Established Garf Bonsai losing color from base

[Biff0rz]

I have about 30 different SPS in my tank, this one isn't happy and I'm not sure why. Also, I've been noticing a pattern of where my corals are randomly doing this (and eventually die). They will start to STN near the base, move up, then RTN once it hits the branches. This has happened to a couple of corals already, seemingly at random times (not tied to an event that I can blame), and infrequently. I've lost two JF Fox Flame, RR BlackJack, and ARC Fireworks in the same manner. And now, a garf bonsai is doing it. Here's some pics-

Day 1 - 9/22/2023

10/29/23

3/31/24 (moved it to a new rock)

9/28/24

10/13/24 - something happens

As you can see, I've had it a long time (1yr), its grown a lot, and has been happy. During the time of ownership I lost the JF FF and the ARC Fireworks in a similar fashion.

This is making me start to think I have some sort of bacterial issue (maybe?), I'm not sure. Everything has been held stable which is what's having me perplexed on causation. I will note that this is in a darker 'shaded' area, BUT, most dark areas of the acros I've seen do not go stark white like this with a clear line of health/death, they usually fade into the colorless.

Thing's I was doing 2-3 weeks prior until noticing the white base-
-water change (tested sg and alk prior)
-trace element dosing (reef moonshiners)
-keeping up on regular maintenance

As you can see I haven't changed much or did anything that I can point to, but, here we are.

Params have been stable, but I'll post them anyways-
Ca 430-460 (this did dip down to 380 3 weeks ago, adjusted after manually testing to confirm)
Mg 1350-1400
Alk 8.0-8.5 (depends on day/consumption -- supplementing with kalk, soda ash, and calcium reactor - tested every 4 hours with calibrated Alkatronic and adjusted as needed when consumption is higher vs lower)
Ph 8.05-8.4 (ebs and flows with Alk/lights/weather/etc)
Po4 0.05-0.12 (depends on how much I've been feeding / last water change, largest swing is +/- 0.02)
No3 5-12 (same as Po4)
I2 (0.02-0.06)
Temp 78-78.2
Sg 1.026 / 35ppt (tropic marin hydrometer)

manually test Po4, No3, Alk, Sg 1x/week w/Hanna and Tropic Marin Hydrometer
auto-test Po4, No3, Ca 3x/wk with Reefbot Lab
auto-test I2/Mg 1x/wk with Reefbot Lab
auto-test Alk, Ca, Mg 4x/day with Neptune (ABC reagents)
auto-test Alk with alkatronic every 4 hours (Home-made reagent)

Last ICP (ATI) 8/30, no contaminants, low on iron/maganese/vanadium -- adjusted and supplemented per reef moonshiners)

Power losses, none. Heater issues, lost a heater but noticed at 76*, had on-hand replacement.

 

[exnisstech]

Following. I have a couple doing this also One being a garf bonzai also the other a miyagi tort. Parameters are very similar.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

I battled this for a long time. Stn/rtn whack-a-mole. I’d frag things to save them. Some frags would make it, others not. Over a couple years, it would pop up every now and again. I never figured it out. I’ll get flak for this I know, but I finally broke down and dosed cipro. I hope I don’t jinx it but it’s been a very long time since I had a necrosis event. It was a last ditched effort and only after I could verify that no pests (like aefw) were to blame. Now, I’m not saying that’s what anyone should do. I went through a ton of threads where people were having as similar problems, even some well known vendors and YouTubers. Due diligence and make sure you don’t see bite marks, eggs, bugs, flatworms, etc as those are the usual suspects outside of parameter/light/flow issues. Best of luck There tons of valuable info in this forum on cura pests and what to look for.

 

[Biff0rz]

I battled this for a long time. Stn/rtn whack-a-mole. I’d frag things to save them. Some frags would make it, others not. Over a couple years, it would pop up every now and again. I never figured it out. I’ll get flak for this I know, but I finally broke down and dosed cipro. I hope I don’t jinx it but it’s been a very long time since I had a necrosis event. It was a last ditched effort and only after I could verify that no pests (like aefw) were to blame. Now, I’m not saying that’s what anyone should do. I went through a ton of threads where people were having as similar problems, even some well known vendors and YouTubers. Due diligence and make sure you don’t see bite marks, eggs, bugs, flatworms, etc as those are the usual suspects outside of parameter/light/flow issues. Best of luck There tons of valuable info in this forum on cura pests and what to look for.

