Lobo with white "cracks"

[Thawman]

Anyone seen anything like this?

Unless I'm not using the right words, all my searches here and Google have come back with nothing.

My Lobo has been in the tank for 5+ years never had any issues. As the corals above it have grown it was shaded a bit(but never moved). Oddly, the head that was shaded most still looks normal, while the other 2 heads have developed white "cracks" of some sort.

In the attached pic it's the 2 heads on the left that are the heads in question.

Temp 77.5
SG 1.026
Alk 8.5
Ca 425
Mg 1450
PO4 0.04
NO3 10

Thanks in advance!

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[Minifoot77]

Any way to get a picture with less blue light?

 

[Thawman]

Any way to get a picture with less blue light?

Thanks for the response!

This is with all lights on.

 

[Minifoot77]

Thanks for the response!

This is with all lights on.

What's the par on it it could be that it's too much

 

[Thawman]

What's the par on it it could be that it's too much

PAR is roughly 75.

 

[Minifoot77]

I'll have to wait for someone else that has better experience than me im still learning...

 

[Thawman]

Still holding out that someone has an answer!! I've started spot feeding with Goniopower, Phytoplan and AB+ in the event it's a nutrient issue.

 

[crazyfishmom]

it may help to get a closer picture but does the white look at all like skeleton breaking through to you?

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

It looks to be bleaching, has it been expelling an abnormal amount of waste lately?

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Alot of wild caught lobos (which I assume is what this is based off of colony size and skeleton structure) have boring clams living in the skeleton which often result in the death of these corals as they will bore through the center of the polyp, are there any large circular holes on the bottom of the skeleton? Any slits in the tissue that don't look like mouths? Also wild lobos also like lower temperatures as they're very sensitive to that IME, but boring clams may also result in bleaching based off of my experience

 

[Thawman]

it may help to get a closer picture but does the white look at all like skeleton breaking through to you?

Thanks for the reply!

No there is no exposed skeleton, the white is still all tissue.

 

[Thawman]

It looks to be bleaching, has it been expelling an abnormal amount of waste lately?

Thanks for the response. I haven't notice it expelling any zooxanthellae. I agree though it looks like bleaching. It's odd as it has been in that position for a couple years with no real changes to the tank.

 

[Thawman]

Alot of wild caught lobos (which I assume is what this is based off of colony size and skeleton structure) have boring clams living in the skeleton which often result in the death of these corals as they will bore through the center of the polyp, are there any large circular holes on the bottom of the skeleton? Any slits in the tissue that don't look like mouths? Also wild lobos also like lower temperatures as they're very sensitive to that IME, but boring clams may also result in bleaching based off of my experience

Thanks for the reply!!

I don't see any obvious sign of boring clams, no holes, no slits for mouths, no clear sign of barnacles.

I've had the Lobo for about 6 years. It started off as a single head and has split into the 3 now. I keep the tank at roughly 77.5, would have thought if the temp was the cause it would have happened sooner than this, but I could be wrong!!

 

[Thawman]

Follow up for anyone that may come across this thread in the future.

My Lobo was being shaded just a bit too much by an overhanging setosa. Moved the lobo 1/2" forward and voila it got its color back.