Mark_C
New member
Hi all, and thanks for looking.
About 3 weeks previous I was in a shop as the delivery came in and, still in the bag, was a decent size polyp colony. The girl told me I could take it before it even hit their tanks for $30, as a bonus I noticed there was a beautiful leather coral (I was told thats what it was) on the rock as well. She said she wouldn't charge me for it and we could consider it a bonus hitchhiker. So, I bought it.
Here’s a shot of it in the dip (you can see the skirt of the leather coral in the top left)…
This guy came out during the dip. I asked in another forum for ID and was informed it was standard bristle, eats detrius, good guy. So I dropped him back in the tank when I introduced the colony...
Here’s a shot of it settled in. For the most part it took between 3-7 days for them to fully open. This is the main are of rock with the bulk of the colony. Shame my phone cant capture the subtle colors...
Heres the side I’m concerned about. Please note the green and red of the leather coral just under the area of concern. The coral expands itself out into the area of concern and pretty much intrudes into the area of all the screwed up polyps…
Swinging around a bit further (the leather coral is now in the low right) shows that some of the polyps on the skirts of the area of the corals influence seem to be alive but they don't open…
The tank is a 40 breeder kept at 78 degrees with 2 WP-10s on wavemaker mode and a generic 425gph head for surface agitation. Overflow box with 1" pipe running at 300gph. Good coverage of tank with minimal dead space. Tank itself contains some frags, 2 clowns, 1 chromie, 1 blennie, 1 cleaner shrimp, 2 (was recently 1) bubble anem, and a cuc (assorted snails with 3 micro hermits). The frags are growing, the cleaner shrimp molts every few weeks, the anemone eats and recently split. All is going well.
Tank parameters all seem groovie. As of Saturday afternoon they were - SG 1.025, 8.3pH, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, phosphate 0.1 (though tested soon after feeding), calcium 450, Magnesium 1400, alkalinity 7.6KH
I've been using SeaChem Reef Salt, keeping the SG at 1.025 - 1.026. I dose with reef fusion once every few weeks if my numbers are dropping. I'm planning to try Red Sea Coral Pro salt during my next water change. Water changes are done t 12-15% every week.
I feed the fish small amounts 1-2x per day (frozen and/or a small amount of flake), and feed the corals 1-2x per week with a small amount of Marine Snow or Coral Frenzy. I'll target feed the anemone(s) a small piece of shrimp 1x per week. The cleaner shrimp just runs about trying to steal from everyone else.
So, here’s the few questions:
Are these polyps dead?
If so, is it probable from lack of light (I noted the long stalks)? From shipping? Is it possible the coral killed them?
If they are not dead, is there anything I can do to salvage some of them?
If I can salvage, does this involve clipping them, and, if so, any recommendations or links on techniques?
Im assumming the bristle worm is not the culprit. Is is possible I've made a terrible mistake? Would he even bother the colony?
In the 3rd image above, just at the top of the colony, what look like a small orange wormish appendage has appeared, anyone have any idea what the ^&%^ that is?
The coral is quite beautiful when opened and I’d hate to disturb it, but if it is causing the trouble, is it necessary to remove it from the rock and transplant it somewhere else in the tank? Can I even do this?
ANY help or advice from anyone is greatly appreciated. Being relatively new to the hobby, this has got me stumped.
Thanks,
Mark
Edit: I know I have limited time to edit posts. The leather coral is coming out of hiding so i fired off a quick shot to attach for considerations...
About 3 weeks previous I was in a shop as the delivery came in and, still in the bag, was a decent size polyp colony. The girl told me I could take it before it even hit their tanks for $30, as a bonus I noticed there was a beautiful leather coral (I was told thats what it was) on the rock as well. She said she wouldn't charge me for it and we could consider it a bonus hitchhiker. So, I bought it.
Here’s a shot of it in the dip (you can see the skirt of the leather coral in the top left)…
This guy came out during the dip. I asked in another forum for ID and was informed it was standard bristle, eats detrius, good guy. So I dropped him back in the tank when I introduced the colony...
Here’s a shot of it settled in. For the most part it took between 3-7 days for them to fully open. This is the main are of rock with the bulk of the colony. Shame my phone cant capture the subtle colors...
Heres the side I’m concerned about. Please note the green and red of the leather coral just under the area of concern. The coral expands itself out into the area of concern and pretty much intrudes into the area of all the screwed up polyps…
Swinging around a bit further (the leather coral is now in the low right) shows that some of the polyps on the skirts of the area of the corals influence seem to be alive but they don't open…
The tank is a 40 breeder kept at 78 degrees with 2 WP-10s on wavemaker mode and a generic 425gph head for surface agitation. Overflow box with 1" pipe running at 300gph. Good coverage of tank with minimal dead space. Tank itself contains some frags, 2 clowns, 1 chromie, 1 blennie, 1 cleaner shrimp, 2 (was recently 1) bubble anem, and a cuc (assorted snails with 3 micro hermits). The frags are growing, the cleaner shrimp molts every few weeks, the anemone eats and recently split. All is going well.
Tank parameters all seem groovie. As of Saturday afternoon they were - SG 1.025, 8.3pH, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, phosphate 0.1 (though tested soon after feeding), calcium 450, Magnesium 1400, alkalinity 7.6KH
I've been using SeaChem Reef Salt, keeping the SG at 1.025 - 1.026. I dose with reef fusion once every few weeks if my numbers are dropping. I'm planning to try Red Sea Coral Pro salt during my next water change. Water changes are done t 12-15% every week.
I feed the fish small amounts 1-2x per day (frozen and/or a small amount of flake), and feed the corals 1-2x per week with a small amount of Marine Snow or Coral Frenzy. I'll target feed the anemone(s) a small piece of shrimp 1x per week. The cleaner shrimp just runs about trying to steal from everyone else.
So, here’s the few questions:
Are these polyps dead?
If so, is it probable from lack of light (I noted the long stalks)? From shipping? Is it possible the coral killed them?
If they are not dead, is there anything I can do to salvage some of them?
If I can salvage, does this involve clipping them, and, if so, any recommendations or links on techniques?
Im assumming the bristle worm is not the culprit. Is is possible I've made a terrible mistake? Would he even bother the colony?
In the 3rd image above, just at the top of the colony, what look like a small orange wormish appendage has appeared, anyone have any idea what the ^&%^ that is?
The coral is quite beautiful when opened and I’d hate to disturb it, but if it is causing the trouble, is it necessary to remove it from the rock and transplant it somewhere else in the tank? Can I even do this?
ANY help or advice from anyone is greatly appreciated. Being relatively new to the hobby, this has got me stumped.
Thanks,
Mark
Edit: I know I have limited time to edit posts. The leather coral is coming out of hiding so i fired off a quick shot to attach for considerations...
Last edited:
