Damaged plate coral

[0rangeFish]

My short tentical plate has been looking terrible for two months now. Unfortunately he flipped upside down while I was away and lost flesh on his side and top. This was about a month ago. His flesh still hasn't grown back and now algae is on his skeleton. He is starting to lose more flesh all around his base and underside and is always completely deflated. I didn't know what to do to promote his health. I do have 15 nitrates in my tank but it's always been this way even when the plate was happy. I have other lps and sps in the tank and they are doing great. The plate is on a flat rock that's on the sand bed (on the rock to keep sand off him more) and is in low flow. Any suggestions to help him out?

 

[rt67ghy]

A picture would help. In the meantime you could give it an iodine dip.

 

[A1t2o]

More water changes and nutrient export to get the nitrates down. You want to get rid of the algae on the skeleton ASAP. Manual removal for most low nutrients for the rest. Iodine dip is good too like mentioned above. Try placing a little food in the mouth once in a while, it is going to take energy for the plate to heal itself, but do not overfeed.

Check the tank at night with a red light to see if there are any pests going after it. If you suspect a crap then place a trap.

You might be better off with the plate on the sand if you can keep the sand from getting on top of the coral. Rock can be a bit rough on the flesh. Make sure you have low enough flow for the plate. Mine has a distinct difference in the parts of it that get slightly more flow than it would want.

 

[0rangeFish]

Here's a picture of it.

 

[Scorpius]

Do you feed it? They like to be fed.