Thanks for the information. Isn't cipro fairly harsh? I've dipped corals in kcl and never find pests. I did have white bugs but did a few rounds of interceptor and it's been gone for a while now.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Thanks for the information. Isn't cipro fairly harsh? I've dipped corals in kcl and never find pests. I did have white bugs but did a few rounds of interceptor and it's been gone for a while now.

It’s an antibiotic that humans use and shouldn’t be used for several reasons. I’ve been listening to a few that have now moved on from cipro due to the negative impact in regards to antibiotic resistant superbugs. Now some are trying hyaluronic acid and other options. Again, I’m not advocating that anyone use this stuff. Just things people are trying out. Do your own due diligence. The point I was trying to make was that, if you are absolutely certain that it’s not pest related or attributed to light,flow,parameters, etc, that others have run into a similar issue, some that know much more about coral health, pests and disease than I ever could. Some are promoting the aquabiomics testing deal, I’m not there yet.

 

[Dburr1014]

I have about 30 different SPS in my tank, this one isn't happy and I'm not sure why. Also, I've been noticing a pattern of where my corals are randomly doing this (and eventually die). They will start to STN near the base, move up, then RTN once it hits the branches. This has happened to a couple of corals already, seemingly at random times (not tied to an event that I can blame), and infrequently. I've lost two JF Fox Flame, RR BlackJack, and ARC Fireworks in the same manner. And now, a garf bonsai is doing it. Here's some pics-

Day 1 - 9/22/2023

10/29/23

3/31/24 (moved it to a new rock)

9/28/24

10/13/24 - something happens

As you can see, I've had it a long time (1yr), its grown a lot, and has been happy. During the time of ownership I lost the JF FF and the ARC Fireworks in a similar fashion.

This is making me start to think I have some sort of bacterial issue (maybe?), I'm not sure. Everything has been held stable which is what's having me perplexed on causation. I will note that this is in a darker 'shaded' area, BUT, most dark areas of the acros I've seen do not go stark white like this with a clear line of health/death, they usually fade into the colorless.

Thing's I was doing 2-3 weeks prior until noticing the white base-
-water change (tested sg and alk prior)
-trace element dosing (reef moonshiners)
-keeping up on regular maintenance

As you can see I haven't changed much or did anything that I can point to, but, here we are.

Params have been stable, but I'll post them anyways-
Ca 430-460 (this did dip down to 380 3 weeks ago, adjusted after manually testing to confirm)
Mg 1350-1400
Alk 8.0-8.5 (depends on day/consumption -- supplementing with kalk, soda ash, and calcium reactor - tested every 4 hours with calibrated Alkatronic and adjusted as needed when consumption is higher vs lower)
Ph 8.05-8.4 (ebs and flows with Alk/lights/weather/etc)
Po4 0.05-0.12 (depends on how much I've been feeding / last water change, largest swing is +/- 0.02)
No3 5-12 (same as Po4)
I2 (0.02-0.06)
Temp 78-78.2
Sg 1.026 / 35ppt (tropic marin hydrometer)

manually test Po4, No3, Alk, Sg 1x/week w/Hanna and Tropic Marin Hydrometer
auto-test Po4, No3, Ca 3x/wk with Reefbot Lab
auto-test I2/Mg 1x/wk with Reefbot Lab
auto-test Alk, Ca, Mg 4x/day with Neptune (ABC reagents)
auto-test Alk with alkatronic every 4 hours (Home-made reagent)

Last ICP (ATI) 8/30, no contaminants, low on iron/maganese/vanadium -- adjusted and supplemented per reef moonshiners)

Power losses, none. Heater issues, lost a heater but noticed at 76*, had on-hand replacement.

It's growing, shading, flow restrictions, welcome to the colony. This is what they do.

 

[kartrsu]

Are you carbon dosing or adding anything that could fuel bad bacteria growth?

 

[Biff0rz]

It's growing, shading, flow restrictions, welcome to the colony. This is what they do.

So, you're saying no concern here? The white is growing (bottom = today, ~1 week apart)

 

[Biff0rz]

Are you carbon dosing or adding anything that could fuel bad bacteria growth?

