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FAQs about Mussid Coral Disease 1

FAQs on Mussid Disease: Mussid Disease 1, Mussid Health 2, Mussid Disease 3, Mussid Disease 4, Mussid Disease 5,
FAQs on Mussid Disease by Category:
Diagnosing, Environmental (Pollution/Poisoning, Lighting...), Nutritional, Social (Allelopathy), Trauma, Pathogenic (Infectious, Parasitic, Viral) Predatory/Pest, Treatments 

Related Articles: Coral Pests and Disease; pests, predators, diseases and conditions by Sara Mavinkurve, Mussid Corals

FAQs on Stony Coral Disease: Stony Coral Disease 1, Stony Coral Disease 2, Stony Coral Disease 3, Stony Coral Disease 4, Stony Coral Disease 5, Stony Coral Disease 6, Stony Coral Disease 7, Stony Coral Disease 8, Stony Coral Disease 9, Stony Coral Disease 10, Stony Coral Disease 11, Stony Coral Disease 12, Stony Coral Disease 13, Stony Coral Disease 14, Stony Coral Disease 15, Stony Coral Disease ,
FAQs on Stony Coral Disease by Category: Diagnosing: Environmental (Pollution/Poisoning, Lighting...), Nutritional, Social (Allelopathy), Trauma, Pathogenic (Infectious, Parasitic, Viral) Predatory/Pest, Treatments 
FAQs on Stony Coral Disease by Family: Acroporid Disease, Acroporid Disease 2, Acroporid Disease 3, Acroporid Disease 4..., Caryophyllid Disease, Caryophyllid Disease 2..., Elegance Coral Disease/Pests, Dendrophylliid Disease, Faviid Disease, Faviid Disease 2, Fungiid Disease, Mussid Health 2, Poritid Health, Trachyphylliid Disease, Trachyphyllia Disease 2,
FAQs on Stony Coral Disease by Type: Brown Jelly Disease,
RTN,

Cynarina question... hlth.   1/8/08 Dear Crew, <Trina> I have had the following Cynarina for about 8 months now. For the last 6 months or so, it has had this bubble that has gotten bigger over time. It got knocked over once or twice by some out of control crabs but that was months ago. Would the fall cause this "Tumor" and can anything be done to help it out? Thanks, Trina <I don't know what this is... but would try to excise it (with a sharp, single-blade instrument) outside the system. Bob Fenner>

Re: Cynarina question, hlth.   1/16/08 Thank you for your help. I did as you suggested and cut the excess tissue away. The Cynarina took the procedure remarkably well and expanded shortly after adding back to the tank. The tissue has appeared to heal, or at least be in the process, but it looks as if it is expanding again. Seems as if I am going to have to schedule the coral for biweekly surgeries!!!! Any other options? Trina <Mmm, daubing the area with Lugol's, other iodide/ate solution post trimming. Bob Fenner>

