Problem with my acro

Hi all. I have been having a problem with my blue-tipped acro lately. I notice tissue sloughing in some areas (some areas are bare of polyps), and other areas seem to be darkening/blackening. Obviously not good signs. I don't know the cause, or the best course of action from here. I have posted pics below - the first two is of the disease area, and the third is of the healthy looking front area. The final pic is the whole tank shot. I do have a toadstool leather coral at the far lower left of the tank (the acro is at the upper right) - wondered if it is too close to the leather?

Tank parameters: - ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/phosphate all zero. Temp - 78-81F, salinity 1.026, calcium 440, magnesium 1500, alkalinity 4.5 mEq/L, pH 8.1.

Please let me know what you think.

PS - I wonder if it might be insufficient light - all the disease seems to be at the back of the coral, which is not as well lit as the front. I have ordered a 2nd 4-bulb Tek fixture, but not due to arrive for another week. Right now I have a marineland 4-bulb T5 fixture at the front of the tank and an odyssea 4-bulb PC fixture in the middle of the tank (over the diseased area of the acro)

 

I would move the softie, if its waging checmical war fare then thats no good! Lighting seems fine esp since hes at the top of your tank. if you dont notice any changes soon id frag off the bad parts asap!

 

Bump. Any other ideas?

 

Don't know what to tell you about the coral, but I wanted to say that you have a great looking tank! Hope mine looks close to that one day!

 

Thanks! Compliments are always appreciated But I wish someone would give me some advice on the acro.....anyone??

 

bump - dont have enough SPS experience

hoping someone else can offer advice

Steve

 

JJK if all of your parms are what you say they are and i'm sure they are, I would have to go out on a limb and say, insufficient lighting. The leather isn't close enough to the coral to cause any issues, especially on the other end of a 90 gallon tank. Another thing you may want to look at is flow. If the coral isn't getting enough then this could be it. I see you have 3 koralia 4's but if they aren't placed properly they would be about as effective as 2 koralia 2's that are placed properly. (if that makes any sense) I personally would love to see a shot of where your koralias are placed. I hope this helps a little and gives you a little bit of assurance for when your new lights get there. Get me those shots of where your k4's are and we'll go from there.

 

Thanks for the reply, Daniel. If you look at the full-tank shot I posted (the 4th pic), you can see the powerheads. The acro is toward the upper right of the tank. There is a Koralia 4 at the right side of the tank (toward the front of the tank) pointed directly at it. There is also an Aquaclear 70 at the right side of the tank (toward the rear of the tank) also pointed directly at the acro for crosscurrent with the K4. So I would be surprised if flow was the issue.

Lighting may be it. I don't see any signs of nudibranchs. The other thing I thought of was bacterial infection? Do you think a dip in iodine or something else might help? Interestingly, the monticap beside it seems fine.
Thanks,
-Jeremy

 

I really doubt lighting is your problem, its up high and you have more then enough light to handle acros. I have a 75 at one point with 3 out of 4 bulbs working and was keeping acros fine.

 

Hey btw jeremy, if I were you, I would take the shrouds off of your koralias. I wider flow pattern is better than having it all in one stream. That's always the first thing I do with koralias is toss the shroud. Your acro really doesn't need the direct flow it just needs enough flowing across it's branches to carry food to the polyps inside and get rid of any small toxin or waste that may be collecting there. I'm not sure I would dip it at this point. Keep an eye on it and if it starts getting any worse, then that may be a good avenue of approach.