Reef Discussion

[joey13]

G'day guys,

Well it's been smooth sailing for almost 6 weeks now but it seems I spoke too soon. I have just noticed an issue with my Hammer Coral. I will try and give you as much info as possible on my tank so you can best answer my question.

Initial Cycle Start Date (Cured LR Added): 19/02/14. Red Sea Coral Pro used initially.
I had a non detectable cycle as the LR I used was in a 4 year old established tank and only spent 1 hour out the water.
I acquired and added this hammer coral on 12/03/14 and for the past 2.5 weeks it has been going great guns. It is placed on the sand.

Tank is a 4.88 x 2 x2.25 tank. 4ft x 18in x 18in sump.
Deltec 801 Skimmer (Rated for 1500L. Running 12 hours a day)
2 x Jaebo WP40's.
ReefBreeders Photon48 Full Spectrum LED. Running Ch1 Blues: 50% Max, Ch2 Whites: 40% Max

Here is a picture of it taken on 26/03/14.

Here is a picture taken today!

Last night after lights went out, I noticed one of the heads was secreting a white film. I didn't pay too much notice but this morning when the lights started ramping up, I noticed the same head has not come out and is still excreting the white film. It also appears one of the heads at the rear and one off to the right hasn't really come out properly either and seems stringy???

My water parameters have been very stable for the past 6 weeks. I have just tested them now and this is the result.

Temp:/ 25.8 (Avg over 4 Therm)
Salinity: 1.025 (Refractometer)
Ammonia: 0 ppm (Salifert)
Nitrite: 0 ppm (Salifert)
Nitrate: 2.5 ppm (Salifert)
pH: 8.2 (Hanna pH Pen)
Alk: 7.78 dKH (Hanna Checker)
Phos: 0.32 ppm (Hanna Checker)
Calcium: 380 ppm (Salifert)
Magnesium: 1140 ppm (Salifert)

I did my first water change on 25/03/13 changing 100L (15%) Using TM Pro. Parameters haven't really moved much at all over the past 6 weeks.

Stock List:
2 x Ocellaris Clownfish
1 x Flame Angel
1 x Foxface Rabbitfish
4 x Turbo Snails
4 x Cerith Snails

1 x Toadstool Leather
1 x Elegance Coral
30 x Zoanthids
1 x Chalice Coral
4 x Green Morphs
2 x Lobos (1 Red, 1 Green)
1 xFungia
2 x Green Star Polyps
1 x Scolly
1 x Brain Coral
1 x Aussie War Coral
1 x Bubble Coral

The last thing I added to the tank was the snails and fox face which was earlier this week on Wednesday. Everything else seems to be doing fine. It is not possible that the hammer was stung by anything else.

What should I do? Kinda freaking out a little. This seems to be my first problem since starting. Should I take it out and cut off those heads? Will it be ok? Will it kill my other corals?

 

[Agent M]

Its brown jelly disease. Hammers are very susceptible to it. As it is a branching hammer I suggest snapping off the affected heads with pliers and disposing of them to prevent it spreading to the rest of the healthy polyps. Move the hammer into a higherflow area than where it is now.

 

[holly]

Cut off the heads (well below the head) that are looking like they have a layer of jelly on them. Otherwise the whole thing eventually will die back.

 

[Ian3145]

Sorry to say this but it simply too soon to be putting anything in your tank. Despite using old rock, everything needs to mature & establish a balance. This is well worth a read: http://www.thereefuge.com.au/thread...t-you-should-expect-in-depth.5344/#post-74805

 

[Agent M]

You might revise that comment when you read his tank journal Ian ;)

 

[MagicJ]

This might be too late but, you are better off trying to siphon out as much of the bad stuff before trying to remove it from the tank. And turn off your pumps before moving it or you will end up blowing the brown slime all around the tank.

From my experience you will not save the damaged heads - if you are very lucky you may save one of the others but don't be surprised if they all eventually all succumb.

 

[Ian3145]

You might revise that comment when you read his tank journal Ian ;)

I don't follow. I'm going by his statement "Initial Cycle Start Date (Cured LR Added): 19/02/14. Red Sea Coral Pro used initially.:

 

[joey13]

Cut off 4 of the 7 heads with the cordless angle grinder!

Also found a tiny tiny tiny apstasia on a brain coral that was closest to the hammer. I got the brain coral from the same bloke I got the hammer from. Not all that happy right now.

What is the cause of this "brown jelly disease"? Is it a coral specific thing? Will it spread to my other corals?

 

[Agent M]

The exact cause is not known and it is only a problem with captive corals. I have only ever had my LPS corals start to get it when I place the coral in a very low flow area. As per my usual style, I do "the wrong thing" and pick up the coral in my hand and use the powerhead stream in the tank to blast it clean of brown jelly, then move the coral to a higher flow area. Water quality is also crucial IMO for the coral to recover from it. Have never had it spread this way. Its better to be safe than sorry and do as @MagicJ has suggested in keeping it isolated, especially because the jelly does harbour bacteria, but thats my experience with it at a slightly earlier stage as what you are experiencing (your affected polyps were not saveable IMO) and in much less water volume than what you have.

And yes, it can spread, keep an eye on your other corals.

 

[Agent M]

I don't follow. I'm going by his statement "Initial Cycle Start Date (Cured LR Added): 19/02/14. Red Sea Coral Pro used initially.:

His cycle was made up of rock and corals from a shut down tank so was more of a tank transfer than a cycle. He also has pretty decent water volume. The only parameters that have been a little high is phosphate from the rock, which is to be expected and nothing more than the corals would have already been living in.

 

[joey13]

Well I'll just have to wait and see now.

Pretty bummed out right about now and very disheartened. It's been very smooth sailing up until this point. These are the reasons I was always so hesitant to go marine.

 

[Agent M]

I wouldn't be too bummed. Maybe hammers aren't for you, I know they aren't for me. Reason being sooner or later they do seem to succumb to this problem - you almost need to expect it whenever you get one, could be months, could be years but it will happen. Other possibility is invest in a UV steriliser and see if that helps - would take quite a long time to know if it was helping prevent disease or not though.

 

[holly]

I know you're bummed, but aptasia and pests are just going to get in there eventually. It's just part of the maintenance of your tank. No matter how hard we try to have order, entropy is inevitable. Agent M is right about the coral flow too, I had hammers do the same in a low flow area, now they're in a place where they swirl and tumble all over the place and they love life. Still looks like you've got at least 3 healthy heads.

 

[OSCAR85]

Sorry to hear of the current loss. To your credit if this has been your only downfall in 6 months after starting you should be very proud of your achievement. It may have come with the disease and had nothing to do with you. when corals are not doing well try increasing your water changes. Soft corals are fine is high phosphate but they are better in the 0.08 range. IMO try to work on that and your overall tank health will improve dramatically. Good luck :)

 

[joey13]

Thanks for all the advice and kind words. The 3 remaining heads seem to be doing well. I was also very delicate and removed the brain coral and cut it out with a bit of rock. Hopefully that's the last I see of it for a while. Was really really tiny so hopefully I got onto it before it had a chance to spread!

I've literally scoured the tank for hours...haven't spotted anything else out of the norm. Will see how it goes.

I'm happy with the cuts I gave the hammer. Came off really clean!

 

[macca_75]

Mate, I have a real hard time keeping any LPS as well. Chin up - everyone losses a coral or a fish at a time.

Just take it slow and you'll get there. Get another hammer in time and see how you go (easy for me to say as Rob is currently babysitting my elegance because I had a hammer and a torch wipe out exactly as you hammer just did).

 

[joey13]

Happy to report that the Hammer seems to be making a recovery. The remaining heads are looking healthy!

 

[Agent M]

So far so good!