Pagoda cup?

[RLHam3]

So there are two pagoda cup corals at my LFS. I've decided that I really like this species, and I will probably end up getting one or the other, but I can't decide which one.

One is green and the other is pink. I like the color of the green one a lot better, but it doesn't appear to be as healthy as the other. The reason I say this is that I can only detect polyps on the green cup around the edges. There are no discernable polyps in the center. The pink one has the normal amount of polyps distributed equally around the cup. They both have had good polyp extension when I have seen them, it is just the number and distribution of polyps which concern me.

My question is: will new polyps grow and fill in this empty space on the green cup, or will this area of the coral remain empty?

 

[lgull1]

They are very hardy corals. I have one as big as a dinner plate and weighs over 5 lbs. Give them good water and decent lighting and they thrive. If your water quality is good and there are any dead spots, the coral will heal itself.

I have never seen a pink pagoda before. The polyps shrink when they sense light or touch. The number of polyps has no determination in if it is healthy or not. I would like to see the pink one in a photo. Seems to me that they might have dyed it. They are normally green but never have i seen a pink one like i said.

Kind of strange you don't see polyps in the center. you would have to get a pic of it. Mine is full of polyps all over the place including the center.

 

[x1C0DE1x]

I have a pink pagoda that a store sold me and people told me it was bleached. So I asked the store and they said it was fine. One store said that they have never seen that color in the 30 years that they have been in the business, that it may be an acupora or something else. Well it never got any color. A big white bubble popped on it and grew and I decided to cut it off and when I did a lot of sand had build up around the bubble and it had started to decay and a huge portion of it is white. @lgull1 I have it standing up so sand will not get on it and the white spot is getting worse but some of it is turning dark red almost black in color. Should I remove it from my tank or let it be?

Don't mean to get off topic but while this is being mentioned, and talking about a pink pagoda, I have one... Mine has little white dots all over it that never had anything come out of it.

 

[lgull1]

The coral flesh that is on it is decaying. I would cut the infected part off if you can. I have been doing this for 20 years and i have never seen one that is pink. I would love to see a pic of it if you can upload one. They are always green from what i have ever seen. Not extending polyps is very unusual for a pagoda. They eventually will always have their polyps extended. That is why i would like to see a pic to make sure it is one. The is why they are called LPS. They have large polyps.

I don't quite understand the big white bubble thing either.

 

[GoingPostal]

I had a tan pagoda that formed a bubble and all the flesh there died, it eventually just got worse and worse until I gave it up for dead, never seemed to make a comeback and put out polyps again and didn't regrow over the dead spot. But it also underwent new lighting and a tank move right after the bubble thing. I would think a stronger one would recover as they seemed pretty hardy but maybe it's an issue they have. I had a smaller green one as well and it wasn't as polyped covered as the tan but still had good extension, but there are other turbinaria that do not extend as far.

 

[RLHam3]

Is this coral worth saving? I would have taken a picture of the other one, but it was already sold:-(

Nobody at the store remembers what originally caused this recession.

 

[GreenSaltyOne]

Absolutely worth saving!!!!! Check out the thread "rescue corals". That one has a lot of life left.

 

[x1C0DE1x]

Here is mine prior to the bubble decaying the area, ill post a pic of the area if you don't mind helping me figure out what I need to do to save it. Polyps have never came out and the store I got it from 1 week later said they would give me $10 back for it and resale it for $50 again.

 

[lgull1]

X1Code1X, that looks like a Turbinaria mesenterina coral more than a pagoda. If it is a pagoda, that looks more tan than pink from the photo. If you look at goingpostal pic, that is what a pagoda is suppose to look like although the water parameters made it turn brown. They do that when you have less than ideal water quality. Mine has done it in the past, but when my water is good, like know, they are electric green. Really pretty.

If someone can chime in on if this is a Turbinaria mesenterina or not. Looks like to me, but if the polyps never come out like going postal, you don't have a pagoda. you have a Turbinaria mesenterina which they do not have polyps at all that are that big. Almost non existent. Look up the latin name and see if it is not what you have.

Hope that helps. They are very hardy as well and they require good water too. Mine kind of looks like yours but darker. They get really colorful but for some reason mine has never colored up even though the rest of my corals have done great.

Hope that helps

 

[x1C0DE1x]

Im going to do a water change tomorrow and I am either just going to put it on the porch and keep the skeleton. Or should I cut the dead piece off and how do I? The dying part is just not healing.

 

[GoingPostal]

If you look at goingpostal pic, that is what a pagoda is suppose to look like although the water parameters made it turn brown. They do that when you have less than ideal water quality. Mine has done it in the past, but when my water is good, like know, they are electric green. s

Yours turned brown and back to green? I'm fairly certain mine was just tan, it was always tan for the previous owner and looked quite healthy for a year or two in my tank before going downhill. I had the green one in the same tank with it too and it didn't really look quite the same type as the tan one but who knows.

 

[lgull1]

Yep. I have had mine for 14 years my friend. It has gone thru crap and pristine water and then back again. They are really hard to kill. At least for me. I can kill other things like sps but the pagoda nope. I even had a baby from the large colony. It is growing great for me and is the bigger than a silver dollar.
Mine turned tan just like yours. It came back though. Mine is electric green. pics do it no justice. You might have had a different coral species.

Xcode1X you can dremel tool or if you have frag cutters they work also. Big ones though. Be careful because corals will break in the most unusual ways.

Hope you can save it.