]

Wait a min.. - Wasn't your SG 1.022 already?

Did you raise it to a different level or did it dip lower than that somehow (like from a water change)???

 

[DaFrog]

Sorry - I meant 1.023 - I'll raise to 1.024 within the next few days