Acro turning white

[Red-Sea]

I have a colony of Acropora Nana the body was tan with purple tips in the past few weeks I notice it's starting to turn white from bottom up, now most of the colony is pale white but still have polyps on it so it's not bleached or skin peeling off just complete change of color even the tips are loosing color, any idea what can be wrong with it?
All other Acro's doing fine, I wish do a 20G water change this weekend, any help or suggestion is appriciated...

Tank Parameters are:
SG 1.026
CA 480
Alk 11DKH
Amonia, Nitrate 0
Phospate 0.1
Temp 78-80

This is a pic of it month ago.

[afss]

Hey Danny. Any chance you have any of those little red bugs i keep hearing about. If i remember right they tend to like acropora and the symptoms sound familiar.

Scott

[Red-Sea]

Hi Scott, it's odd that you ask that, yes I do have some red bugs on one deep water Acro colony but non on this piece or the rest just that one colony and its doing fine, it hasn't spread as of yet but they been there for 3 months I did dip it in Iodine solution but didn't help.
Any other thoughts???

[ScottM]

Hey Danny

It sounds like it could be red bugs - they have an affinity for tri-colour and less hairy polyped SPS. Red bugs in some tanks seem to have no ill affect on acros while in other tanks they can cause what looks like bleaching. Wendy and I noticed just a few weeks ago that our tank now has some red bugs though there aren't many. Our corals aren't affected at this point and after talking to a few fraggers from Southern Ontario it would seem most people with lots of acros who frag regularily have red bugs. It's a little disconcerting that some people on here who sell frags neglect to mention the presence of red bugs on their acros. It's always a good idea to ask people in depth about their stock and educate yourself on what to look for with respect to healthy corals and potential pests regardless of whether you buy privately or through local stores.

Tank conditions can exacerbate and contribute to the proliferation of red bugs - if you notice any sps that has LOTS of red bugs and is doing poorly it might be a good idea to re-check your levels to make sure everything is as it should be.

HTH's...Scott

[Duce]

What are red bugs??

[afss]

hate to link to other boards but this is a long thread discussing them http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=39956&goto=newpost

If you have them on one acro i would check very very closely that there aren't any on this one too.

Scott

[AquariumDee]

Hi Danny I have to agree with Scott M .The red bug out break is
very big in the U.S. It was introduce in to Canada by hobbist who
purchased coral in the U.S. And now the hobbist are passing it
from aquarium to aquarium, I hope it does not get to epidemic
levels. I do not take acro frag trades because we are afraid of
infecting our propagation frag aquariums.

Suggestions
----------------
1)I suggest gobies mandrin, scotter, physchedelic,
wrase, 6 line,leopard
these little critters will eat the little "red bugs"
2)Get a turkey baster, suck up the "red bugs"and dump them into
a bucket. Do this daily, inspect your corals daily for bugs.
3)feed your corals, trace elements rotifers, phyto, .If a coral is
feeding well, It's natural immune system will help fight off these
pests off.
4) Good Luck!!! remember you will bet this ,never give up!!!


Originally posted by AquariumDee
Hi Danny I have to agree with Scott M .The red bug out break is
very big in the U.S. It was introduce in to Canada by hobbist who
purchased coral in the U.S. And now the hobbist are passing it
from aquarium to aquarium, I hope it does not get to epidemic
levels. I do not take acro frag trades because we are afraid of
infecting our propagation frag aquariums.

Suggestions
----------------
1)I suggest gobies mandrin, scotter, physchedelic,
wrase, 6 line,leopard
these little critters will eat the little "red bugs"
2)Get a turkey baster, suck up the "red bugs"and dump them into
a bucket. Do this daily, inspect your corals daily for bugs.
3)feed your corals, trace elements rotifers, phyto, .If a coral is
feeding well, It's natural immune system will help fight off these
pests off.
4) Good Luck!!! remember you will bet this ,never give up!!!

[Red-Sea]

Thx guys for your input & suggestions, I took out the Nana colony for close inspection put it in a bucket with tank water & looked very closely but no bugs on it at all, I even tried in dark room with black light since these bugs are red but have lots of yellow highlights to them as well I thought maybe I can see them better with black light to no avail., and the funny thing is that like I mention above no other Acro's have them except for Bali deep water Acro I got 3 months ago from Johnny and it has been no new addition since then besides the 4 frags I got from Dayne a month ago, The Bali acro is within 2 inch of 3 different Acro's that they're not effected at all including a Tri-Color I got from you Scott.

Dee I don't have any wrasse in my tank but I do feed Plankton & Rotifer quite often, I will be going out today see if I can find a Leopard or yellow Coris wrasse, I hear these two guys are pretty good at picking up bugs as well as Monti eating Nudi's...

Thanks again to Scott MacGregor, Scott & Dee for your help & hopefully I will overcome this problem before it gets out of hand... :cheers: