RAR...what is it?

[mr_X]

i'm talking about acan lordhowensis, and how you can purchase a completely healthy colony, put it in your tank, and it does well. it eats, it's fully inflated, it looks beautiful. then all of the sudden, it starts rapidly receding, and gives you no explanation why.

i have named this RAR- rapid acan recession.

this has happened to me and it's happened to other reefers.

my acan was a large colony that i purchased from a local store. it was very healthy there, and was also very healthy in my system for a couple months. i fragged it a few times and sold a few pieces which are still doing well in other people's tanks.

the location of this colony was right in the middle of a whole bunch of other colonies i have. none of those pieces show any signs of distress.

suddenly, it started shriveling up. if appeared very flat, and would not expose it's feeding tentacles at night. mouths gaped open a bit as well.
then each day, more and more pure white skeleton was exposed, until it was completely gone.

i have also sent pieces of colonies that are still doing well in my tank, to other reefers, who ran into the same mass recession.
unfortunately, i didn't record this with photos. i will if it happens again.

does anyone have insight about this?

 

[Anonymous]

Ben posted something in Louey's thread that might be relevant.

From what Ive heard if they die and have a pink skeleton left its a bacterial infection that has been attacking these acans coming in. My LFS guy told me his distributor will get one in his tank with this type of infection and it can spread to his whole group of acans in that same system. This can cause them all to be infected and die off over several months, after they have been sold to the dealer and onto the aquarist. He told me how to treat this too but I cant remember the dip he mentioned, it wasnt anything standard...some chemical. Usually if you see them receeding back and leaving this color on the dead skeleton you need to frag back a few polyps deep to prevent it killing the whole colony, or get it treated.

 

[mr_X]

hmm. i don't think this is the same thing i am talking about. this particular issue will only wipe out the colony in question. all surrounding colonies, even ones that are touching, are fine. also, the skeleton will be pure white, not pink.
thanks for the reply though.

 

[Anonymous]

Allelopathy, perhaps?

 

[mr_X]

Allelopathy, perhaps?

from another acan? my colony was surrounded by other acans.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, why not? It's known to happen with some particular plants I'm growing and is well documented (only if sharing the same dirt, not potted). They are the very same species as well, yet battle each other.

 

[Ben1]

The other recent concern with Aussie acans is the black bugs. They have been coming in on Aussie shipments and consuming LPS, causing further problems. The treatment being giving similair to red bugs is interceptor.

 

[Anonymous]

The other recent concern with Aussie acans is the black bugs. They have been coming in on Aussie shipments and consuming LPS, causing further problems. The treatment being giving similair to red bugs is interceptor.

Got any pics or links?

 

[mr_X]

hmm. interesting for sure.
i'd like to add that after this particular colony started receding, i fragged it up and put it in different locations in my system. different tanks, different lighting. it all perished at the same pace.

 

[Ben1]

well this is the thread that got me started on it,,

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... genumber=1

Somewhere on RC someone posted some pics but I cant find them ATM.

 

[mr_X]

here is a pic of the acan after it started deflating-

 

[mr_X]

also- i have colonies that have no signs of any sort of stress, that i fragged recently. the frags stayed in my system a week before i mailed them out. they seemed to do well for 3 days or so in the new owners' tanks, and then had the same symptoms. one was completely lost, and the other came back after feeding it with "restor"
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~ ... 01054.html

these might have been 2...even 3 different stressors entirely, but i thought i'd mention it.

the "restor" user had the frag out in direct light and i had it in a shaded area. this might have been the fix for him. not the restor.
the other guy, i'm not sure about.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow, shades of the mystery elegance disease!