I AM carbon dosing. Vodka, 11ml/day on a versa doser.

 

[Dburr1014]

So, you're saying no concern here? The white is growing (bottom = today, ~1 week apart)

I'm saying fixing this may be fruitless.

Can you post a full tank pic.
White light and how you normally run.

I have a huge colony of tri-color valida(basically the same looking coral) and my base is like this. The mason Dixon line is where the light stops. I'm searching my phone for better, closer pics.

I can't find any with the underside, I'll snap a shot when I get home.

 

[Devin6871]

Shine some light on there during the night and see if you find any creepy crawlies on your coral. Look for crabs specifically picking at the base. Maybe you have a nocturnal hitch hiker doing damage.

 

[Biff0rz]

I'm saying fixing this may be fruitless.

Can you post a full tank pic.
White light and how you normally run.

I have a huge colony of tri-color valida(basically the same looking coral) and my base is like this. The mason Dixon line is where the light stops. I'm searching my phone for better, closer pics.

I can't find any with the underside, I'll snap a shot when I get home.

Normal lighting, fts

White light (@ 70%)

Video from a month ago-

 

[Biff0rz]

Shine some light on there during the night and see if you find any creepy crawlies on your coral. Look for crabs specifically picking at the base. Maybe you have a nocturnal hitch hiker doing damage.

I know this may sound psycho, but, I check my tank nightly (lol). I'm a night owl and 1 enjoy it but 2, I also look for signs of trouble. I've been checking the tank at various times too, like 12a-4a.

Nothing has been pestering corals at night.

 

[Devin6871]

I know this may sound psycho, but, I check my tank nightly (lol). I'm a night owl and 1 enjoy it but 2, I also look for signs of trouble. I've been checking the tank at various times too, like 12a-4a.

Nothing has been pestering corals at night.

dang, was hoping you would get lucky and gind a critter. I had an emerald crab that was peeling the base of sps. Killed an arc proximo and rrc orange passion before I found and sumped him. That was a couple years ago and my tank has been reset since anyway

 

[Dburr1014]

Tank looks great, love them reefbreeders! Coming along nice. Wait till they all fill in!

I see your flow, left back, right front. Does that make a whirlpool effect?

 

[Dburr1014]

Here is mine, it's happening also but I know it will stop.

 

[Biff0rz]

Tank looks great, love them reefbreeders! Coming along nice. Wait till they all fill in!

I see your flow, left back, right front. Does that make a whirlpool effect?

It does. But I pulse the mp60's and the smaller pumps. I also anti sync pulse the gyre's and the pump on the back. The flow gets pretty dynamic. So while it whirlpools, those other pumps disrupt it and create dynamic patterns. You can see it in the video a bit. I'll admit, I'm not sure if it's the best flow but it seems to work. I wanted to avoid pointing them at each other as that creates bare spots in the sand. Also, the left side hits the rocks on the right side pretty good.

 

[Biff0rz]

Here is mine, it's happening also but I know it will stop.

Interesting. I did take two frags from it for some insurance. Maybe I should leave it to observe?

 

[Jasonak]

It’s an antibiotic that humans use and shouldn’t be used for several reasons. I’ve been listening to a few that have now moved on from cipro due to the negative impact in regards to antibiotic resistant superbugs. Now some are trying hyaluronic acid and other options. Again, I’m not advocating that anyone use this stuff. Just things people are trying out. Do your own due diligence. The point I was trying to make was that, if you are absolutely certain that it’s not pest related or attributed to light,flow,parameters, etc, that others have run into a similar issue, some that know much more about coral health, pests and disease than I ever could. Some are promoting the aquabiomics testing deal, I’m not there yet.

I have similar problems sometimes at the top sometimes at the bottom sometimes on a branch. Sometimes slowly over weeks sometimes death overnight. It can be acro or monti. I sent off to Aquabimoics they couldn't find anything either. It is very very annoying and frustrating.

 

[kartrsu]

I AM carbon dosing. Vodka, 11ml/day on a versa doser.

The recession is a bit strange tbh with the defined white area and no color fading above. It’s not also like AEFW or bug damage, so that’s why I wonder if bacterial. I also noticed this critter. Is that a chiton? Lastly, I’ve noticed irritation of my acros with digitate hydroids. Other than that, I’m as perplexed as you. Maybe it is indeed shading.