Lps receding tissue

[Mike-fish]

Well I have 2 brains one open one closed both having big issues. The open the tissue around the the rim is receding and showing about a 1/4" of the Skelton and worsening by the day. The closed the color is browning out and the mouths are fading if not dissapearing. Parmaters are as of Monday are ca at390 alk in ppm 132 and po4 0.76 no3 not checked recently will run it tomorow. I will get pics of both tomorrow night when the lights are on. Lighting is radion over the open ( white and light blue only at 100% all other at 0) over the closed brain is a 400w mh (about 6 months old) fed weekly 2-3 cubes mysis 1 cube brine and 1cube cyclops each. Are fed with a modified milk jug over them to keep fish from stealing food from them and keep any remaining hermits away. any ideas as to how to solve this???

[whatcaneyedo]

Phosphate inhibits calcification so I'd get that down to the point where hobby test kits can no longer detect it. It seems like you might have an excessive amount of light over them relative to what I provide mine. I don't trust crabs, especially when something is is receding.

[Mike-fish]

Here are the photos http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q569/mike-words/drop%20point/IMG_0672.jpghttp://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q569/mike-words/drop%20point/IMG_0674.jpghttp://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q569/mike-words/drop%20point/IMG_0673.jpg
No3 is at 1 hope this helps. I've backed off the intensity of all the lights in hope it will help as well

[Mike-fish]

Bump any more ideas and how to rescue them

[coolhandgoose]

Really wish I could help, hopefully people chime in with ideas.

The clam in the second pic looks healthy so it's bizarre the lps wouldn't be as well.
Have you tried to dip it in a mix of saltwater and peroxide to get rid of any pests or algae?

[Mike-fish]

Do you think that would help. What about coral Rx

[whatcaneyedo]

Maybe its the pictures but I don't see any problem algae. And treating them for pests wont do any good if you just put them back into your tank again afterwards. The simple solution would be to move them to a tank where similar types of coral are flourishing.

Have you begun to do anything to lower the phosphate in your tank?

Is that a mushroom coral growing on the favia? Mushroom vs favia = mushroom lives and favia dies.

[Mike-fish]

The po4 should be on the way down by now I would think. I will change out the gfo tomorow and I will dose some foz down as well. And yes that is a small shroom on the favia I will remove it tomorow as well. Would bristle worms possibly be iratating them possibly

[Myka]

PO4 would probably be the main problem since it was so high (what kits are you using btw?). Since you're using Radions and 400 watt halides, I would suspect the corals are getting way more light than they would like (your lights are more suited to SPS), but they would look bleached if they were getting too much light. So I think the PO4 is probably the culprit given the information you've provided. You could use bumping your calcium up over 400 ppm too since that would balance better with the alkalinity level you're keeping.

As a side note, I had three brain corals (a Favia, a Symph, and a Lobo) slowly recede over 2 years to the point they faded away and died. They didn't do this all at the same time, and they were all well established corals. The Favia was almost 10" across, it was the first one to start receding and was the last one to completely die. I had that coral for over 4 years. Nothing I did would stop the slow recession. The tank was chock full of other brain corals that were doing really well, so it made no sense. All my parameters were spot on too. I even moved the affected corals to a quarantine tank and tried a variety of dips and treatments over 6-12 months. I couldn't stop the recession. Besides the receding edges, the corals puffed up nicely, had great colors, and otherwise looked healthy. I put it down to an unknown disease...possibly Band Disease.

[Enigma]

What's your magnesium at? My Duncan and my first acan lost tissue when my mag was high.

[mr_alberta]

What are you nitrate levels at?

[Mike-fish]

Po4 is now down to 0.44 taken with Hanna checker
No3 as above is 1 Elos kit
Got the shroom off of there and relocated it elsewhere. I dont have a mg test kit currently although will be investing in one soon it appears.

[Mike-fish]

Just a quick update on the open brain all the tissue has "walked " off of the Skelton and split into 3-4 pieces. The one piece that's the most visalble appears to have rounded out and has a mouth on it so what's my next step for it to succeed.

[whatcaneyedo]

That sounds like polyp bailout. According to the books it happens either because of elevated phosphate inhibiting calcification or from a highly stressful environment which could be a number of things. Some people claim that the polyp can re grow a new skeleton under optimal conditions but its extremely rare. Usually they just perish at this point.