Base of Millepora got partially buried by sand, now white

[Dexters Reef]

Hi,

I recently upgraded to a MP40W ES and let me say, this powerhead is awesome. So awesome, it decided to rearrange my sand bed =)

The millepora has completely encrusted its live rock base, right down to the sandbed, and after a few days of running the new powerhead some sand got moved around and ended up covering up .5" of the rear of the encrusted base. I lifted the coral and blew it off, and moved it off the sandbed and onto a rock ledge, so this cant happen again.

My concern is that the portion that got covered, has turned white. Will this spread to the rest of the coral? Will this section recover with time and good paramaters? I would HATE to lose this colony, and am trying to be proactive.

Let me know your advice, my gut said to move it higher out of the sand, and then to leave it alone.

Thank you all in advance for any advice. If you need pictures I can rotate the coral and take some.

 

[sminker]

As long as its happy in the new spot it should regrow given the base gets plenty of light and flow. If its a decent size and has very little light at the base then it will probably just stay dead in that one spot.

As colonies get larger the base is the first to go due to flow and light. Happens in natural reefs also, that's how they grow. Don't be surprised if it doesn't grow back.

 

[sminker]

As long as its happy in the new spot it should regrow given the base gets plenty of light and flow. If its a decent size and has very little light at the base then it will probably just stay dead in that one spot.

As colonies get larger the base is the first to go due to flow and light. Happens in natural reefs also, that's how they grow. Don't be surprised if it doesn't grow back.