Acro with bacterial infection

[Matt Bravo]

Hey guys, looking for some advice here. I passed by one of my LFS today and was looking to pick up a few frags when we started talking, he started telling me about this colony that since they fragged just keeps spiraling downhill. He was taking the last few frags out of it as possible before he threw the rest of the dead colony out. I asked for a frag and he gave me one and I really do want to try saving it since it’s such a nice piece but I want some advice, I’ll take pics of it when it gets in the tank. It appeared to be a bacterial infection that looks a lot like the picture I attached below.

(This is not the picture of my coral nor do I OWN this piece myself, it’s simply a picture I found that was very similar to what the colony appeared to be struggling with)

 

[Matt Bravo]

I also plan on iodine dipping, I understand without the photos you can’t help much but if possible please follow the thread, thanks in advance to all

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Bacterial infection would be my last guess tbh for something like that. His acro might just not like his tank, he might have pests I.E. red/white bugs. May be stung or something else on an otherwise healthy acro. I would dip against pests and make sure not to get any exposed portions when he frags it.

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Oh btw randomly exposed spots that later heal up usually a sign of AEFW and if the acro is a valida, it’s their favorite food, so he might have flatworms and this acro is showing it the most damage out of his system.

 

[Matt Bravo]

Thanks for the info, here’s the frag

 

[Matt Bravo]

Need a better pic? Initial thoughts? What’s the plan?

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Thanks for the info, here’s the frag

doesn't look like aefw..... but I'd be hesitant to put anything with a known "possible bacterial infection" in my tank although that bacteria may already be in your tank unrelated, it could be easily passed on mix in some stress it could cause issues... if you have a separate QT tank or are familiar with this process or issue that could be a different story but it sounds like un needed trouble to me.. my .02 €

 

[sawdonkey]

How do you identify an acro bacterial infection? What’s it look like?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey guys, looking for some advice here. I passed by one of my LFS today and was looking to pick up a few frags when we started talking, he started telling me about this colony that since they fragged just keeps spiraling downhill. He was taking the last few frags out of it as possible before he threw the rest of the dead colony out. I asked for a frag and he gave me one and I really do want to try saving it since it’s such a nice piece but I want some advice, I’ll take pics of it when it gets in the tank. It appeared to be a bacterial infection that looks a lot like the picture I attached below.

(This is not the picture of my coral nor do I OWN this piece myself, it’s simply a picture I found that was very similar to what the colony appeared to be struggling with)

I would not say bacterial but bleaching and can be low alk, high calcium or Ph, stinging from nearby coral, and even additive landing on area as examples

 

[Matt Bravo]

How do you identify an acro bacterial infection? What’s it look like?

I’m not sure, it’s what my lfs told me, he said they’ve been fragging it to save it for a while already

 

[Matt Bravo]

doesn't look like aefw..... but I'd be hesitant to put anything with a known "possible bacterial infection" in my tank although that bacteria may already be in your tank unrelated, it could be easily passed on mix in some stress it could cause issues... if you have a separate QT tank or are familiar with this process or issue that could be a different story but it sounds like un needed trouble to me.. my .02 €

I do have a qt but it doesn’t usually do well for acros, it’s only supported months since it’s a singular AI prime

 

[Matt Bravo]

I would not say bacterial but bleaching and can be low alk, high calcium or Ph, stinging from nearby coral, and even additive landing on area as examples

Should I qt it? How would I know if it’s ready to go into higher par

 

[vetteguy53081]

Should I qt it? How would I know if it’s ready to go into higher par

You can but likely Not necessary

 

[Matt Bravo]

I would not say bacterial but bleaching and can be low alk, high calcium or Ph, stinging from nearby coral, and even additive landing on area as examples

It was in 7.8 alk, 437 calc and 8.1 PH I pulled up their parms

 

[vetteguy53081]

It was in 7.8 alk, 437 calc and 8.1 PH I pulled up their parms

Other causes ( things to double check):
- Temperature spike
- Salinity spike
- Low dissolved oxygen
- Poor water quality related with phosphate levels up to 5 ppm
- Change in water flow
- Additions of sand
- Changes in brand of salt
- Bad test kits giving faulty results
- Levels of minor elements such as Iodine, Potassium, Strontium
- Light intensity
- Addition of new corals
- Pesticides

 

[Matt Bravo]

When placing in qt I:
Revive dipped (hoping to cleanse potential bacteria infection)
Iodine dipped for 15 (since it was recently dragged don’t want it getting worse)
Placed in high light and flow

Anything else I should do regularly for a while? Like dips of some sort? Would the kfc dip help?

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Would the kfc dip help?

original recipe, or spicy Cajun?

 

[Matt Bravo]

I’m not sure, but I am willing to buy whichever would be most helpful in this case. If they would be of use at all of corse, I just really want to save this dagger of a piece

 

[Matt Bravo]

Here’s a pic, 24hrs later. In a 1Y 1M old tank

7 nitrates
.2 phos
460 calc
1238 mag
10.2 Dkh

It’s looking fine, polyp extend and retract at random times in the day. (Acros in this tank usually don’t do too well, I’m assuming lack of light. My other acros are under radions while this one is under an AI prime)
I’ve had montipora in this tank that grew well and never showed signs of problems.
I have coralline beginning to take off so the tank itself is decently stable.

Photos are in blues and whites in case blues hid something I didn’t catch

 

[Matt Bravo]

Update: I got home today and see full polyp extension on entire coral after doing daily iodine dips, bacterial infections seems to be healing too, will update tomorrow in case this works out and someone needs help, they can refer to this thread