High phosphate & dying corals

[robert_s]

Hi.
My arcopora coral is dying. see below:
http://www.uniqsoft.co.uk/tmp/arcopora.jpg

Can I make some cuttings out of it before it goes completely white (die)?
Actually it gets white more on the left side exactly where pump is located in my tank (on the left hand side about 25 inches from the coral). What is the perfect location for this coral? I read that it likes strong flow and strong light. I have 250W halide 18" above the tank. I have it for 12 months. Also have a lot of algea. Maybe the light (halide) is too old?

Also I discovered I have too much phosphate (1.0) in water and cant get rid of it. I used "ROWA Phos" yesterday to remove phosphate and did test today but it still very high level. same as yesterday.
What can I do with my coral and how to quickly reduce phosphate in water? please let me know asap. thank you.

 

[Len]

Robert,

Looks like RTN (rapid tissue necrosis). You can frag off the healthy portions to save it. I always break at least 1/4 -1/2" away from the dying area. It's unfortunately a common disease that is probably bacterial in nature. Frag the good branches and remove the acro asap without letting too much of its rotted tissue blow back into the water.

If your phosphate is high, you can try dripping kalkwasser to precipiate some of it out. Phosphate sponges usually help too. If Rowaphos didn't work for you, you may want to give phosguard a try. Water changes are always effective at dilution; just make sure the change water is phosphate free. Use a RO/DI or distilled water if you aren't.

 

[robert_s]

ok. I added 25% of RO water.
I am going to frag off the healthy portions but unfortunately I dont have
this special glue (not sure how its called) to attach the healty bits to a rock. Can I leave them floating or put them in sand till tommorow?
or I should wait till tommorrow until I get the glue?
This diseas spreads really fast.

Oh. yeah.. What can I cut this coral with? A knife, saw? Sorry I've never done it before

 

[Len]

Ya, the disease spreads really fast (hence, Rapid Tissue Necronsis )

By addin 25% RO, you mean salt mixed with RO, right? Just making sure your salinity doesn't dip too low (which could spawn a whole new wave of infections).

People frag their SPS corals by either using a clean, sharp wire cutter, a strong cutting shear, a small chisel-like device (some people use hammer and flat-head screwdriver) or by hand if it's easy to break. I would recommend fragging methods in that particular order.

You can leave the frags on the sand in the meanwhile, or you can wedge them (without too much force) into holes in the rock where they will encrust over and start a new colony. The special glue people use is either simple two part epoxy or super glue gel. I prefer to wedge frags into rocks if possible, then super glue gel, then epoxy last. SOme people tie down frags to small rocks with monofilament fishing lines as well.

 

[robert_s]

Ok. I 'll try attaching them by a super glue. But are you sure its normal super glue. Its not gonna release some toxic stuff into the water.

 

[Len]

Ya, plain old super glue GEL. The regular glue is too runny to use. To use the gel, dab some on the broken exposed skeleton. Once it hits water, it'll form a skin (little ball of super glue gel). Gently wedge the frag into the spot you intend to glue it to and wiggle it a bit to break the skin. Hold for a minute or two and it should be attached. Don't direct strong current over the area since the bond isn't that strong. The goal is to have the frag glued on long enough so it starts to encrust over the glue and make a permeant strong bond with the rock.

It's a lot easier and less stressful to place the frag in a small indentation in the rock and have it attach on its own.

 

[robert_s]

ok. I've done it
hopefuly these healthy bits wont die.
Thank you Len for your help.

 

[tubs]

Hi.
My arcopora coral is dying. see below:
http://www.uniqsoft.co.uk/tmp/arcopora.jpg

Also I discovered I have too much phosphate (1.0) in water and cant get rid of it. I used "ROWA Phos" yesterday to remove phosphate and did test today but it still very high level. same as yesterday.
What can I do with my coral and how to quickly reduce phosphate in water? please let me know asap. thank you.

Hi Robert,

Rowaphos is not intended to give overnight results and it's continual and proper use will produce reduce zero inorganic and organice phosphates. As a side note phospate test kits do not generally measure all types of phosphates in the water so they can be misleading and you may actually have more phosphate than what your test kit is telling you. And as you may realize high phospates are detrimental to acropora and montipora.

I would recommend that you use an iron based phosphate remover and for best results you should also use Rowaphos with a fluidized reactor such as that from Deltec which should be readily available in UK.

HTH,
John

 

[sdt5150]

i can't agree with Tubs more. once i started using my deltec phosphate reactor with rowaphos in it, my phosphate levels dropped to zero on my merck test kit (which imho is the best on the market for reef application). the process wasn't overnight, but well within 2 weeks, and this is on a 300g reef with 650lbs of LR that had been set up for 2 years! my sps growth has been phenominal since using rowa and deltec. prior to using rowa, i was noticing acros that were experiencing tip recession. since the switch, all those sps that were effected have fully recovered and there's new growth on every tip. do yourself a favor...if you're keeping sps, use the rowa in a fluidized reactor and you won't be sorry. it's worth the investment.

Doug

 

[cdeakle]

Where is the best place to buy Rowaphos???