Loosing large SPS colonies
 

Had a great run from Sept till April. Lots of growth to the point I sold and culled a bunch of unwanted colonies.

Since spring I've lost two mature, large colonies (valida and red convexa). I've had both for 4 years and have been through heat waves and less than ideal conditions. Now a third colony (blue turaki) is looking stressed and time will tell if it makes it. All parameters have been stable.

My gut instinct is that this is due to temperature swings as my tank got up to 84 degrees 3-4 weeks ago as the weather changed. But this happens every spring and the corals have always been fine. Any ideas?

My 150 swung from 79 to 89 most days during summer, never affected corals other than browning a bit. I suppose it depends on the species, but I wouldn't expect that this year vs last.

Checked for AEFW?

I'd check for flatworms. I recently bought some acro that had flatworms and it infected my tank. My acro's starting dying one by one and I couldn't figure it out until I took one out and dipped it and hundreds fell off. They are invisable when in your tank so you'd never know unless you dip.

These colonies can no longer be removed from the tank. None of my acro's can be :(

It could be AEFW. Interesting cause 2 months ago my melanarius wrasse passed away and then a month later I start loosing colonies. Thinking maybe the wrasse was keeping the AEFW in check. Maybe?

But then AEFW usually kill from the base up. My acro's are dying from the tip and receding to the base in all 3 affected colonies.

When I had them, the colonies would just start loosing color, then tissue. Cut a branch and dip it, see if anything comes off.

I've actually never seen a AEFW. What do I look for after dipping? I know they are clear or translucent but how do you'd identify them if they are almost invisible?

Google AEFW and hit images

And that wasn't meant to be rude , I could post a pic for you , but if you google it you'll find dozens of different pics in seconds that will not only show what they look like , but also what the bite marks and eggs look like as well.

Not rude at all. I ve seen pictures.

What I meant was what type of dish, color ect works best to see the clear AEFW. A white dish, or coloured dipping container?

Or am I over thinking this?