Identifying a small brown hairy growth on fungia plate coral
Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2022 7:02 pm
I'm new to nano-reefing and I picked up an established 14G biocube a few months ago. The stock lighting is still in use. Parameters are all good except for those pesky nitrates - they've been high, but thankfully they're slowly coming down from 100 to around 20 now.
Before I knew better, I took the LFS's word for it that super high nitrates wouldn't be an issue for my fungia coral. I really like this coral, and they said it was a good choice. In hindsight, I should've done more research before buying - I thought they knew their stuff and wouldn't sell me sick coral.
The fungia is about 4 inches across, with pink and brown coloring and some white areas that seemed like part of the coloring. There was this dark brown nodular growth near the mouth when I got it, but it otherwise looked healthy to me. It's actually been doing pretty well - expanding, tentacles out, and eating like a champ.
However, there are a couple of things that are worrying me. First, those white colorings are getting more abundant, and I'm concerned about whether it's from over- or under-exposure to the lights. I just can't seem to get a clear answer on whether my lighting would cause one or the other.
Second, that growth near the mouth has changed into this brown, hairy thing (check the pics below - you can see how it's growing up from the focal point to the left of the mouth). This started changing about three days ago, right after I got a tubastrea and started feeding it daily. Then I started feeding the fungia every two days since food was readily available.
I've googled every possible description of this growth, but nothing seems to match. I'm not sure if I should try to remove it, do some kind of dip, or just keep an eye on it. The problem is, it's getting bigger every day. On the bright side, the coral seems completely unbothered by it and is still swelling, feeding, and extending its tentacles. I'm just not sure what to do. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Before I knew better, I took the LFS's word for it that super high nitrates wouldn't be an issue for my fungia coral. I really like this coral, and they said it was a good choice. In hindsight, I should've done more research before buying - I thought they knew their stuff and wouldn't sell me sick coral.
The fungia is about 4 inches across, with pink and brown coloring and some white areas that seemed like part of the coloring. There was this dark brown nodular growth near the mouth when I got it, but it otherwise looked healthy to me. It's actually been doing pretty well - expanding, tentacles out, and eating like a champ.
However, there are a couple of things that are worrying me. First, those white colorings are getting more abundant, and I'm concerned about whether it's from over- or under-exposure to the lights. I just can't seem to get a clear answer on whether my lighting would cause one or the other.
Second, that growth near the mouth has changed into this brown, hairy thing (check the pics below - you can see how it's growing up from the focal point to the left of the mouth). This started changing about three days ago, right after I got a tubastrea and started feeding it daily. Then I started feeding the fungia every two days since food was readily available.
I've googled every possible description of this growth, but nothing seems to match. I'm not sure if I should try to remove it, do some kind of dip, or just keep an eye on it. The problem is, it's getting bigger every day. On the bright side, the coral seems completely unbothered by it and is still swelling, feeding, and extending its tentacles. I'm just not sure what to do. Any input would be greatly appreciated.