Rescue Corals
- Thread starter MechEng99
- Start date
greg1786
Active member
Mecheng, awesome job on the most recent saves!! I got a bunch from a friend who had a massive tank crash. Ill have to get pictures of the acans I got from him, but in the mean time here is a lobo im going to try and save. I normally dont drip any corals just temp acclimate, dip and put in tank but the salinity of the tank it came from was 1.033!! So I dripped the lobo for around 25 mins to try n give it a little time to adjust to my salinity which is 1.025. After dripping it I gave it a nice dip in revive and put it in. Im going to try to target feed it some tonight will keep you all updated as things progress.
Jstn
Member
Started using fauna marin LPS pellets, I was surprised by the instant feeding response, especially in my scolly. Also it was the perfect size for the smaller acan frags, and the next day they seemed to be puffed up much better than after feeding mysis/brine ect. Mind you I could never get my scolly to take food in the day, and when it came to feeding mysis I feel I made more of a mess than it was worth on my smaller acans.
Sexy $25 Scolly
Albeit this stuff is pricy, I feel for weekly or biweekly feeding it works great, not to mention my fish have no interest in it, making it easier to feed the LPS.
I also have an acan that is only one 1/3 head, It lost its mouth from a rouge anemone tentacle, any tricks to getting it to recover since it has no mouth?
Sexy $25 Scolly
Albeit this stuff is pricy, I feel for weekly or biweekly feeding it works great, not to mention my fish have no interest in it, making it easier to feed the LPS.
I also have an acan that is only one 1/3 head, It lost its mouth from a rouge anemone tentacle, any tricks to getting it to recover since it has no mouth?
Mael
New member
I had a red acan in a similar situation, was maybe 1/3 left at most, didnt see a mouth but it had 2-3 feeder tentacles come out a mm each night, I kept it in lower flow lower light for a while and would just spot cloud it with rotifer and plankton twice a week. 3-4 weeks later and it is 90% returned and has a new head on one side almost as big as the original.
While feeding the red like this I also fed the rainbow I have, which wasnt dmg'd or sick, and that one now has 3 baby heads around the side forming.
While feeding the red like this I also fed the rainbow I have, which wasnt dmg'd or sick, and that one now has 3 baby heads around the side forming.
MechEng99
aka Reef'd Up
Oh yikes... I'm betting it's the lemonpeel. Sorry.
I usually leave the flow off for 30 minutes or less for feeding. Healthy corals usually get about 10 minutes.
I'm so sorry for your friend's crash! Yikes...yes, 1.033 is definitely up there. The lobo doesn't look too terribly horrible. I would take bone cutters and clip all those sharp parts of the skeleton. It'll have an easier time regrowing and less chance of infection IME. Keep us posted!
Interesting...I had no luck with the Fauna Marin food with my rescues. As far as the Acan goes, does it have *any* of its mouth left? Even one little tentacle remaining or anything? If not, I've never seen one come back from that far gone. They usually need some of their internal parts.
MechEng99
aka Reef'd Up
Yay! It probably has enough mouth tissue to regrow, especially if the tentacles are extending. Try feeding it the smallest food you have, and see how it reacts.
greg1786
Active member
Mecheng- i never thought to clip the skeleton thats exposed thanks for the tip. I had really good success saving a wellso for my brother a while back so im hoping the lobo will be similar. Heres the acans im trying to save for my buddy they are in bad shape but there is some hope! View attachment 277126View attachment 277127View attachment 277128
greg1786
Active member
Sry for the duplicate, the first pic was supposed to be thisView attachment 277129
CoralReeForrest
New member
Alright folks its been a few months so here is an update on the near death bubble and the near death petco acan.
As you can see the bubble has shown amazing improvement and is getting quite large. The acan has really gained back colors and is doing well at taking its skeletal base back!
As you can see the bubble has shown amazing improvement and is getting quite large. The acan has really gained back colors and is doing well at taking its skeletal base back!
Out of the blue, I lost the big red Trachy today after over a year of successful rescue. There's pics of it pages back here, I have no clue what happened. Every other coral in the tank is fine. I put what's left of it in the seahorse tank, the Foxface was nipping at the floating flesh.
MechEng99
aka Reef'd Up
Out of the blue, I lost the big red Trachy today after over a year of successful rescue. There's pics of it pages back here, I have no clue what happened. Every other coral in the tank is fine. I put what's left of it in the seahorse tank, the Foxface was nipping at the floating flesh.
