Gorgonia Covered in Coralline

[chris023]

I already put this in the' Reef Discussion' forum, but got no feedback. Thought I would drop it in here and see...

Looking for some input on what to do about a Gorgonia that is covered with coralline algae. The coral used to open its polyps all the time, recently it has not. The branches still have "flesh" on them, they are just covered with coralline. This is not easily scrubbed off, and i think it is preventing the polyps from opening. I was thinking there could be something I could soak the coral in to dissolve the algae without harming the coral (e.g. vinegar + tank water).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

sorry no picture...

 

[TheH]

Is it photosynthetic or not? If not, try the nonphotosynthetic subforum as well.

 

[beeker]

get a longspine urchin and leave it alone with the gorgonia that will do the trick, the urchin may nip the gorg but IMO won't hurt it enough to kill it and will remove the coraline completely they love the stuff

as far as i know there isn't a chemical or product you could use to do this without causing the gorg too much stress

 

[chris023]

Is it photosynthetic or not? If not, try the nonphotosynthetic subforum as well.

is photosynthetic.

 

[RickMartin]

I don't think healthy tissue would have gotten covered by coraline

 

[chris023]

I don't think healthy tissue would have gotten covered by coraline

Good point. It seemed healthy, then 1 day polyps didn't open, now it's covered. Just trying to bring it back to life. I believe as long as there is tissue, it should survive.

 

[lostintheocean]

it can happen, does to one of mine but not too bad and the gorge is fine had it over 2 years and always growing, when you first notice it you need to lightly scrub with a tooth brush, this will get most off and it seems to convince the gorg to shed which it does naturally as well as a defence against algea, you may also need to put in in stronger current

 

[kidninja]

i have a lot of flow on mine so i guess you might want to look into that

 

[chris023]

it can happen, does to one of mine but not too bad and the gorge is fine had it over 2 years and always growing, when you first notice it you need to lightly scrub with a tooth brush, this will get most off and it seems to convince the gorg to shed which it does naturally as well as a defence against algea, you may also need to put in in stronger current

Yeah, i heard of the natural shedding thing, but mine just didn't seem to want to do it. Took as much off as i could with toothbrush.

i have a lot of flow on mine so i guess you might want to look into that

Thanks, definitely have it in a high flow area. I have a 150 gallon with 2 Koralia 4s and 2 Koralia 5s.

 

[chris023]

Scrubbed all of the algae off with a toothbrush, although the gorge has taken a bit of a beating. Since the scrubbing, about 40% of it's tissue has fallen off, with only the thin branch underneath remaining.

This is not a very large gorge, about the size of a hand.

Should i now leave it be, and see if it recovers?
Is there a toxicity issue with the tissue falling off?
Should i give up hope and remove the coral?

 

[crawfish in tx]

i would not give up. put in better flow spot t ry feeding w/ baster often.