Rescue Corals
- Thread starter MechEng99
- Start date
MechEng99
aka Reef'd Up
So, I went a little crazy last night and got a ton of rescues...including an elegance coral. I've never tried to keep one...much less save one...so here we go!
There are two pieces left on the skeleton. In the photo it was in a Bayer Insecticide dip.
Here it is about ready for cutting. The skeleton was covered in Aiptasia.
It was also covered in flatworms. The LFS owner said they are LPS-eating flatworms, but I haven't been able to ID these as such. Any idea?
Here's one half starting to come out...
And the other half starting to eat...
Cross your fingers! They're barely starting to come out today, so we'll see.
There are two pieces left on the skeleton. In the photo it was in a Bayer Insecticide dip.
Here it is about ready for cutting. The skeleton was covered in Aiptasia.
It was also covered in flatworms. The LFS owner said they are LPS-eating flatworms, but I haven't been able to ID these as such. Any idea?
Here's one half starting to come out...
And the other half starting to eat...
Cross your fingers! They're barely starting to come out today, so we'll see.
MechEng99
aka Reef'd Up
Even more exciting...a rescue scolymia released what I'm pretty sure was a sperm cloud last night. I'm not sure what sparked this event considering there are no other scolymia in the tank, and it's not the typical time of year of coral reproduction. It released a quickly-dissipating white stream for about 5 minutes. I should note that I don't believe this was a "last ditch effort" to reproduce before imminent death. This coral is now pretty healthy and is starting to color up.
SushiGirl
Premium Member
We had to rescue this one from ourselves 3 times. My boyfriend bought some equipment from a guy when the tank was just 3 months old & he threw in this war coral frag for free. I'd never kept one before, so I was nervous with it in such a young tank. It did OK for a while & grew 11 mouths from 2, then my boyfriend added biopellets & everything in the tank almost died. He took them offline & put too much carbon in the reactor, so the water was so clear everything got light shocked! Next it got knocked off onto a mushroom 2 days in a row for 8 hours. It just keeps coming back.
January 2011
March 2011, losing color but lots of mouths.
May 2011, bleached like crazy so I moved it to much more shade (hard to do in our tank). This was after the biopellet/carbon debacle.
August 2011, recovering color in the shade.
November 2011, it got dropped onto a mushroom coral 2 days in a row for 8 hours each time.
May 2012, taking over the rock around its frag plug.
September 2012, happily feeding. You can't even see the frag plug anymore.
January 2011
March 2011, losing color but lots of mouths.
May 2011, bleached like crazy so I moved it to much more shade (hard to do in our tank). This was after the biopellet/carbon debacle.
August 2011, recovering color in the shade.
November 2011, it got dropped onto a mushroom coral 2 days in a row for 8 hours each time.
May 2012, taking over the rock around its frag plug.
September 2012, happily feeding. You can't even see the frag plug anymore.
This thread is a real inspiration for those of us that have corals that are struggling!
I have a goniopora that I've been trying to nurse along for the past 8 months or so with very minimal luck...I'm going to try your methods and see what I can do with it.
I'll be posting some pics of it thru the process, hopefully it ends well!
I have a goniopora that I've been trying to nurse along for the past 8 months or so with very minimal luck...I'm going to try your methods and see what I can do with it.
I'll be posting some pics of it thru the process, hopefully it ends well!
mikexnxike01
New member
wow. great job. they look great now!
MechEng99
aka Reef'd Up
Nice find! Looks very healthy...just misshapen. If I were you, I'd find someone with a bandsaw and have them cut around the polyp to get all the red algae on there. It's not fun stuff to deal with. The polyp should be more than healthy enough to go through a quick skeleton trim.
MechEng99
aka Reef'd Up
I've found that corals will extend their tissue faster if they aren't trying to grow over old skeleton...or at least not over large septa (the "teeth"-like projections.) I either smooth out the skeleton or I remove the unused portions entirely. I've cut a few like yours so they looked semi-circularly for a while. Now, even though there is no skeleton under half of it, you'd never notice looking at it. They just seem to react better to it...not sure why. I have some I rescued that I left the skeleton intact...and they still aren't circular even though I got them before I got the ones that I cut.
But, if you removed the algae...then good. That's the important bit.
But, if you removed the algae...then good. That's the important bit.
luvzz2play
New member
Ok, new to the hobby and a week after i bought a cool red/green rock i noticed what looked like a brown film had formed on it. turns out it is regrowing. this was when i first notied.
and this was taken November 30. After reading that a few have trimmed off the skeleton, I wonder if i should or not or just leave it run its course. any suggestions with this would help. is it bleached? is that normal for color to be like that while regrowing?? i have T5x6 and have the coral about halfway up
and this was taken November 30. After reading that a few have trimmed off the skeleton, I wonder if i should or not or just leave it run its course. any suggestions with this would help. is it bleached? is that normal for color to be like that while regrowing?? i have T5x6 and have the coral about halfway up
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wildman926
Active member
The Duncan I posted above has not made any progress, but has not died, so that is a good thing.
