Help! sick coral!

[ctec377]

Help!

I noticed a small black spot on my finger coral about 4 days ago... then day before yesterday it really grew in size!!! Now it's a blackish ugly mess. I don't have a clue what is wrong and reading hasn't gotten me any closer to an answer. Checked everything... ph, alkalinity, etc. all fine.

Any ideas? it's growing so fast, I don't know if he'll be alive by the time I find an answer.



Thanks for your help.

gwen

[Doug1]

Gwen I havent seen that particular malady, but if it was mine I would do a Lugols or Iodine dip on the coral in question, maybe Jenn or Rick have a better suggestion, if nothing else they are close

[FishDaddy]

Gwen,
You've got a big Aiptasia that appears to be stinging your coral....don't know if that's what caused the necrosis but certainly doesn't help any. You need to zap that Aip with some kalk paste.
Sorry I can't help otherwise; coral disease isn't my forte.
Dick

[ctec377]

Feel dumb... again!

Aiptasia -
Didn't know those little things were bad. Uh... been feeding them!!! (OK, quit laughing)

Did some research real quick... won't feed um anymore. Good thing it's a four day weekend - it'll take that long to get them all out!

Thanks for your input.. will try dipping the coral. Some critters, for some reason or another, really catch your fancy. This finger isn't particularly spectacular or showy... but he's one of my favorites.
Hate to see him in such bad shape.

gwen

[mojoreef]

hey buddy this guy is not looking to good. I would keep a close eye on him, it looks like its almost dead, if it crumble or the skin peels when you are taking him out for a dip I would get rid of it. It could pollute your system


sorry
mike

[ctec377]

Well, I dipped my sick coral. Back in the tank he still opens, but the deteriorating patch of tissue obviously still looks bad.

During the dip there was no loss/slothing of any sort, and he's certainly not dead... yet.

As for the Aiptasias (My LFS fondly refers to them as sea cockroaches), I injected several with a Kalkwasser solution that promptly did... nothing. Didn't seem to phase them much.

I am looking into buying a handful of peppermint shrimp, and will keep working on ways to be rid of them. Still, kinda feels funny - one day proudly feeding my oh-so-healthy beauties; next day trying to lure them to the gas chamber.

If only these guys looked more like a cockroach...

Still, easy to get motivated to murder when I look at my injured coral!

Couple of pictures that show off my Aiptasias... well, a small sample of my vast herd.

[sculpin]

Try pulling the Aiptasia rock out of the water and inject them with boiling tap water (yes, tap water). To be effective this must be done out in the air or the water will cool too much prior to injection. Try not to get any of the boiling tap water on the coral itself.

You may want to frag that leather as a worst case precaution. Snip off a few branches and place them on the other side of the aquarium from the mother head (or better yet in a separate aquarium).