Scolymia - Septa tissue damage   2/24/06 Crew, <Jason> Thank you for providing all this great information and I will try and be both detailed and brief! I have recently purchased a Scolymia - red button which I am having some problems with. First my parameters: 50 gal system, CPR Bak-Pak skimmer, CPR 24" Refuquarium, activated carbon running in a small power filter, T5 lighting 1 Daylight and 1 Daylight/Actinic combo on a 12hr timer. Water is great with 0 nitrates, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, PH 8.1, calcium is 400. My salinity is 1.025. Additionally I have 45lbs of live rock, and 3" of live sand. I do small weekly water changes of 5 gallons. I have 1 hairy mushroom, 1 small button polyp, 1 large button polyp, and a 1 week old Scolymia. I also have a Maroon clown pair, 1 three stripe damsel, and a dwarf flame angel. Lots of snails, and some blue leg hermits. I use Mysids, zoo-plankton, pellets, Nori, DT's, Cyclops-Eeze, with periodic Selcon soak in a daily rotation. I try for a good diet variety applied lightly. My tank is 7 months old, cycled fishless for 3 months. I purchased this new addition 1 week ago at a live fish store. The creature had been at the store for several months and I drip acclimated it for 2 hrs after a temperature float. I did not add the creature to my tank before testing the shipping water and matching salinity... but I think I missed something or did a step wrong. I placed the Scolymia mid level and in moderate water flow with lots of room around it. <All sounds good/fine thus far> The night of the addition the Scolymia became mucousy... probably a form of shock and some of its septa pierced the flesh. <Very common with just-moved Mussids> Over the next week it looked better day by day, no mucus and the pierced tissue seemed to be recovering. Today and yesterday it look significantly better and was inflating its polyp/flesh. This evening however I arrived home to find that all of the septa had pierced the flesh of its mantle and the tissue had de-inflated. I have read in the archives that a few septa poking through isn't uncommon (shipping transport damage) and can probably heal. What I didn't find was the likelihood of recovery with so much of its skeleton showing and tissue damage. An additional problem is that the first two septa that broke through have an algae film on them... possibly limiting its ability to heal? <The algae are indeed a bad sign> My feeling is that this was probably caused by me during acclimation (its killing me trying to figure out what I did wrong), different salinity's LFS at 1.021 then acclimated to 1.025. <! Very different... would be a good idea for you to use a quarantine/treatment system and slowly (a 0.001 per few days) move this animal between these differences> As I have only had this previously healthy creature for a week it doesn't seem likely that its food or lighting. Nothing has changed in the tank since it arrived one week ago. So... can this creature heal with so much tissue damage? And will the algae film on septa be a cause for concern? <Yes and yes> Thanks so much for such a great site!! Jason <I encourage you to add Iodine... likely as Lugol's solution here, and increase circulation, aeration around this colony. Bob Fenner>

Blastomussa wellsi Troubles 2/18/06 Hello. I (as the title says) am having some troubles with a Blasto Wellsi I recently purchased. I bought it about a week ago and placed it in the bottom of the tank in low flow and low light. For the first few days, it opened fully and looked great. But then on about the third day, it didn't open completely. Day by day, it's been opening less and less. I wouldn't be worried so much about it, but this is the exact say way my last Blasto Wellsi colony died last fall. I was never able to figure out then why it died and finally decided it was probably caused by something that happened before I bought it. Now I'm not so sure. I have since lifted it up on to a small piece of pvc in the corner to keep it away from the hermit crabs (they have a knack for annoying new corals sometimes). <In addition to hermits, do consider your fish, especially pygmy and dwarf angels and blennies.  You may have to observe very carefully to notice them picking at the coral.  Also, in my experience, these corals are very sensitive to water quality especially those parameters that can't be measured, like the noxious defensive chemicals of other corals.> The lighting is two 96W PC 12 hours a day on a 45 gallon tank. It's been set up for about a year now. As for water conditions, they're fine (78 degrees; S.G. 1.025; 0 Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate; Calcium 430) as they have always been, and no other corals (including many zoos and Shrooms, a few LPS and SPS, and some rather large softies) are showing any signs of trouble. <What about alkalinity?  Without proper alkalinity, calcium is unusable to corals.  Also, Zoanthids, mushrooms and softies are all good candidates to produce harmful allelopathic chemicals that my be harming the Blastomussa.> Nothing has been done since I received the coral that would change water clarity (water changes, cover glass cleaning, new bulbs, carbon, etc.). I think that's all the info I can offer.  Thank you, Kevin <You can try running some carbon to help reduce the defensive chemicals from the other corals and please do measure alkalinity regularly and correct if low.  Hope this helps.  Best regards.  AdamC.>

Coral Healing & Book, V2 Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 Bob and Anthony: I thought you might find this picture interesting. It shows both the damage that Aiptasia can cause and the power of a coral to heal. This Blastomussa achieved this amount of healing within 4 weeks of me killing the Aiptasia that made the hole. I used 3 ml.s of vinegar injected with a 20-gauge needle. Also, Zo is vacationing in Utah. I happened to be home last weekend, so we got together for lunch on Sunday. It was great to meet him and we had a pleasant and interesting conversation. That and a recent WWM query led me to wonder how the second book is coming. Any projections on publication? Steve <Thanks for sending this along Steve... the work progresses, though inexorably slowly. B>


