leather type coral in trouble

[danielcassar]

hi all....can someone tell me what may be the cause of this ??
i bought this type of coral and the next day it was detaching from the rock....which ended like it is on the picture...than when i examined the rock there were alot of small little crawling bugs...tried to take a pic of them but they are very small...

can someone tell me what can they be and what i can do?
thanks

 

[gh0st]

The coral is probaby very stressed, and possibly under attack from the "bugs" you found.

Hard to say what they are from the pic, but dipping the coral and rock in a Reef Dip should help to remove any infections and parasites.

Test water quality and maintain good stable parameters to increase chances of survival.

 

[danielcassar]

thanks...what can i do attach the coral with the rock?..regarding the bugs they are small liitle crawling fast...looks like small "roaches"..when i put the torch on during the night there loads crawling on rocks!...are these dangerous to my system?

thanks
daniel

 

[gh0st]

Do a google image serach for Copepods and Amphipods. If that's what you are seeing, they are a normal part of a reef tank and nothing to worry about.

If the base of the coral is Necrotic, or falling apart into a powder stinky mess, you either need to use some Reef Dip to halt the bacterial infection, or cut away the dead/dying tissue with a clean razor blade.

Once the bad tissue is cleaned up, you can gently tie the coral to a rock with thread, fishing line, or even plastic zip ties. Putting the coral in a small dish with rock rubble in the bottom can also work. Over the course of a couple of weeks, the leather should attach to the rock it's tied to or sitting on.

What is your water chemistry like?
Temp, Salinity, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Calcium, PH, and Alkalinity are typically of most concern.

 

[danielcassar]

Thanks....they look like amphipods...so they arent the one causing the detaching of the coral from the rock?..that coral i bought it just 2 days ago...so i think it was stressed due to bad water condition and shipping.
yeah the base of the coral was like necrotic and falling apart with powder look..

my tank chemistry is...temp 25.5...salintiy 1.025....ammonia and nitrites 0... nitrates 2ppm...calcium 520ppm.....pH 8.5 and Kh 8dkH.

thanks
daniel

 

[danielcassar]

today i took some of good picture of that crawling thing....

what is it?

thanks
daniel

 

[johnnyroastbeef]

Those are copepods, beneficial animals. They weren't attacking your coral.

 

[danielcassar]

Thanks Johnny....so nothing to worry on

 

[Ritten]

He just looks very stressed to me. Attach him in one of the ways ghost said, maybe put him at the bottom of the tank for now in a high flow area and then leave him completely alone (don't move him around right away) and allow him to attach and heal. He does look pretty healthy, just stressed. Its a pretty leather .