LPS are dying...

a&m aggie 04'

Active Member
All my LPS in my tanks are receding but all other corals are fine (softies). My brains are heavily showing their skeleton and I have noticed a greenish looking algae on the branches of the frogspawn. Could this be a bacteria thats only spreads to LPS?? If so, can this be treated with a freshwater dip or something else???
Mark
 

a&m aggie 04'

Active Member
need a little help guys...all my LPS are in bad shape. Im almost positive they have all have some sort of disease that only affects LPS. Can this be treated with a freshwater dip?? Im really clueless.
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I'm going to move you over to the reef forum for more help from the reefers, since this is really just fish disease forum, but I would bet you need to change all lights, all at once. My LPS would always tell me when it was time to change all lights by doing exactly what you describe. They were like clockwork every 6 mos.
 

a&m aggie 04'

Active Member
its been a few months and im still having trouble with my LPS. I have a few brains and a frogspawn that werent looking good. Not looking good meaning that they were retracted showing their skeleton. I attribute part of that due to old bulbs. However, i replaced my bulbs and one of the brains has fully recovered but the frogspawn has not shown any improvement. So, Im thinking their are other problems. I have fragged a few pieces off appx 3 months ago and thought this might have caused an infection to the mother colony but i see that the frags are looking so hot either.
I did all tests today...
Temp was a little high at 83.
Calcium was at 430
Alk a tad low at just under 9
PH 8.2
Mag was around 1300
SG is stays constant at 1.024
Im just really not sure what else to do...I dont want to lose my frogspawn--- its over 30 stalks.
Another problem I'm experiencing are hydroids...they have slowing spread throughout my tank. They arent causing any problems as of yet but i know its only a matter of time. How do i get rid of these things? Ive heard they thrive in nutrient rich systems. Ive tried to cut feeding down and am skimming 24/7...will anything eat these??
MD
 
T

tizzo

Guest
A friend of mine gave me all of his frogspawn because he had a similiar issue. He finally thought it was his light, thus giving it to me... It turned out to be flatworms. He looked close and didn't see them himself, it was after I got them home and was ready to put them in my tank that I saw them. There are pics in this thread of how they looked and how many there were.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...ight=frogspawn
HTH
 

a&m aggie 04'

Active Member
i honestly dont do as many water changes as i should. But in 4 years Ive never had a problem with that. I can usually tell the water by how xenia acts-- currently its pulsing like crazy.
I dont think I have flatworms...I looked in my tank and havent seen any on the corals. The only thing that is on the corals is corraline algae growing. Another reason I dont think its flatworms is that all my LPS started looking bad, now after replacing the bulbs one of my brains has come back.
The only thing i did different were spectrum of the lights i bought. I was running 2 acticic, 2 aquasun and this time i bought 2 50/50's, 1 aquasun and 1 actinic. I moved the actinic today from the front position to directly over the frogspawn. Im really trying anything i can think of-- Ill take some pics tomorrow and see if anyone can spot something i cant.
MD
 

gordruls

Member
I was having the same type problem 3 weeks ago and when I went to change some water out it had a yellow tint to it. Since the change (50 gal on a 150 tank) everything is coming back strong. I didn't notice the tint until I started puting the water in a white bucket :scared: . I for one will never miss a 20% water change a month again!
I thought it was my lighting also and I went and Purchased a Metal Halide light.
I havn't received my light yet but the change in my tank is like night and day
. I think the tint was blocking the light. :thinking:
 

bang guy

Moderator
If the chemicals your softies make isn't diluted with water changes then they can slowly build up.
What are you feeding your LPS? How often?
Are your powerheads getting clogged and slowing the waterflow? How about your main waterpump?
 

a&m aggie 04'

Active Member
ill shoot them a syringe of brine or cyclops every couple of weeks. I'll get on the water changes to see if it helps.
My waterflow hasnt changed.
MD
 

bang guy

Moderator
You could also try feeding them something a bit more meaty like Mysis Shrimp or ground Scallops. After you feed Cyclops the feeding tentacles should come out. At that point you can try giving them bigger chunks of seafood.
 
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