Candy Cane Coral 3/8/04 Hi Bob, <Anthony Calfo in his stead> Thanks for the help with the candy cane coral so far.  I have searched the web and the FAQs for... too long.  I am meeting with a man tomorrow about purchasing a candy cane coral.  I noticed that the color is usually a brown or a green.  I am concerned when I met with this guy that I will not know whether it is healthy or not.  Could you please give me some pointers as to color, and basic appearance so that I get a healthy specimen. <it's tough to summarize in the brevity of an e-mail. Obvious factors to look for would be any recession of tissue, exposed corallum ("skeleton"), excessive mucus. But before you buy any coral without knowing how to assess health, please, please, please invest in a good book or two. John Tullock, Eric Borneman and, if I may say so, my works on corals are easy to read, popular and informative. For corals with pictures... I can recommend Eric B's "Aquarium Corals" as your first choice. Please make the responsible choice and do not buy any animal without knowing how to care for it first. Caulastrea (candy cane coral) is fairly hardy and easy to keep, but requires feeding weekly or more often, and will not acclimate easily to very bright halide light> Thank you very much, Todd Hawman I should have included a picture of what was posted on the net by the seller. http://www.buysell.com/bestoffer/viewoffer.asp?id=26121043 this is the address to the picture he provides....not sure if it is actually his.  Please help!!   <the picture/coral is odd... appears to be healthy, but the polyps have an inflated look. May simply be a photo soon after a feeding> Also if this is a healthy coral... should I start acclimation (in terms of lighting) very near the bottom on rock??  I have a 90 gallon tank... 24" deep and have a 4 foot 32 watt fluorescent light.  Thank you very much. Todd Hawman <keep this coral in the top 1/3 of your tank. Fluorescent lights may be good quality but they are weak (unable to penetrate water at depth). I do have an article here on WWM specifically on "acclimating symbiotic reef invertebrates" to new lights. Do seek it (use the Google search tool at the bottom of the index/home page). Best of luck, Anthony>

Maze Brain Coral Hi I have what I think is a maze brain coral I've had for a few weeks that seems happy in my one month old tank opens at night closes during day apart from opening some parts every now and then in daylight. It originally had some small crustacean things living in holes in it  which didn't bother it at all but they died recently either due to low pH (7.5) or high spec grav (1.029) which I have now fixed, or lack of whatever they eat in the ocean and one of the vacant areas now has what looks like a spider web over it with a funnel area the creatures were removed as they died. What could this be, will it harm my coral and should I do anything about it? << I tend to leave things in for two reasons.  One is laziness, as I just let my tank grow as it may.  The second is because I like to see natural tanks be.... well... natural.  I like letting them take their course and balance themselves out. >>I use natural sea water from the area my inhabitants come from. << That is convenient. >> And what, how often should I feed my coral? << Good question.  Those corals can be directly fed, and I would recommend doing so once every couple of weeks. >>I know nothing and live in the country where there is very little information or product available to me. << I wouldn't worry yet, but just keep watching it.  If the coral tissue starts to recede, then I would suggest fragging what remains.  If it stays the same or starts to grow, then I wouldn't stress it with fragging for a while.>> <<  Adam Blundell  >>

Saving Lobophyllia (not Silverman) 10/3/04 I hope all is well with you today.   <and with hope for you in kind> I do need some help in saving my Lobophyllia.  My flame angel was nipping at it continuously and causing it to recede to not much more than a skeleton.  Since I have a 180g tank with much live rock, catching the flame angel was nearly impossible until I recently moved and had to drain the tank.  Since that time the Lobophyllia has expanded from about 2.5' in diameter to over 7'! Just when I thought all was perfect (for over a month), now my purple tang has apparently grown to love the taste of the Lobophyllia.   <heehee...> The coral has once again deflated to a little more than a skeleton.  I really like the purple tang and prefer to leave it in the tank (not to mention I do not plan to drain 180 gallons of water again!).  Is there anything that can be done to stop the tang from nipping at the Lobophyllia and to keep the both healthy in the same tank? --Greg <nothing at all... really, short of separation. Its a compatibility problem that cannot be conquered by extra feedings, etc. Do consider placing the coral in a small inline refugium instead - perhaps the best of both worlds. Anthony>

