acro help

[Viet-Tin]

My acro seems to be receeding underneath. I just recently had another colony rtn on me has it spread to this colony too? Is there anything I can do to save this piece? My water quality is all good flow is provided by a tunze 6080 and a seio 820. Lighting consist of 2x250w mhs with 14,000k bulbs. The underside gets absolutely no light at all could that be a factor as well? Please help

[hobogato]

the only thing ive ever done to save acro's is frag off the good part. sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. if you do that, just be sure you make a clean break with some big forceps or dikes and cut about 1/4" into the good part of the branch you want to save. i have seen a coupe of acros stop on their own, but not very often. there are lots of people here with lots more experience than me, so maybe someone else will chime in too. good luck!

[Viet-Tin]

my other colony didnt make it at. I did have a few frags that started but then they stopped and grew back. What causes this? My water is fine but i had a few sps frags rtn on me...this makes 3 and im starting to loose interest in sps...

[akm]

What is your temperature like. RTN and STN are very compicated and little is known so many things could be causing it.

[gjuarez]

Have you checked for red bugs? I would look closely into them just to make sure

[hobogato]

i dont know that anyone really knows. all i have ever heard is that poor flow and heat are the two main causes (todd). i have also heard that asterina stars and even urchins can cause it, even tho they are supposed to be reef safe. i had a 4-5 inch tricolor colony with an acro crab that was doing great and showing awesome polyp extension, than one day, the whole bottom started to go. i aggressively fragged every tip i coul, and now have 4 surviving tips that are less than an inch long. very frustrating.

[Viet-Tin]

my temp stays around 78-80. I got the temp under control by getting a chiller after having my tank crash due to my temp being 90. I guess sps isnt for me. Ill just have to stick to the easier stuff...

[akm]

I wouldn't give up that easily. I agree with gjuarez, check for red bugs as they are known to cause it.

[Viet-Tin]

I checked carefully and dont see any red bugs. Maybe the asterina stars? I got billions of them...GREAT looks like ill have to pluck them out. Anyway to get rid of these besides manually? Any natural predators? Thanks for the help guys

[Viet-Tin]

So should I start fraggin it now?

[Viet-Tin]

I read that harlequin shrimp eat stars will they eat asterinas?

[Viet-Tin]

oh and will they eat my brittle star fish? sorry for all the question

[akm]

The stars that you have most likely are not asterina stars, they just look similar. You want to frag usually as soon as you see it start.

[Viet-Tin]

darn...this entire time I always thought they were asterina...felipe told me to be careful darn wish I wouldve listened...

[hobogato]

harlequin shrimp will eat all kinds of stars from what ive heard. i would frag it if it were me.

[Viet-Tin]

Ill start fraggin then...darn if the shrimp eats brittles then ill have to pluck them suckers out by hand...not looking foward to that...

[hobogato]

that's what we do, we are down to one or two every week. its amazing how good you get a spotting those little buggers!

[Viet-Tin]

I shouldve known when I saw these guys around the base of my corals...hopefully these are the cause of my sps receeding...thanks for the help guys

[JeffCo]

What is your Alk, Cal, and Salinity? Have you checked these in awhile? I have had a few of my SPS rtn due to low Alk.

[Viet-Tin]

all is good. Think my problem was flow I thought I had a lot but the area where my acro was wasnt getting enough. I picked it up and quite alot of detritus blew off. Still gonna pick them stars out just to be safe. Thanks for all the help guys

[fishypets]

Viet,

If you had detritus blow off the sps that's not good. I would consider adding more flow or upgrading what you have if you want to keep sps. I would love to come over and check out your tank one day.

Clint