I'm losing my prized Favia!!! Is it the Filefish or...?

Myka · #1 11-18-2009, 02:16 AM

I just got home from work. I am feeding the dogs, and I can hear that my skimmer is overflowing - the glug glug sound of the collection cup lid rattling. It did this yesterday too.

I empty the skimmer cup, and proceed to check out the tank as I always do...and WTF?!?!?!?!?! happened to my prized Favia?????

It looks like there is sand sprinkled on it *looks closer* no, it has random bits of flesh missing all over it. It looks like it could be bite marks??!!!

So now I'm eyeing up the Filefish I put in the tank on Saturday. His favourite corner is the same end the Favia is in.

I have been watching the Filefish (Bristletail; Acreichthys tomentosus) for almost an hour now though, and I haven't seen him peck at the Favia. He has done a few laps around the tank and pecked at the rocks a few times, but none of the corals.

2 weeks ago I mysteriously lost 1/2 of a Lobophyllia coral very suddenly over a 24 hour period even though the rest of the corals (inc SPS) in my tank look great. This happened in the 24 hours following adding a sump and skimmer to the tank. This was also before the Filefish came to the tank.

Taking that into consideration, and also the fact that my skimmer has overflowed two days in a row has me wondering if it's not something to do with my water, and maybe my Favia is the next to go!!

It really does look like bite marks, although the Favia is shrunken up...could just be from the stress of the bites? Maybe the skimmer overflowed because the Favia is putting out chemicals because it is stressed (from bites maybe?) ?? Maybe the skimmer is overflowing because something bad is going on I can't see?

I am just about to do a 10% water change.

Any ideas???

SeaHorse_Fanatic · #2 11-18-2009, 02:55 AM

Filefish are coral eaters if I'm not mistaken. "Obligatory coral feeder" is how some reef sources describe filefish.

fishytime · #3 11-18-2009, 03:25 AM

They do kinda look like bite marks....You probably know, but lps are really susceptible to infections...keep an eye on it and if it were me I would dip it....I would also stand vigil by the tank and see if it is the Filefish....hopefully he's not the culprit....I know what its like to have a fish that is a coral muncher

Delphinus · #4 11-18-2009, 03:30 AM

Tomentosus isn't an "obligatory" coral feeder, you're thinking of that brightly coloured one. But he may not be innocent here.

It's hard to say: the timing sure is suspect here. Can you put the coral in the sump and see what happens? Or the fish?

fishytime · #5 11-18-2009, 03:31 AM

You could try placing a strawberry type basket over it too

Myka · #6 11-18-2009, 12:35 PM

Thanks for the help guys!

Crappy thing is that I'm working 12 hour days right now, so I don't have any time to watch the Filefish.

This particular Filefish is supposed to be fairly reef-safe usually going after anemones if anything. It is definitely suspect, but I haven't seen him do it! Grr...

My sump isn't a safe place for fish because neither of my pumps (skimmer and return) have any protection on the intakes. I should look into that for situations just like this...

Good call on dipping. All I have is TMCC though, and I haven't found that LPS do well with an iodine based dip. What do you think Doug?

When I did the water change lastnight I moved the Favia over between the (3) Jawfish burrows hoping that if it is the Filefish that the Jawfish may (unknowingly) protect it.

I'm not quite giving the whole story here either though...it's kinda long. So there are other reasons to suspect the water, and not just the Filefish. I recently started using carbon and Zeolites on the tank too. My tank has had a lot of changes in the last month.

fishytime · #7 11-18-2009, 01:15 PM

TMCC is what Ive been using for my dip.....Ive never had an issue with it....I suppose it could be the change in water chemistry.....thats what I think happened when I had my little lps die-off a couple months back(I switched from pre-made Ca and Mg to dosing Randy's)... Hope you get it figured out Mindy

Myka · #8 11-19-2009, 03:31 AM

Thanks Doug.

So today upon very close inspection I notice that 6 out of my 7 brain corals are exhibiting this bite mark condition, although the Favia is by far in the worst condition.

I posted a similar thread on the Zeo forums, and a couple people (including lobsterboy from here) have reported similar conditions with their LPS when they first introduced Zeolites due to the nutrients getting lowered too quickly. They have recommended a spurt of heavy Coral Vitalizer dosing, and to hold off dosing Coral Snow until things improve.

It looks like the Filefish might be innocent! I hope so! Even though my boyfriend has named him F'ugly, F'ugly is a pretty cool fish!