Lobophyllia tissue recession 3/31/05 Hello, I have a Lobophyllia spp. For 2 months and never has been very healthy, firstly started with a small body reduction in the upper part (it was inclined in the aquarium) so I moved it down. But 2 weeks ago it started to have a severe body depletion, I have read different articles about corals, bleaching etc and I would like to know if I should move it down a bit more or any other tip. Thanks very much.  <"Tissue recession" is the most common term for this. Bleaching refers to the loss of Zooxanthellae (symbiotic algae) and color from otherwise normal healthy tissue. Lobophyllia is quite adaptable to different lighting conditions, but in my experience it is quite sensitive to water quality and the defensive chemicals produced by other corals. I would suggest thoroughly testing your water and making sure the following parameters are in the proper range: pH 8.0-8.4, Alkalinity 2.75-4.0 mEq (9-12 dKH), Salinity 1.025, Calcium 350-450, temp 79-82. If you have soft corals (especially leathers or mushrooms), it would be a good idea to run small amounts of carbon and change it weekly and perform 20% monthly water changes. Best Regards! AdamC.>

Cynarina looks sad Bob I enjoyed hearing you at the MARS meeting and watching your slide show a few months back in Sacramento. I wanted to ask you about a Cynarina, I think his common name is a button coral, I purchased in July. He seems to be slowly shrinking. He still fills up and expands but not as big as he used to.  <Why do you think this is so?> I have him placed near the top of the aquarium with MH and power compacts. Not a lot of water movement there. My water tests are good. Calcium at 455 DKH 9 and 0 ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I was told he only needs light.  <You know there is more to this> But then I read they do put out feeder tentacles to trap food. I have never seen this. I only feed the tank frozen brine shrimp and flake food for the fish. The only other corals are a Colt and Green Star Polyps. Is his problem food related and should I be feeding the tank something additionally for the corals?  <Yes> I also read he is a low light coral so I thought about moving him but I didn't want to make matters worse either. Any suggestions would be appreciated Thanks Jim Uptegrove <Do look about more... and try other foods/feeding moda... these are "planktivorous" species to a large/r degree. Bob Fenner>

Problem with Lobophyllia Dear Bob, As always, thanks so much for this great site. I have another question that I'm sure you can answer. <I will try> Last Tuesday, I received my order of a Lobophyllia hemprichii (red brain coral) and a Euphyllia glabrescens (torch coral) from a dealer that is well known and, supposedly, very well respected in the trade. When I removed the torch coral from its bag, I could see nothing but the white skeleton and a few places where the polyps were supposed to extend. After two days of waiting, as instructed by the dealer, the polyps never came out and they just became shriveled and died. That must have been RTN. <Maybe> As for the brain, it has not died, but I am very concerned about it. When I first received it, I placed it in the bottom of my 90-gallon tank and even shaded it from the VHO lighting for some time. The coral opened some during the day, but when it retracted, a large part of the skeleton was exposed. In fact, the "spines" show when the coral is contracted. <This happens with new specimens> According to our research, the coral should be of such a size that no part of the skeleton should ever show and that the whole coral should look more robust. The coral we received looks so "thin". When it's expanded, there are pinpoint places that are depressed; and the flesh looks "corroded". The color is rust red now; it may have been darker and lost some of it's color, but that is hard to determine. At times, the coral would expand when the main aquarium pump was turned off, while at other times it would expand when the pump was turned on. The coral gives off this rust-colored cloud when the pumps are turned off. This morning it looked better; however, when I turned off the main pump it retracted and gave off its rust-colored matter. The dealer says in their literature that this coral would "slough off" some when first introduced, but it seems to be sloughing off its flesh and deteriorating. The aquarium is a 90-gallon reef with all parameters at or near perfect reef readings. We have a 30-gallon sump, Turboflotor skimmer, Aqua UV sterilizer, and a water turnover rate of about 10 times per hour. Other inhabitants look great. There is not a heavy bio-load as there is just a purple tang, a peppermint shrimp, some mushrooms, a purple blade, some snails, and a few scarlet hermit crabs, and three sand sifting starfish. All water is purified by Kold Steril. I added vitamin C and some trace elements (Vital Gold) by Thiel, along with Coral Vital by Marc Weiss. Any thoughts? Thanks for any help you can give. Regards, Michael Rivera <Per the descriptions of both newly arrived specimens, it does seem like they were either "in the bag" too long, or suffered some other sort of shipping insult (chilled, overheated... delayed in transit...). At any length, you can just wait at this point and hope that they will regenerate. Nothing in your description points to a difficulty in your system or handling... Bob Fenner>

Bubbles in my Brain!!! (air trapped in coral tissue) 4/19/03 ok.. I attached a photo, but this morning is the first time I've seen this occur on my Lobophyllia.. it looks almost as if there are air bubbles inside the flesh of the brain coral.. <there are several possible reasons for this not entirely uncommon occurrence. In the safest/simplest circumstance... some corals simply "eat" air bubbles (or are fed it trapped in food). As strange as it might sounds... the deliberate ingestion is done by some of the more heavily mucous species for the purpose of capturing food and elements such as proteins that are attracted to the air bubbles (Yes... indeed like the organics "stuck" to air bubbles in protein skimmers). In these cases though... the tiny air bubbles are easily purged. When they are large and apparent as in your case here... it leads me to believe one of two things... forced ingestion of an inappropriate food (freeze dried foods for example... that have much air trapped inside)... or stress. The former is self-explanatory... and the coral is likely to expel it in time, although you don't want to make that a habit! In the case of a stress induced symptom here... there are a few things it could be... and neither are good. The first is over stimulation (over-driving/photoinhibition) of corals by light that is too much or on too long (for this species if only in the tank). New bulbs, cleaned lamps, improved water clarity (carbon used after an absence), etc... all are things that improve or increase the quality of light and cause the Zooxanthellae to work overtime to the extent that they produce oxygen inside Cnidarian tissue that cannot be processed fast enough. The other possibility is supersaturation of the water with oxygen by a leak in the plumbing (causing the aspiration of air to super-sat-levels)... OR... the inappropriate addition of hot water to cool water (during a water change or evap top off) to make "warm" water which drives the O2 out of solution quickly (the reverse of super-saturation). This can occur right within the corals tissue just like divers that get the "bends" from nitrogen. Not good at any rate.> it's been fine up until now and the only thing that is changed is that I fed it chunks of krill last night before I went to bed.    <no worries unless the krill was freeze dried or any food that floats that world indicate trapped air> is this something I should worry about? or take caution of? <perhaps... do consider the above possibilities and why it may have occurred> another thing I was wondering was that I have a large toadstool leather that stopped opening during the day... I've noticed polyp extension at night about an hour after the lights go off, but other than that it fully expands during the day.. just that there's no polyp extension. <interesting... generally not a big deal (they do not feed organismally with their tiny polyps by much. However... in light of the Lobo's symptoms... the polyps shutting down early does indicate a possible lighting problem. Are you one of those kooks using 400 watt halides on a 20 gallon aquarium <G>? Perhaps have your lights on too long (over 8-10 hours on MH... or over 12-14 on fluorescents). Perhaps changed to brand new bulbs recently? Hmmmm... many possibilities here.> I'd really appreciate any information. Jonathan <best regards, Anthony>

Air Bubbles in Coral Tissues ("Bubbles in my Brain") 4/19/03 thanks for the response.. it makes sense on the light stimulation... he had just been recently moved to a higher point in the tank.. but has since been moved into another tank in which his air bubble situation returned to normal.. <ahhh, yes... very plausible and consistent with our theory. Great to hear that your brain is not so gassy <G>. FWIW... corals that express such symptoms (air bubbles from excess light as with sudden move to higher point) can in fact acclimate to the new higher position in time... they just need to be acclimated slower to prevent the air bubbles from forming. Use the screen method (suggested in my articles here on WWM and beyond) to adjust the coral to brighter light over a period of a couple weeks> and I almost forgot to add.. I LOVE your coral propagation book.. the wealth of information is priceless and I've been looking for a book exactly like this for years. Jonathan <thanks kindly, my friend! Best of luck to you in your endeavors. Anthony>

