Brown Slime killing my reef!!! HELP!!!-Coral Health-3reef Forums

Brandon1023 · 06-12-2006, 07:44 PM

Ok I am in dire need of some assistance! First my plate coral got brown slime. I did an iodine dip to no avail. It is on a steady decline and I am taking it for dead at this point.

Then my colt got it! I got a frag of it off that is doing really well, and did an iodine dip on the rest of it, but it is very pale in color, and seems to be just barely hanging on. The polyps still come out but the color is just awful! NOW MY XENIA HAS IT!!!!!!! I cut off some parts that seemed to be doing crappy and had the brown stringy stuff on it...what is at work here?!

How did this get introduced to my tank? It is just moving from coral to coral, how do I stop it?! The iodine dips are not working!! I am terrified of losing my entire reef to this. PLEASE HELP!!!!!

Or maybe its not brown slime?! It's this brown stringy stuff...like snot, that seems attached to the coral and waves about in the current. But the coral that has it does not like it one bit. I seriously feel like crying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All my time, effort, and money is quickly going down the tubes!

powdertang05 · 06-12-2006, 08:06 PM

can you take a picture of this i think ive had this in a friends tank but lots of things are brown so may not be it

Bruce · 06-12-2006, 08:07 PM

I am very sorry to hear...my colt is finally winning the battle with the slime...i had to cut away 70% though. Try to siphon off as much as you can before you cut the coral. In my opinion, based on experience, don't try to save frag that you iodine dip, it doesn't work 100%. I have tried and it always comes back. With soft corals the brown slime actually is living in the tissue i believe.

Sad to say, the only thing that i found that works is simply cutting off infected pieces...i know some people will say "DONT THROW IT AWAY SAVE IT". Well i tried and it always comes back, you can try it, but i think the same will happen to you.

KARMA TO KILL THE SLIME!

Brandon1023 · 06-12-2006, 08:17 PM

The only pic I have of it is this one of my plate, and you can barely see it. I tried outlining it in red. So Bruce, you say just trash my plate and the major part of the colt that is sick? I really was thinking about just doing that. It seems my tank will be better off in the long run. Unfortunately I didn't have a siphon going when I clipped my xenia, because I was kind of in a panic, and a lot of it just flew off in the current! God I feel sick to my stomach. My tank is really my baby and to see my corals dropping off like this, well it's really disheartening.

powdertang05 · 06-12-2006, 08:53 PM

i know how you feel but dont loose your reef fever yet ok its always seem be the worst sometimes and the best always around the corner so ive lost lots of fish and have lost lots of corals but you just keep working at it til your a pro at it trust me theirs a learning curve for all of us marine life is so hardy one moment and fragile in another. best of luck.

Bruce · 06-12-2006, 10:28 PM

Well...i would not throw away the plate...actually i cant really tell if that is the brown jelly.

here is a bad case on my colt...i had to amputate all of that.

Maybe try another iodine dip on the plate...but for soft coral just siphon it off then frag the infected part...colt and xenia are very good at coming back...my colt is already growing polyps at the cut site.

coral reefer · 06-13-2006, 02:02 AM

Sorry to hear about your loss.
I have been getting brown slime algae at times ever since I purchased my Tubastrea and Purple Gorgonian. Though not as extensive as your problem is, I would cut down on the feeding of your corals. Have you checked your water parameters lately? Are your bulbs in need of replacement(usually last around a year with pc's)? I would change my schedule for water changes to once a week of 5-10% of the total in the main tank. Try to syphon as much out of your tank as you can. Also, try using a soft bristle toothbrush to remove as much from your corals as you can. You need to remove the slime as fast and carefully as you can-it will help to save your corals. The areas that are too far gone will require amputation-but your corals will more than likely come back.
Good luck and this should help!

Brandon1023 · 06-13-2006, 04:00 AM

Well that was an older pic of the Plate. Since that pic it has just gone downhill, and was losing more and more "skin" tissue (I forget what it's called) each day. Trust me, it was dead. My colt looks about that color, but the brown stuff on it isn't near as bad. I will check my water after I get home from work, and likely do a change. My PC bulbs are only a couple months old. I feel calmer now, thanks!

amcarrig · 06-13-2006, 05:07 AM

Just wanted to clarify that brown slime and brown jelly disease are two different things. Up until now, I was under the impression that what was infecting Brandon's corals is brown jelly disease. Brown slime is usually caused by dinoflagellates, is similar to cyanobacteria and will not be "cured" by an iodine dip.

Brandon: Is this "slime" anywhere else in the tank or only on the corals that you are talking about?

Brandon1023 · 06-13-2006, 02:01 PM

Oh, yea I meant to say Brown Jelly. After I posted this I realized I put "Slime" in the title rather then "Jelly." I remember you helping me out when the Plate got it. I actually wouldn't call it a slime on the corals (when I made the post I was distraught and made that mistake). Like I said it is this brown, stringy, snot like thing that is only on the corals and nothing else (plate, colt, and now xenia). A lot like the pic Bruce posted of it on his colt, but there is a small difference. Mine seems to have more texture to it. Not totally smooth like Bruce's colt, but mostly the same looking thing.

The plate was losing more and more tissue, and I'm sorry to say I removed it from the tank. I did 2 iodine dips on it (about a 1 1/2 weeks apart) and it was just going downhill.

The colt, well it was attached to 2 rocks so I twisted the smaller rock off and got a small frag that is doing excellent. But today I am encouraged because the bigger part is looking a lot better this afternoon.

The Xenia got a good clipping when I saw the brown on it too. Lucky for me most of it was on the backside, so the front is opening up and it almost looks like nothing happened. I had to clip a little more when I got home today, too. So now there isn't any brown jelly on the Xenia. So I am definitely feeling like things are on the right track and may be improving.

I have a question though. I will be ordering a MH fixture this thursday (480 total watts - 2 175wMHs and 2 65wPCs). With the improved lighting, will that in any way assist in the corals' defense to diseases? Or their "immune" system, so to speak?