Plate Coral Dying??

[AquaKnight]

Hey guys I just got a new plate coral a week ago and all parameters in the water are doing beautifully but my plate seems to have lost its color and seems to be growing some kind of mucus-like film all over the top of it...it was sitting in the sand but the sand kept getting stuck to it and I didn't know if this was normal? What should I do or is the mucus a good thing???

 

[PatMayo]

Boy it does not look good. What did it look like when you got it. Did it get like that overnight or has it been a gradual thing?

Regards,

Pat

 

[AquaKnight]

Well it had a pink color to it...very vibrant around the edges... but it started to decline over two days and then over night it grew that mucus layer on it...

 

[Hormigaquatica]

I hate to tell you, but by the looks of it, thats not a film over the tissue; that is one dead fungia, the tissue just hasnt gotten knocked off for whatever reason. If thats not the case, then I have No clue what would cause that, but Im willing to bet its already dead. I strongly recommend getting it out of the tank asap; you might want to siphon off the decaying tissue before you remove the skeleton just so it doesnt fly off and circulate through your system; might be infectous to other corals if that were to settle on them.

 

[AquaKnight]

I was searching the old threads, and in one of them, stated that even if the plate dead, usually they produce offspring and they usually come back? Or is this one completely dead and no chance to reproduce?

 

[Hormigaquatica]

Thats a possibility. There is no good way to determine if it could still produce new buds/anthocaulli; by most reports there is no obvious tissue left, no sign of anything going on. Siphon off the dead tissue, and put the skeleton somewhere it will still get light, and see what happens in 6 months. You may get lucky and wind up with a colony. Its worth a shot anyhow.