-Scolymia showing teeth!- Dear Bob, <Kevin here in his stead> I have had a Scolymia for about 2 months. It feeds nicely -almost every other day on bits of lancefish nicely soaked in Selcon and ZoĆ«. Originally it didn't have any 'toothy' extensions or they were all entirely  covered by the flesh. I have noticed that now one or two protrude. <Likely from some sort of light damage> It inflates nicely and eats avidly, if slowly -about 25 minutes- what I provide. <That's a good sign> It is in good light, slight water motion and no nasty neighbors that would sting. I was a bit worried that the toothy extensions through the flesh my signal some kind of unhappiness or decay. <The toothy extensions are it's septa which have pierced the flesh somehow, likely from some sort of light trauma. If it does not become infected at the spot where the flesh has torn, it should heal nicely. The only problem with the septa sticking out is the possibility for an encroaching algae to develop and push the tissue back further. Keep an eye out for this.> I like it very much and it is a coral now no longer imported in the UK <Really?! Why is this?> so I am especially keen to see it do well. Am I worrying too much? or is there something wrong? Thanks for all the help on your fab site. <Good luck! -Kevin> Massimo

Unhappy Symphyllia 12/31/03 I purchased a beautiful Symphyllia about a week and a half ago and it is not happy in my system.   <it really does not look bad in the pic... just irritated as evidenced by the issue of defensive filaments> It is mounted somewhat vertically in the bottom of my tank (75 gallon with 260 watts PC lighting).   <the lighting is not worry here... Symphyllia are adaptable to lower light and require heavy (almost daily) feedings regardless of lighting (they are not sustained adequately by photosynthesis)> There is some white recession on the top edge and the bottom of the coral has exuded it's digestive system in what appears to be small round tan bumps.  I have enclosed a pic that was taken after a Lugol's dip.  The little strings that are in the pic appeared after the dip but are now gone.   <ahhh... no worries then. The recession may simply have been due to mishandling prior to your purchase. It simply needs time to heal. Do not move this coral around (or any.. very stressful). Put it in a good place and simply let it adjust for some weeks. Keep it at a safe distance from other corals too to allow for growth> It does not extend it's feeding tentacles at night and has not eaten since I got it.  I've had it in 3 different locations in the tank and this makes no difference.   <yikes! this is a surefire way to stress if not kill a coral. No wonder its not eating either. The movement drains significant biological energies> I have read that it can be sensitive to Xenia and I do have some in the tank.   <I seriously doubt that. In fact... I'm nearly sure of it. Xeniids are one of the most weakly noxious/aggressive of all soft corals.> It is approximately a foot away from it.  The only corals in close proximity are a fox coral, red open brain and cup.   <"close" needs to be defined here... but I'll say at least 10" distance needs to be between corals minimum... and further for aggressive species> I'm really worried about it dying on me.  All of my other corals are doing great.....it's the first coral I've bought that is not.   <more patience are needed here mate> Other corals are Anthelia (about 2 feet away) some mushroom anemones (about 2 feet away), and a frogspawn (about 8 inches away).   <the frogspawn is a serious and present threat... way too close for this extremely aggressive coral (they do not need to touch... noxious exudations> I have an Emperor 280, Emperor 400 and a Remora Pro skimmer on the tank.  Calcium is running 400, alk 10.2, nitrates are 2, no ammonia or nitrites.  I have changed the cartridges in the filters so there is fresh carbon running.  What else can I do to help this beautiful coral?  Thanks for you time in answering...... Janey <give it time and do have a long term plan for the tank. DO not overstock and please allow room for growth, assuming you hope this unnatural mix of corals will live long term for you. Best of luck, Anthony>

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