melev

Many years ago, I had an SPS die in my 29g reef. I was told that it likely died due to boring algae. Unsure what they meant by that, I asked for a little more information since the coral never had any type of algae on it while it was alive. I was told that the skeleton being green was an indication that a type of algae was within the skeleton itself, that it had bored its way into the coral and weakened the living tissue. The most common cases of boring algae are when a system has very high phosphate levels for an extended period of time.

I've not seen it in years, but this week a piece of my Unknown Acropora died and revealed green skeleton. It's surprising, actually. I've had other corals die in this tank, like the birdsnest colony. It was bone white upon death. Here are a couple of pictures, without any funky photoshop adjustments.