Pagoda Cup Coral

lazluvtoo

New member
Dear Dr. Ron:

I purchased a pretty yellow pagoda cup coral approximately a month ago.

Since placing it in the tank, it has yet to open up.

A note of interest: I purchased the coral when we were traveling and it was in a bag (plenty of air, but no light) for approximately four to five days.

Could this have stunted it? I can see the "buds" inside of the holes, but they just don't want to come out and show themselves! :confused:

I have moved the cup high in the tank as well as mid tank.

Please, Dr. Ron...what can I do to help my beautiful pagoda awaken from it's slumber?

Thank you,

Cindy (lazluvtoo)
 
I'm sure Mr. Borneman will be able to help you more than me... but I wouldn't give up on it too quickly. I love these corals... I have three of them. One of them I thought was nearly dead shortly after I got it... but with some TLC it came right back to life! I believe it helps to feed them... even if it doesn't look like the polyps are all out.
 
There are no yellow "pagoda" corals, but there is a yellow species in the genus, Turbinaria. Which one do you have? If the former, then you purchased a coral that has been dyed, so that may be part of the reason ( directly affecting the coral or indirectly by "covering up" a bleached colony). If the latter, it may be tank conditions, which might be involved even in the first case, but you have not described your tanks or water conditions....which is necessary to help you.
 
Eric...I thought I purchased a "yellow pagoda cup coral." That was the name that was written on the invoice. And it was, indeed, yellow in color. But, after review several pictures of Turbinaria online, it could very well be a yellow species of Turbinaria. My water conditions are good...slightly low magnesium, calcium between 450 and 500. PH, ALK good.

Cindy
 
Does it look anything like this?

1B.jpg


Above image from this article, http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-09/ac/feature/index.php
 
Oh dear god!! Why would anyone do that to a pagoda cup? They're so pretty as they are! Seriously... I didn't know people did this. Ugh, I think I'm going to be nauseous...
 
I have a picture to submit of my "yellow pagoda cup" but can not figure out how to submit it in the format that the forum allows. Any suggestions how I can change the photo's format so that I can send it out to you?

Thanks!
Cindy
 
What formating issues are you having? Is the picture too big or is it not the right file type? In any case... you can modify it in MS Paint. You can shrink it by going to edit>stretch/screw and then typing in a % (the same for both). If it's not the right file type, then load it into MS paint, go to "save as" and then give it a name and make it a JPEG file.

If all that confuses you, you can email it to me at sihaya@gmail.com and I can post it for you. ;)
 
And yes Cindy, your corals does appear to have been dyed. Given time and proper conditions, it can recover. It will lose that yellow color though and turn to green, tan, or pink perhaps. I would try to target feed this coral more in the meantime. Things like DT's oyster eggs and Cyclop-Eeze would be good choices.
 
Thanks so much Steven for your advice. I will keep feeding the little guy. Acutally, a few buds are trying to show their pretty little faces as of yesterday. And a big thank you, also, to sihaya for posting my pic for me!

On another note, Steven. Do you know anything about Dwarf Zebra hermit crabs and whether or not they are reef compatible? I have lost every one of my yellow polyps over the past six months, and someone mentioned that this crab could be the culprit. I have captured him/her and have it in a holding bucket until I figure out if it is safe to put it back into my reef. I am pretty sure it is a dwarf zebra as I looked mine over carefully with a magnifier, and it resembles a picture of one exactly.

Will await your expert reply!

Thanks!
Cindy
 
I am not a fan of crabs in general in reef tanks. They are all opportunistic omnivores, meaning they can eat just about anything they stumble upon.
 
Boy, I'm glad I did some research on this. There is one of these at a LFS I saw yesterday and was going to buy. Looks exactly like Steven Pro's pic. The center was opened, but the outer polyps were receeded.
 
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