Poorly new Sinularia needs help

[natan]

2 days ago I got a large sinularia specimen, supposedly tank grown, from a specialized dealer. In the dealer's tank it looked OK, also I only saw it in the evening, just before the lights went off. It was erect, but not really extended than. I took it home and after drip-aclimating it for 1 hour placed it in my tank (9 month old 65g, pH 8.4, nitrite 0, nitrate about 15 ppm, 4 T5 20W lamps, no fish capable of pestering anything) in the area of medium flow and lighting. Unfortunately, it vent flat, and remained so ever thins. Today I relocated it to an area of strongest flow in front of a powerhead, and saw a lot of bits of mucus (and possibly some decaying tissue) coming off it. One smallest branch went up, but the rest is still flat. The tank is fool of xenia, originally from the same dealer's tank (where it flourishes, just as it does in mine), a few mushrooms, a smallish lobophytum(which never did too greate for some reason), an elegance coral (4 month in the tank, doing wall) and a small sebae anemone (was tiny and bleached upon arrival, has greatly improved and grown). Any suggestions on what to do with this miserable-looking specimen will be greatly appreciated. It was planned to be my last coral to go in, and a centerpiece for this smallish tank. Its greenish-purple colour and a large size made it absolutely magnificent (also I generally prefer frags if I can find them, but no luck this time). Shall I consider fragging it, as I am under impression that the specimen is simply too big and crushing itself? Would be a pity to cut it, but if this is what it needs to survive, I will do so. Anything else I can/should try to save it?
Help is needed to save this poorly beast and of cause will be greatly appreciated.

 

[crispyreef]

The coral did not crush itself. They can grow very large. If it is starting to get black on the bottom and inside then it is dying and needs to be cut. It doen't look too bad from your pic. Those corals can handle a wide range on parameters. Don't wait too long to cut it, if it doesn't get better soon.

 

[natan]

Thank you very much for the swift reply. In case I decide to cut it, should I remove the drooping (possibly deseased/dying) branches, or shall I do the opposite-remove the best looking ones to get my best chance for a healthy frag(s) and live the rest on the stalk to die or recover in time? I know they are supposed to be tough, which is exactly the reason I invested considerable effort (and money) to get it. My goal is as trouble free a tank as possible, with a few species most likely to flourish. This is the reason I am going to keep a species list short - to reduce chemical warfare issues (yes, I know that sinularia is likely to be a chemical worrier, but I only have 1 LPS and the rest are softies).

 

[crispyreef]

I used to have a lot of sinularia with my fully mixed tank, softies, LPS, and SPS. I mostly just had to keep it away from the stonies. If and when you decide to cut it, if there are black, decaying parts, don't keep it. Cut away healthy tissue and frag that part. Don't worry about the loss, that stuff will grow like crazy and soon you will be trading it back to the LFS for credit.

 

[natan]

Thank you very much, all of you. I have just fragged it, after seeing its base shredding apart, and some hermits crawling over it. It fell apart when I took it out. Discarded the rotten base, the rock it was on and a few suspiciously looking branches (dark juices came out of thaws when cut). I am now left with 4 frags, and hope some of these will survive. If I left it for another day, I am sure every bit of it would be gone. BTW the shop didn’t lie, it was locally cultured. I can tell because the rock it was sitting on was sandstone and not coral, folks use it around here to put frags on, to reduce the costs.
Thank you again!

 

[natan]

An update here:
After some strugle and partial rot/meltdown(s), i have 3 frags attached and growing happily, 3 more alive but not yet attached and 1 dead. No problem, i will have to get rid of some of the survoving frags and keep 2 or 3 at most. So, this unfortunate story is on its way to the happy end after all.

 

[crispyreef]

Good job.:beer: