Hello,
I've got an 80-gallon mixed reef tank set up at the start of the year. It's got a 15-gallon sump/refugium, and my parameters are looking good - nitrates are zero, phosphates are around zero, CA's a bit high, salinity's at 1.025, and temp's at 25.7 C.
My tank's split, with SPS Acropora on the left and a beautiful red/green/purple favia on the right. It's about 10 inches across at its widest point. All my corals are doing well, with good polyp extension and coloration. The issue's with my favia - it's started expelling these weird little balls from its mouth, a couple polyps a day, starting from the right side and moving left. They're like tiny balls of ramen noodles, about 1 cm across.
I've tried finding pics of this online, but no luck. It's frustrating, as favia's supposed to be an easy coral, but mine's being super finicky. The colors were lightening up in patches, so I thought it was getting too much light and added some screen to shade it, which has helped.
My feeding schedule consists of Arctipods and Oyster feast in the mornings. I've got two Radion lights set to 20k, with a 12-hour photo period - 6 hours of peak intensity in the middle, and the other 6 hours are blues, going from low to high par and back.
Has anyone seen anything like this before? It's covered about half the coral so far. I can try to get a pic later today. Should I dip it ASAP, or is that not necessary? I'd rather not touch it unless it's already stressed.
Thanks!
Favia coral displaying mesenterial filaments from its mouth
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sweetie_22 - Posts: 119
- Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 11:20 am
Re: Favia coral displaying mesenterial filaments from its mouth
I've had my fair share of favias over the years and I've got to say, yours sounds like a real stunner. I'm intrigued by what you're describing, though - these little noodle balls coming out of the polyps, but not extending, just sort of... sitting there. That's a new one for me.
Do the polyps ever retract these noodle balls, or are they just stuck there? A picture would be great, by the way - a clear shot from a bit of a distance is usually more helpful than a blurry close-up.
I'm also curious about your alkalinity and magnesium levels - those are two parameters I always keep an eye on with my stony corals, and I find they can make a big difference. With your tank being established and your love of stonies, I'd be testing those regularly, along with calcium and magnesium.
As for dipping, I'm not sure that's necessary just yet. It's usually more of an anti-parasite or disinfecting measure, and I'm not convinced that's what's going on here. Your favia does sound stressed, and I'd hate to add any more stress to the mix unless it's absolutely necessary.
How's the flow over your favia, by the way? I've found that even in an SPS tank, it's easy to over-light and over-flow some corals, and favias can be pretty sensitive. My own favias do best in darker, slower water - maybe that's something to consider.
Do the polyps ever retract these noodle balls, or are they just stuck there? A picture would be great, by the way - a clear shot from a bit of a distance is usually more helpful than a blurry close-up.
I'm also curious about your alkalinity and magnesium levels - those are two parameters I always keep an eye on with my stony corals, and I find they can make a big difference. With your tank being established and your love of stonies, I'd be testing those regularly, along with calcium and magnesium.
As for dipping, I'm not sure that's necessary just yet. It's usually more of an anti-parasite or disinfecting measure, and I'm not convinced that's what's going on here. Your favia does sound stressed, and I'd hate to add any more stress to the mix unless it's absolutely necessary.
How's the flow over your favia, by the way? I've found that even in an SPS tank, it's easy to over-light and over-flow some corals, and favias can be pretty sensitive. My own favias do best in darker, slower water - maybe that's something to consider.
Re: Favia coral displaying mesenterial filaments from its mouth
Additional Info
Here's some more details for you coral experts.
The favia was added to my tank about a month ago, and I did a Seachem Reef Dip before introducing it, just to be safe. In terms of tankmates, I've got a tang, a lawn mower blenny, and some chromis, but none of them seem to be bothering the favia. As for nearby corals, there's an encrusting montipora just below it, a healthy Red Ball Sponge about 6 inches away, and a Raspberry Stylophora also 6 inches away - none of them are showing any signs of stress.
The gut showing started on the side closest to the sponge, about 3 weeks ago, around the same time the favia started showing some color stress from the lights. Shading it has helped a bit, but I'm still concerned.
My tank's got two MP10w on a 20-second alternating long pulse, positioned in the upper middle sides. The favia's out of their direct flow and gets more of a medium alternating current from the back flow.
So, I'm wondering - do favias do this when they're stressed, or is it just a normal part of acclimating to a new tank? Or am I dealing with something more serious, like a virus?
I've added some pics, and I apologize for the blue tint - it's just my lighting. The main focus is on the white balls. You can also see a brighter tone running down the middle, which I think is from the initial light stress.
Here's some more details for you coral experts.
The favia was added to my tank about a month ago, and I did a Seachem Reef Dip before introducing it, just to be safe. In terms of tankmates, I've got a tang, a lawn mower blenny, and some chromis, but none of them seem to be bothering the favia. As for nearby corals, there's an encrusting montipora just below it, a healthy Red Ball Sponge about 6 inches away, and a Raspberry Stylophora also 6 inches away - none of them are showing any signs of stress.
The gut showing started on the side closest to the sponge, about 3 weeks ago, around the same time the favia started showing some color stress from the lights. Shading it has helped a bit, but I'm still concerned.
My tank's got two MP10w on a 20-second alternating long pulse, positioned in the upper middle sides. The favia's out of their direct flow and gets more of a medium alternating current from the back flow.
So, I'm wondering - do favias do this when they're stressed, or is it just a normal part of acclimating to a new tank? Or am I dealing with something more serious, like a virus?
I've added some pics, and I apologize for the blue tint - it's just my lighting. The main focus is on the white balls. You can also see a brighter tone running down the middle, which I think is from the initial light stress.
Re: Favia coral displaying mesenterial filaments from its mouth
I finally got around to testing my alkalinity levels, and I'm not exactly thrilled with the results. The test kit itself is a bit of a pain to use, to be honest - I find it tough to match the color. That being said, it looks like my Alk levels are coming in around 2.2, possibly even as high as 2.6 if I'm not reading it correctly. The color seems to lean more towards blue than yellow, which is making it harder for me to get an accurate reading.
Re: Favia coral displaying mesenterial filaments from its mouth
Just got the results from some additional tests. Magnesium is at 1020 ppm and calcium is at 415 ppm. Now I'm going to try using my more accurate alkalinity test kit to get a better reading on that.
Re: Favia coral displaying mesenterial filaments from its mouth
Just got my more accurate Alk test results, and it looks like I'm sitting at 6.0, which is pretty low. I'm thinking I need to dig deeper into this. The first test kit I had was a budget-friendly one, and 2.2 was roughly in the middle of their "okay" zone. The second test kit usually shows readings in the 7-8.5 range, so I'm a bit off. Guess I've got some research to do.
Re: Favia coral displaying mesenterial filaments from its mouth
I'd definitely recommend bumping up those ALK and Mg levels. I recall having a similar issue with my prism brain when my Ca and Mg dropped due to a dosing problem - but that was just a coloration thing and it's recovering now.
A few thoughts to consider: could it be food regurgitation or waste? That usually blows away with a few squirts of a turkey baster. I'm also going to take a wild guess here - what if it's the start of a spawning event? The objects looked kinda round to me, so I thought I'd throw that out there. Just not sure, but might be worth looking into. I didn't see any signs of decline like tissue recession or bleaching, so I agree that a dip probably isn't necessary unless you suspect parasites. Keep us posted on this, as I don't think this is a common condition.
A few thoughts to consider: could it be food regurgitation or waste? That usually blows away with a few squirts of a turkey baster. I'm also going to take a wild guess here - what if it's the start of a spawning event? The objects looked kinda round to me, so I thought I'd throw that out there. Just not sure, but might be worth looking into. I didn't see any signs of decline like tissue recession or bleaching, so I agree that a dip probably isn't necessary unless you suspect parasites. Keep us posted on this, as I don't think this is a common condition.
Re: Favia coral displaying mesenterial filaments from its mouth
Thanks for the input, I did think about it being waste and actually gave it a couple gentle puffs with the turkey baster yesterday - pretty sure it's attached to the coral. Today, the little balls seem smaller so I'm hoping the shade, along with the Mg and a tiny dose of Baking Soda, is making a difference. Planning a single bucket water change tonight and will recheck my PH, Alk, and Mg levels tomorrow to see how things are going.
Re: Favia coral displaying mesenterial filaments from its mouth
Those mesenterial filaments are definitely not waste - it's like the coral is puking its guts out. I think it's safe to say this isn't a normal acclimation thing, but rather stress from something in your tank. I'm no expert, but I've never seen stress from lighting cause this type of response. It seems more likely to be something chemical.
The timing of when you got the coral and when this started happening is interesting. You got the coral 4 weeks ago, and it started doing this about 3 weeks ago. I'd bet something in your tank is stressing it out.
I have to ask, is that Stylophora upstream from the Favia? Is the current in your tank flowing from the Stylophora to the Favia? If so, maybe try moving it away from the Stylo and see if that helps. I've read that Stylophoras can be one of the more aleopathic corals, using chemical means to protect themselves. It's possible it's throwing off some kind of chemical that's flowing across the Favia.
I don't think it's a virus or bacteria thing. I think it's more that the coral doesn't like the water parameters. Your magnesium levels are definitely off - you might want to aim for around 3 times your calcium reading. The alkalinity level of 6.0 dKH is low, but I'm not sure that's the main issue here.
I'm not sure about sponges, but I know some of them can be pretty aggressive when it comes to chemicals. That sponge is pretty close to the Favia, so maybe it's worth considering.
The timing of when you got the coral and when this started happening is interesting. You got the coral 4 weeks ago, and it started doing this about 3 weeks ago. I'd bet something in your tank is stressing it out.
I have to ask, is that Stylophora upstream from the Favia? Is the current in your tank flowing from the Stylophora to the Favia? If so, maybe try moving it away from the Stylo and see if that helps. I've read that Stylophoras can be one of the more aleopathic corals, using chemical means to protect themselves. It's possible it's throwing off some kind of chemical that's flowing across the Favia.
I don't think it's a virus or bacteria thing. I think it's more that the coral doesn't like the water parameters. Your magnesium levels are definitely off - you might want to aim for around 3 times your calcium reading. The alkalinity level of 6.0 dKH is low, but I'm not sure that's the main issue here.
I'm not sure about sponges, but I know some of them can be pretty aggressive when it comes to chemicals. That sponge is pretty close to the Favia, so maybe it's worth considering.
Re: Favia coral displaying mesenterial filaments from its mouth
I'll keep working on getting my Mg levels up to par. Watching the current, it seems like it's mostly downstream from the Stylo, but the side of the Favia facing the Stylo isn't showing any issues. One thing I did notice while observing the tank is that the particles were moving by a bit faster than I initially thought. I ended up moving the MP10 on that side forward about an inch to slow things down in the back. For now, I think that's all I want to try for the next day or two, just to let things settle and adjust. I'll follow up with the results later for anyone else who might be dealing with a similar issue.