Acantho mesenterial filaments coming from flesh?

[elryry]

I got this acantho about 3 weeks ago and it has been healthy since and eating well. Last night I noticed it was exposing mesenterial filament through it's flesh. I have seen in some threads that this could be a defense mechanism for them to fight back against other corals?

I mostly want to make sure this isn't a result of a fish (perhaps my aiptasia filefish) biting holes into the flesh.

Videos:

 

[jsker]

How are they doing now?

 

[elryry]

How are they doing now?

It’s doing well now, not seeing this anymore. I read in a few other places hints that being anywhere near a lobo could trigger a defensive response from a coral even if not touching. Moved the lobo to other side of tank and saw a pretty immediate change in the acantho.

 

[elryry]

How are they doing now?

Now it seems be shriveled up most of the time the lights are on. The PAR is about 90 under the ledge where it’s situated.

Not sure what could be wrong, perhaps nitrate issues? They’re sitting at about 20-30 consistently though.

Puffs up a bit at night…

 

[steveschuerger]

You probably should get them down maybe 10-15 nitrates max.
wht are the other current params? Alk ? Phos? Mag?

 

[elryry]

You probably should get them down maybe 10-15 nitrates max.
wht are the other current params? Alk ? Phos? Mag?

Alk - 8.34dkh (0.4 swing range, 8.1 typical min and 8.5 typical max)
Mag - 1355
Phos - 0.02
Calcium - 461

 

[steveschuerger]

Alk - 8.34dkh (0.4 swing range, 8.1 typical min and 8.5 typical max)
Mag - 1355
Phos - 0.02
Calcium - 461

Yeah those seem pretty good. Do you feed it anything? My Bowers and Micromussas like direct feeding of frozen a few times a week.

 

[elryry]

Yeah those seem pretty good. Do you feed it anything? My Bowers and Micromussas like direct feeding of frozen a few times a week.

Haven't really fed it, it's pretty non-responsive to feedings in its current state. Usually the food will sit there and a fish or hermit crab will come take it, aggravating the acantho even more.

 

[elryry]

Update: I’ve 3D printed a cage using clear PETG and the acantho was able to eat some LPS pellets after an hour or so of being protected from greedy fish.

 

[TheMysticGriffin]

Any update? How is it doing?

 

[elryry]

Any update? How is it doing?

It and my other acantho have both taken nose dives. I’m hesitant to do too much because everything else in the tank is doing great, including three large Cynarinas. I’m really not sure what could just be affecting the acanthos… have always heard they’re in the more hardy class of LPS.

 

[blecki]

Hardy, sure, but they still have specific requirements. What are the parameters? How much PAR are they getting? How's the flow?

 

[TheMysticGriffin]

How is your flow and do they get spot fed? I've got one that has been with me for some while and recently it also closed up and was very unhappy until I did 2 waterchanges bringing it back to health. Also mine is in a little container with holes in it to keep it in a low flow environment since if it is in a high flow environment it shrivels up and opens its mouth. Ironically, mine looks like yours at night it just shows its skeleton but the thing that I found bothered mine was flow.

 

[elryry]

Hardy, sure, but they still have specific requirements. What are the parameters? How much PAR are they getting? How's the flow?

Alk - 8.23
Ca - 429
Mg - 1313
Nitrate - 4.4
Phosphate - 0.13
Salinity - 34.7
Temp - 78
Iodine - 0.06 (I test this monthly or so)

The one thing I don’t test for that could be a problem is silicates… I notice this problem get worse right after water changes, but output TDS reads 0 for RODI. Have definitely thought about getting ICP test for my RODI water… but the reason I suspect silicates is I always get diatoms after water changes.

PAR where the acantho sits roughly 105

When I add AB+ or feed mysis to the tank I see there is very little flow around the acantho.

I dose Aquaforest components 1,2,3