is my plate coral dying?? :( PICS INCLUDED!!!

O

oxkisses12ox

New member
HI! i have had this plate coral for about a month... for the past week it has been fully extended almost all day and night and it was doing great!!!! but now... for the past two days it has been partially extended or looks like this ! any advice would help!
thanks!

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http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i220/oxkisses12ox/PIC_0002.jpg
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http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i220/oxkisses12ox/PIC_0001.jpg
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http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i220/oxkisses12ox/PIC_0006.jpg
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http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i220/oxkisses12ox/PIC_0005.jpg
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Unfortunately, most of the time this type of plate coral (Heliofungia actiniformis) doesn't do well in captivity. It's prone to infections because the flesh get's damaged too easily. I've been fortunate to have one for 3+ years though, so don't do anything with it and see if it comes back for you.


tn_IMG_2167_jpg.jpg
 
If your plate dies, don't throw the skeleton away! Leave it in the tank under light in some out of the way place. The "dead" skeleton may start producing small baby plates sometime in the future. I have heard of dead plates starting to have babies over a year after they have "died".
 
its hard to tell from the blurry photos, but I too have had problems with this type of long tentacle plate coral. I've seen them in LFS tanks literally melting away in front of my eyes. They must have problems shipping or when you handle them? Who knows. When I see them start to go downhill I dump them, why pollute the tank I figure.
C
 
As i take another look at the photos, the clam is dead, as are the snails, and I see the only other coral being zoanthids, they are closed up as well. Have you been maintaining the water well? it looks like you dont have algae which is great but is the tank really new? do you have any fish?
do you feed the tank anything? I wonder how the brittle stars and hermits live, maybe they grazed on the plate, that could happen if you arent feeding them or dont have fish producing any waste
 
why are all plate corals hard to keep? I have not had any success, even when I hadupgraded my lighting to metal halides. Their skin starts to recede from the side or the bottom and slowly die.
 
I'd do some research online if I was you, maybe its the change in sality, temp or some other paramenter. Could be lighting who knows, post what you find, a good source is wet web media dot com
 
Okay, since nobody else asked this... you list your tank as a 14g nano. Are you aware that had this creature lived, it can grow to the size of a dinner plate? This is a single skeleton massive animal. You also need to feed fungias and heliofingias to supplement the energy they receive from photosynth. Especially helios.

Please, as a new reefer, before you purchase any animals, research them. At minimum find out how big they get, what light and/or food they need, etc.

Jandlms, that is true for fingias, but not helios. That is according to Eric Borneman, and I'm just going to have to take his word for it. I have bought dead fungia skeletons that sprouted babies, and it is awesome.

Cward, that is an AWESOME helio! Congrats on that, you are one of a very few people to have success with this animal. I am researching right now to set up my new tank to accomodate a large helio. We may have to talk.

S !
 
oh guys!!! i forgot to post on this thread!!! my plate coral lived!!!!!!!! its absolutely georgeous and better than ever! I LOVE IT! yes i am aware of how large it can get, but only if there is enough space for it to do so.. if they have space around them they will occupy the space, if not they will remain the same size...
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This was the other day actually and now, it is even healthier looking than this... it is doing AMAZING.. and i have two clowns that dont disturb it or try to host it .. they just hand around the area...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8955965#post8955965 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by oxkisses12ox
yes i am aware of how large it can get, but only if there is enough space for it to do so.. if they have space around them they will occupy the space, if not they will remain the same size...
Click to expand...

First, congrats on a nice recovery, I'm happy for you and your animal.

And then second... you can't be serious. You really believe that that animal will have limited growth based on its environment? That's like saying you know the cage you bought for your rottweiler puppy seems small, but he'll stop growing once the cage gets too tight.

Sadly, there are only two possible scenarios:

1 - Regardless of reason, underfeeding, lack of light, flow, disease, stress, voodoo - that fine animal will die.

2 - Bucking the odds of the situation, the coral will thrive, in which case it will grow until it fills all available area.

2a - And having grown that large, with no room to expand and contract safely, it will abraid its tissue against the rocks or tank sides. At this point, see choice 1.

So, my advice is simple. While enjoying your success, begin setting up an appropriately sized display.

And good luck!

S !
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8952714#post8952714 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Python73
Okay, since nobody else asked this... you list your tank as a 14g nano. Are you aware that had this creature lived, it can grow to the size of a dinner plate? This is a single skeleton massive animal. You also need to feed fungias and heliofingias to supplement the energy they receive from photosynth. Especially helios.
Click to expand...

I used to feed mine, but I haven't really fed it regulary for over a year.

Cward, that is an AWESOME helio! Congrats on that, you are one of a very few people to have success with this animal. I am researching right now to set up my new tank to accomodate a large helio. We may have to talk.
Click to expand...

I think I've been very lucky with my Heliofungia.
 
my glass wont get clean!!! its this green algae but its tough!!! i dont know what to do to get it off?!!!!!! stange... i have a lot of green algae is that bad?? well not tons but some i guess around the tank.. and growing on my hermit shells back!
 
my glass wont get clean!!! its this green algae but its tough!!! i dont know what to do to get it off?!!!!!! stange... i have a lot of green algae is that bad?? well not tons but some i guess around the tank.. and growing on my hermit shells back!
 
What is your water change schedule. Do you use ro/di water for this. The hair algae will bloom from time to time. Sometimes it will recede on its own. If it does not you have high nutrient levels in your tank that the algae is feeding off of. Do 15% water changes weekly w/ quality water and watch over feeding your fish. If you need more info than this there are about a billion threads on the subject to search. Best of luck to you.
 
thanks so much... yeah my scrubber brush just isnt doing it for me !!!! lol ..... i am going to get one tommorow...... i mean i change my water once a week a good 1 or 2 gallons and i get the best FSW from the local aquarium and filtered...e tc
 
Thats correct on the growth issue. Some fish will grow to the sized of their environment. I have experienced this with freshwater native species...i.e bass, bream, etc. But I agree that it would not apply to corals. But I do questions whether or not it would apply to certain saltwater fish. Interesting topic.
 
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