Newbie post: Limp Colt after transport

[cosorio]

Hi all! Newbie here to the reef aquaria hobby. I recently purchased a healthy Colt from a very knowledgeable and experienced hobbyist. He bagged the colt and I went straight home. I know that its going to be limp for a couple of days while it acclimates, but within a couple of hours, it looked like it was going to be fully vertical. The branches started spreading out but within a few hours became limp again. No lighting at night and when I checked in the morning it is still completely limp. It started to excrete some mucous from the branches. It now has complete lighting, both daylight and actinic but is still in the same state. My question is this normal for a colt? How long is the average time that they get acclimated and stand up? Lastly and I hope it isnt the case....what are the signs that the colt is dead? I would hate for this to die and release toxins in the tank and eventually kill my livestock. The site is overloaded and I cannot use the search function but hopefully someone will chime in with some insights. Thanks in advance.

 

[Sarcophyton874]

It is normal for a colt coral to secrete considerable amounts of mucous. It could take a few weeks before it starts expanding and detracting normally. You will know when it starts to "kick the bucket" because it'll just start dissolving. Toxins can be a problem if the tank is small or has insufficient filtration.

P.S: Check out my signature below for search instructions.

 

[cosorio]

Thanks for the reply. So I suppose it is normal for the colt to lay completely flat on its rock as long as it hasnt started to melt? What bothers me is that it went firm and stood up for a while after a couple of hours but now is completely flat. Any additives I should introduce to the tank to help the colt?