dsoz Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 My 1" frag of Oregon Tort was fine two days ago. Last night it had about the bottom 1/4 of flesh/color gone. I looked at it under a dissecting microscope and saw a lot of small moving things (looked like very large paramecium or very small planaria) moving in and out of the holes in the skeleton. They were a dark grey/brown color and were concentrated mainly near the line where the flesh was present/gone. Since I am treating for monti-eating-nuidis with the new treatment (potassium permanganate) proposed by Borneman, I decided to treat the tort with 50 mg/L KMnO4. After 20 minutes there was no effect on the small moving pieces, so I switched to 100 mg/L and continued observations. Within 5 minutes all the small moving things died/disappeared. I let it sit until 10 minutes was up, then put the tort in a bowl of tank water to rinse for 15 minutes, then returned the tort to the tank. Today when I got home from work I looked, and the tort was completely bare of flesh. Bright, brilliant white. But it is just my Oregon tort. My larger piece of California Tort is doing just fine (so far). I really inspected it closely just to make sure. No tissue loss, polyps extended, good color, growth at all the tips (at least the color that it is when it is new growth). I am confused. Maybe I should give up on SPS and just keep LPS for now. To add insult to injury... My old 45 tank started leaking again today while I was at work. I am in the process of jurry-rigging a stand out of an old workbench (way too tall) until I can come up with some money for a stand. I just gotta get all the bugs worked out of the new tank tonight. ARGH!!!!!! dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverDan Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 If it is the reg bugs of death good luck on that, they are really hard to get rid of. But it sounds like you did the right treatment. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted January 15, 2008 Author Share Posted January 15, 2008 I don't think it was red bugs. I did not see any "bugs" and there is nothing on any of my other SPS. As a follow up, the california tort quickly followed the oregon to the stage of death (a couple of days later). :( I am now tort-less, and I am trying to not make any changes to my tank for a while. At least until I am sure that there are no more monti-eating-nudis left in the tank. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Hey Dsoz, how much circulation/flow do you have in your tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted January 15, 2008 Author Share Posted January 15, 2008 probably not enough. At the time of the coral death I had a MJ1200, MJ900, and two other PH's (look like a korola, but the other brand... ??? I am blanking on the name) as well as the return from my sump. All my SPS are in an area where the two other PH's (not the MJs) cross flow. I am slowly adding more flow as I can afford more powerheads. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 That was the linchpin for me. I doubled my flow and SPS took off immediately; haven't lost a colony or frag since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 AEFW? Do you have any other acros in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted January 16, 2008 Author Share Posted January 16, 2008 AEFW? Do you have any other acros in there? A couple other acros. They are doing ok (browned out but growing like mad). I don't think it was AEFW, the things that I saw needed a microscope to see them. Even then they were almost too small to see, even at 40x magnification. The original post was back in September... I don't know why it suddenly got brought back to life. (nutty) dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 There have been several different kinds of AEFW identified. One of them is very very small, looks like black worms/flatworms, and require a microscope or magnifying glass to see. They don't affect all acros. Have you added any other acros since that post in September and had problems? I just don't want you to have to go thru what i did. You would know better than I if you had them. Just trying to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted January 16, 2008 Author Share Posted January 16, 2008 I have not added ANYTHING to the tank since September. I have been trying to combat the reoccuring monti-eating-nudi problem (I need to get a heater so I can set up a QT tank and take all the montis out of the display). I also have a bryopsis problem that I want to get under control before I add anything else. I bought a fox-faced rabbitfish to eat the bryopsis, but it only grazes it down to about 2 mm long. It sort of looks like my rocks are mossy rather than hairy. My next plan is maybe to add a tang to see if it will pick more of the short algae that is left off the rocks. After that, I may try another sea-hare or maybe a lettuce nudibranch... I am patient. I will use the microscope to check the rest of my acros for flatworms. I have not had much success with acros... they are usually just brown sticks in my tank. Maybe it is because they have the flatworms, maybe it is because I don't have enough flow... This may sound like a stupid question, but I am going to ask anyway. Are Torts considered to be in the acropora group, or are they in a different family/genus than acropora? Thanks for all the help and suggestions. Dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Acropora tortuosa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Have you read thru the thread at RC that talks about upping Mg to combat bryopsis? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 This may sound like a stupid question, but I am going to ask anyway. Are Torts considered to be in the acropora group, or are they in a different family/genus than acropora? Dsoz C'mon, you're a Teacher. There are no stupid questions, remember? Acropora is the genus. Tortuosa is the species. The blue tort is Acropora. It is a tough species to keep for some. Myself included. Many other SPS do well even while the torts do not. I had one for about 3 months that encrusted and looked good for awhile but suddenly STN'd. That was around 3 years ago. I haven't tried a frag lately, but as soon as I get one it will go in a very high light/flow area in my tank. I will also check CA/Alk, PO4 religiously because I'm sure my Alk dropped too low or something and I didn't fix it until it was too late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted January 16, 2008 Author Share Posted January 16, 2008 Acropora tortuosa That is something that I did not know before. Thanks Have you read thru the thread at RC that talks about upping Mg to combat bryopsis? Yes, I have read most of it. I tried it for a little while using Epsoms salts (magnesium sulfate), and it did not seem to make any difference. I will try magnesium chloride (mag flake) when I scrape together enough cash to get some. Until then, the rabbitfish keeps it in check. C'mon, you're a Teacher. There are no stupid questions, remember? ... Right... I have heard some questions that were pretty bad... I just heard one today that made me want to bang my head into the wall... dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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