Urgent Help SPS Dying from Base

Kar · Feb 16, 2017

Hey Folks,

One of my favorite acro is dying from the base, I dont know what is wrong but all other my acros are just doing fine. Please help what I need to do to save this piece.

I'm thinking of cutting them and glueing all then together, is that a better idea, your help is highly appreciates.

Tank Params: ALK around 10 -- I keep it at this level all time
No3: 5 to 10 ppm

Thnx
Kar

Diesel · Feb 16, 2017

That acro is a goner IMO.
You can try to frag it but before you do dip it in a Bayer solution or any other coral dip if you don't have Bayer.
Tell me what came of the coral if any.

Kar · Feb 16, 2017

Sure, so you suspect of some pests? How much of Bayer do I need to use ?

ReeferBee · Feb 16, 2017

Generally caused by a swing in alkalinity or acro eating flatworms. Some acro are more sensitive to swings in alk. Never good and always seems to happen to the most favored pieces. Frag off pieces with healthy tissue and inspect for round white bite marks

cb684 · Feb 16, 2017

It is a good idea try to rule out bugs. Red and black bugs are easier to see at night with lights off and the use of a flashlight. AEFW usually leave marks on the corals. Sometimes it is easy to see the eggs. Here some information about AEFW, and here about Red and Black bugs.

Kar · Feb 16, 2017

Thanks you all for replies Il try it tonight and
Update you all

Kar · Feb 17, 2017

Here it is, as the grand master @Diesel guessed, after dipping him in bayer I found ton of bugs in it( pic attached ). I fragged off the ones that are doing a little ok and glued them to a rock let's see if they survive. The thing that's bothering me is how did this bugs come to my tank, I haven't added anything recently into the tank so I wonder from where it came. Also I really want to understand if there is any prevention for it, how can we loose all these prized ones for there bloody bugs

this is one of the my fav piece and it's disheartening to see it go like this

Experts pls pitch in,

Diesel · Feb 17, 2017

Well, do you dip and QT your coral for at least 4 weeks before you enter them in your DT?
If not.............. that's the problem.

I started dipping corals and QT them 5 years ago.
The coral evolution was in full swing and to make a $$$ corals were moving fast from the infected systems.
No big deal as you can't blame the vendors or other hobbyist the responsibility is in your hands to do the procedure to QT and treat them.
What you see are black bugs fairly new in the hobby even to me.
I have treated SPS from the AEFW but never really seen that much black bugs coming off from one colony.
That said and I hate to say it but it means your whole tank is infected till you dip and QT all colonies and basically all corals in your DT to put them in a frag tank of some sort.
Dip every 5 days for 10 min each coral and do this for 6 weeks and keep the DT fallow to starve and kill of the pest.
Black bugs aren't the same as red bugs that you can treat with a de-wormer as in interceptor that you can get by your local vet.
Maybe other can chime in as they might have or had the same problem as you.
Again you are in for a big task to get rid of these pesty little mean buggies.

loglan · Feb 17, 2017

My eyes are not the best but if those are the "noted" black bugs then I hope you can beat them. I encountered them last year and was not successful. There are a few threads on different pages and facebook about them. After finding out I had them I got MANY private messaged from others that also found out they had them. Off the top of my head I believe 18 out 19 people shut their system down because of not being able to beat them. I hope you can destroy them and save your corals. I know what is in store for you. Good luck.

Kar · Feb 17, 2017

Thank you all for the replies, to answer @Diesel question, the coral is present in there for more than 4 months, and nothing has been addeed since then. I will look at the interceptor and even check polyp lab products. Also KZ Flatform could be an option, I'm downsizing my tank, dipping every piece is not possible at this time but may be I will try to blow them of as much as I can using. Pumps and all before I move to the new tank.

Can anyone recommend any type of fish or invert which would attack these bugs.

I'm hoping for the best, lets us see how this turns out.

-- Kar

loglan · Feb 17, 2017

Slick Reef said:
I though I saw someone using interceptor at 4x dosage to treat black bugs

I used a whole large dog pill on my system twice. 1 week apart. My system is 140 total gallons of water. Both times it did nothing to them. I've used it in the past for some red bugs and it killed them quick.

loglan · Feb 17, 2017

Kar said:
Thank you all for the replies, to answer @Diesel question, the coral is present in there for more than 4 months, and nothing has been addeed since then. I will look at the interceptor and even check polyp lab products. Also KZ Flatform could be an option, I'm downsizing my tank, dipping every piece is not possible at this time but may be I will try to blow them of as much as I can using. Pumps and all before I move to the new tank.

Can anyone recommend any type of fish or invert which would attack these bugs.

I'm hoping for the best, lets us see how this turns out.

-- Kar

I know your in a bind from swapping tanks but my advise right now is I would not put any rock or corals in that new system without quarintine. Personally I had a coris wrasse and melanarus in my tank before even noticing the black bugs so I highly doubt that a fish is the answer. Quarintine and dipping is going to be your best option to rid these things.
Don't take anything personal I'm just trying to help and give you info that I tried. I wouldn't wish this pest on amybody. Matter of fact Ive beaten aefw and consider this pest the worst to date to fight.

Preme · Feb 17, 2017

Sorry to hear about that... those bugs suck! I've learned to dip ever since I found some...

fragit · Feb 17, 2017

Following along

JEREMY82 · Feb 17, 2017

What do you guys mix ratio wise for bayer for dip and how long ?

MT. Reefer · Feb 17, 2017

Here ya go

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bayer-insecticidal-coral-dip.244803/

Kar · Feb 18, 2017

Hey @loglan , thank you so much for detailed info. Yes I would give interceptor a try tomorrow. Also I fragged the rest of colony , broken them down to pieces and glued them to rock, il post pictures later

Kar · Feb 18, 2017

Btw, I have a dog and I give him heart guard tablets, it's the same as interceptor. Can I use that? If not @loglan would you pls give the info of the tablet which you used.

Thanks again

Kar

Diesel · Feb 18, 2017

I have still a few of these that I have used on Red bugs.
A friend of mine tried to use the same on black bugs but with no luck.

Than he tried the new kind of interceptor and he had some kind of luck but only in a QT tank.
In the DT the bugs just kept going.

Old pills were easy to dissolve in water the new kind you have to grind them as they just don't fall apart.
It's a pain in the rear the new interceptor.

Oh and read this thread, it's starting to get interesting for your part at post #114 https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/an-almost-successful-in-tank-aefw-treatment.184192/page-6
Black bugs were uninfected by the treatment of interceptor even on a 200% ratio.
IMO and many other who had them, again removing all corals from your DT and treat/dip in Bayer as this will be the only way to get rid of these black bugs here another link http://www.reefdup.com/2013/01/25/black-bugs-gray-bugs-invisible-killers/

All that said I wish you the best of luck what ever you do in a treatment plan.

JEREMY82 · Feb 18, 2017

If you have a chance try to dip another coral you can axcess, give you a idea of how bad they are in your system,then you can try to come up with a plan for dipping them,from kind of what I read It sounds like some corals may be attached to some big rocks and hard to dip.maybe you could use Rubbermaid storages or 5 gallon buckets.Hope the best for you and hopefully all will be fine