Here is a scoly I traded a frag for. It is missing 1/3 of it's shell, and is on the mend. This is pic is 6 hours in my tank -
Here is a scoly I traded a frag for. It is missing 1/3 of it's shell, and is on the mend. This is pic is 6 hours in my tank -
MechEng99
aka Reef'd Up
Luvzz - Wow...nice find on a piece of rock! That's a "chalice" coral...usually worth a pretty penny depending on coloration. The second photo you posted is definitely bleached. You'll need to move it to a lower light area. It also has some cyanobacteria growing on it, so you'll need to regularly use a pipette/turkey baster to squirt it off. Since the coral has lost most of its photosynthetic algae (zooxanthallae), you'll need to feed it about 3x per week. In order to do that, you can turn off the flow in the aquarium (preferably after the lights have been out an hour), and drop a fish food pellet onto each mouth (the eye-looking spots that still have some color.) Within 30 minutes, the coral should extend tentacles and open its mouth to eat. If it doesn't, don't worry. Just remove the food and turn the flow back on and try again another night.
Wildman - Have you tried feeding the duncan? They can be pretty voracious eaters, so that might help speed it along. Nice on the scoly trade...but what's that coming out of its mouth?
SushiGirl - That poor thing! Has the worst luck, but at least it isn't giving up! Good job on all the saves!
Wildman - Have you tried feeding the duncan? They can be pretty voracious eaters, so that might help speed it along. Nice on the scoly trade...but what's that coming out of its mouth?
SushiGirl - That poor thing! Has the worst luck, but at least it isn't giving up! Good job on all the saves!
luvzz2play
New member
@Mech - Thx, I REALLY appreciate the advice. I've posted a few pics elsewhere asking for help and got none so was glad to stumble across this thread. I didn't know if i should move it up or down... increase the water flow or decrease it. I just knew that it had been getting better but was afraid to mess it up since it started getting better right where it was.
Took your advice and moved it to the sand bed. I "accidentally" found out i could feed it food and I have been feeding it cut up mysis shrimp now for about 2 weeks. The first 4 weeks i had it i didn't feed it.
Once again, thank you.
Question.... does the color of the skeleton in any way tell what color the chalice will end up being? Colors would be great if it did.
Took your advice and moved it to the sand bed. I "accidentally" found out i could feed it food and I have been feeding it cut up mysis shrimp now for about 2 weeks. The first 4 weeks i had it i didn't feed it.
Once again, thank you.
Question.... does the color of the skeleton in any way tell what color the chalice will end up being? Colors would be great if it did.
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wildman926
Active member
I will try that today with the little duncan. On the scoly, that is just lighting. It looked so good last night before the lights went off.
MechEng99
aka Reef'd Up
Wildman - awesome then! I was worried the scoly was expelling its guts or something.
Skeletons do not indicate color of the coral in any case I can think of (might be some weird gorgonians or something that do, but not your chalice.) They're like human skeletons...just are white unless they're covered with some sort of organic matter (algae, bacteria, etc.) In your case, I think it may turn out purple with pink eyes judging by your first photo, but that may change with lighting and other tank conditions. Regardless, it looks like it'll be a nice piece!
Now that you mention it, I don't like how the skeleton is pink. Keep an eye on it...if it keeps receding, you may want to give the coral a dip in a product like Coral Rx. There have been quite a few cases lately of pink band disease in the hobby. It doesn't look quite like yours has it...but it's something to be aware of. Don't freak out...it's rare. But, if it continues to get worse, it's something we'll need to consider. If it is getting better, then there's no need to worry.
Keep feeding it pretty heavily until it gets its color back - that's really it's main source of food right now. As long as you can maintain your water quality, you can feed it once a day. If you start getting cyanobacteria, then cut back.
Skeletons do not indicate color of the coral in any case I can think of (might be some weird gorgonians or something that do, but not your chalice.) They're like human skeletons...just are white unless they're covered with some sort of organic matter (algae, bacteria, etc.) In your case, I think it may turn out purple with pink eyes judging by your first photo, but that may change with lighting and other tank conditions. Regardless, it looks like it'll be a nice piece!
Now that you mention it, I don't like how the skeleton is pink. Keep an eye on it...if it keeps receding, you may want to give the coral a dip in a product like Coral Rx. There have been quite a few cases lately of pink band disease in the hobby. It doesn't look quite like yours has it...but it's something to be aware of. Don't freak out...it's rare. But, if it continues to get worse, it's something we'll need to consider. If it is getting better, then there's no need to worry.
Keep feeding it pretty heavily until it gets its color back - that's really it's main source of food right now. As long as you can maintain your water quality, you can feed it once a day. If you start getting cyanobacteria, then cut back.
luvzz2play
New member
thx for the advice thus far. It seems i have picked up another problem coral. To me (keep in mind i'm a total noob) it looks like the edge isn't healed and the top layer of skin is pulling back but i am hoping to hear from the experts here on what it is and what to do. Currently this piece is just sitting on top of a rock on the sand bed.
took your advice on moving the recovering chalice under a shelf. it seems to like it there much better and i saw changes the very next day in color from the white to a lighter brown
took your advice on moving the recovering chalice under a shelf. it seems to like it there much better and i saw changes the very next day in color from the white to a lighter brown
PirateFish52
New member
Really like this thread.
Any advice on a Purple Tree Gorgonian that isn't opening it's polyps? It hasn't had polyp opening since March of this year. Absolutely no color loss though. Should I give it a go in my QT with this guy?
Any advice on a Purple Tree Gorgonian that isn't opening it's polyps? It hasn't had polyp opening since March of this year. Absolutely no color loss though. Should I give it a go in my QT with this guy?
gemini aquarius(t)
Always Learning
Is it P. elisabethae? They are photosynthetic if so, but I would give it a TON of flow. Like the branches should visibly move. also they like a ton of light in my experienceAnd feeding some reef roids, oyster feast, cyclops, or something stinky should help to encourage it to come out
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