Acro predator?

[TWallace]

For the last few months my acros have been bleaching from the base up. I know that this is often a sign of alkalinity spikes, so I set out to lock down my alkalinity around 8 dKH. Recently I also found that my pH was dropping to 7.8 in the mornings before lights came on and thought that may be causing the acro troubles. I've setup a Reef Keeper Lite and a new kalk reactor that doses mostly at night in an attempt to keep my parameters (temp, pH, alk mostly) much more steady. All of this has had no effect and my acros continue to bleach from the bottom up.

Over the course of this time I'd occasionally check out the tank at night and noticed what I thought were mysis shrimp all over the acro bases. I thought this was just coincidence, as I was certain mysis don't eat acros. Now I'm not so sure that these are mysis. Tonight I started taking pictures of these "mysis" using a flashlight. They don't like the light and quickly hide when I shine it on them, which makes it hard to get photos, but I've got several good ones. Has anyone seen these before? Are they mysis? Are they a predator? They are always found on the bases of my acros where they are bleaching.

No other corals are having trouble in my tank. Fish are doing fine, clams and snails are great. I've looked for these "mysis" on the base of other non-acro SPS and find none. These seem to only eat acropora.

 

[pufferdady]

They look like amphipods to me. Awesome pics by the way! Maybe eating already dead or dying tissue? Are there Acro eating amphipods? I know I've seen similar ones in my refugium. I'm sure some of the experts will chime in soon enough. I'm riding along. Good luck with it.

 

[cali_reef]

Those pods maybe just cleaning up after someone else that ate the flesh.

Try taking one the colony and dip/wash in some Coral Revive, look for some clear color flat warms (AEFW).

 

[TWallace]

Thanks all. I suspected amphipods too, but they're bigger than I thought amphipods get, up to 1/4" maybe, which made me think mysis.

I'm at a loss then as to what is causing my acros to bleach. The pattern is inconsistent with a predator, as it always starts at the base. I've seen pics of the damage AEFW do, and it's all over the coral with visible bite marks in the flesh. That's not what it looks like in my tank. I'm thinking it has to be due to water parameters or possibly a contaminant in the water.

 

[sgwill122]

They are harmless, I have them a bunch of them. A lot of guys will rescue them from their filter socks when they change them. You can do some reading on them on the link below.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rs/index.php

 

[tamarindthai]

when acro is stn,,always all kinds of predators(scaventures)will swamped your stn acro day and night,,realy nothing you can do about it excepcted cut the dead part out or cover the dead part with glue ,,sorry to hear about it.i got afew sps you can get it replanted

 

[TWallace]

Thanks a lot Dang. Hopefully I can stop this die-off soon. I'm doing water changes every few days now. I switched to Instant Ocean from Reef Crystals, but found that IO also mixes to pH 7.8 for me just like RC did. I don't know if this is normal or not. I've got the pH to stay between 8.0 and 8.4 over the course of a day now. I think that's pretty normal. I've set the refugium light to be on at night instead of day, added a kalk reactor to my ATO, which is only 9pm to noon, when pH takes a dip. Also added a Reef Keeper Lite to turn off MH bulbs if the temp reaches 82, and turn on fans in the canopy if it reaches 79. I don't know what else I can do. I don't think it's a predator, because the acros always bleach from the base up. I know that AEFW eat all over the coral, not just at the base. I've never seen red bugs on them, and I don't think red bugs alone would do this kind of damage anyway (even if they did, they'd likely do that damage all over the acro, not just the base).

 

[tamarindthai]

AEFW and red bug and small startfish will feeding on dieing coral,,glue to cover or cut the dead part off replant them again,,and take metafix dip will help too?,,, this is the choice you have to make ,,,will get better or put it to dead by dipping metafix 50/50,after dip willl needed good flow through/will slimed..sorry no other choice

 

[cali_reef]

I know that AEFW eat all over the coral, not just at the base.

AEFW can start eating from any where, it depends on the flow, lighting, and possibility the type of coral it is on. I have always seem them starting from the base to mid branch sections and underside of a colony.

Dipping corals in iodine based solution have been reported to cure some types of infection and STN.

 

[TWallace]

AEFW can start eating from any where, it depends on the flow, lighting, and possibility the type of coral it is on. I have always seem them starting from the base to mid branch sections and underside of a colony.

Dipping corals in iodine based solution have been reported to cure some types of infection and STN.

What I meant is that AEFW leave visible bite marks all up the coral, visible within the healthy looking section. Mine don't look like that. Above the line of bleaching, the acros always look great. No bite marks or any other damage.

 

[TWallace]

I did Melafix and Lugol's dips on 2 different acros tonight. I didn't see any predators come off of either one. I don't really suspect a predator at this point anyway, but thought I'd give the dips a shot. I'm at a loss as to what's causing my acros to STN.

 

[TWallace]

Over the weekend I ran all 4 of my powerheads (2 Koralia 4s and a 2 Tunze nano streams) in a bucket of vinegar water. Then I opened them up and cleaned them with an old toothbrush that I use for cleaning my skimmer. Flow is vastly improved a result. Some of the powerheads were clogged with coralline, bubble algae and zoanthids. Hopefully the increased flow will be beneficial to my ailing acros.