Oh nooooo! I'm so sorry.
As I love this thread I read 90% of it again over the past week. A few questions.
1. How long does it take for zooxanthellae to return to a coral, luckily I have seen corals in the thread come back from no colour to full colour. Did not think that this would happen once the coral is stressed and expels the zooxanthellae.
2. Vitamin C, this is predominantly used to trigger feeding response?
3. Should I use sugar in the mix with food or is it a separate treatment.
4. The hospital tank, mine currently runs with a tunze skimmer and comline filter, are these required for a hospital tank, reason I am asking is that I want to use both of those items on a new tank. Will carbon, purigen and matrix be sufficient for filtration, and live rock will also be used for biological filtration. The tank is a boyu TL450. Will perform regular 10% water changes and remove uneaten food.
1. How long does it take for zooxanthellae to return to a coral, luckily I have seen corals in the thread come back from no colour to full colour. Did not think that this would happen once the coral is stressed and expels the zooxanthellae.
2. Vitamin C, this is predominantly used to trigger feeding response?
3. Should I use sugar in the mix with food or is it a separate treatment.
4. The hospital tank, mine currently runs with a tunze skimmer and comline filter, are these required for a hospital tank, reason I am asking is that I want to use both of those items on a new tank. Will carbon, purigen and matrix be sufficient for filtration, and live rock will also be used for biological filtration. The tank is a boyu TL450. Will perform regular 10% water changes and remove uneaten food.
MechEng99
aka Reef'd Up
Ok, these are my thoughts. They've changed over the years, so maybe someone else has another idea.
1. There is evidence that zooxanthallae can move into a coral, but I think most rescue probably involve the reproduction of zooxanthallae that is already present. Zooxanthallae reproduction seems to vary, with some corals looking much better within a week while others take months. This is possibly due to lighting, initial cause of bleaching (if it's vibrio, it could take significantly longer), etc.
2. Vitamin C is another carbon source, similar to vodka, vinegar, or sugar. It can help feed beneficial bacteria. There's also evidence that it can help bring back zoanthids (and possibly other corals).
3. Sugar can be useful, IF you know why you're using it. It's a carbon source that can help feed beneficial bacteria. Overdosing can have disastrous effects, but in very small amounts, it can help the tank. Since my rescue tanks often have high nitrates/phosphates (due to decaying matter), I use sugar to encourage good bacteria to outcompete cyanobacteria.
4. IMO, the hospital tank should have better filtration than a main display tank. Although there may be less fish, rescue corals often have tons of decaying tissue. They also often come in with nuisance algae. Plus...there's the required extra feedings. With all that combined, a poorly-filtered tank would be an unsuitable home for a sick coral. Rescues really need the best care you can provide them. Think of your hospital tank like a hospital. Although you prefer your home and live there 24/7, most hospitals are probably cleaned more than your home. This is to prevent the spread of disease.
I hope that helps. Again, I'd love to hear different opinions.
I am currently attempting my hand at some rescue corals. An Acan, Pagoda and a Wellso. I am ashamed to say I never took any before pics of the Acan or Pagoda since they were not in that bad of shape but I do have pics of the Wellso!
These pics are about 3 months apart I do not have exact dates. This was about a week after I got it and this was as inflated as it would get.
This was yesterday and after a hermit crab fell onto and ****ed it off so it is slightly closed What a difference in inflation and colors.
These pics are about 3 months apart I do not have exact dates. This was about a week after I got it and this was as inflated as it would get.
This was yesterday and after a hermit crab fell onto and ****ed it off so it is slightly closed What a difference in inflation and colors.
Dendrobates
New member
Picked up a few rescue corals to try my hand at. The first is a deeply receeded caulastrea that I put on a larger disk, but after a few days in my tanks, I can see the flesh start to swell a bit more. It will just be difficult for it to retake the coralline encrusted skeleton,as soon as I see some feeder tentacles I will try to spot feed.
The next one is a doozy. Elegance coral that was recieved before a large snail die off in the retail tank. Spent 4 or so days in these conditions before they were corrected. It's still got some flesh and before taking it home yesterday, I could see some green start to protrude from the center.
This picture was immediately after transporting, but it is severly receeded and I can see bit of flesh coming off of the coral. Any tips on this one? It's an aquacultured elegance from Quality Marine, and the only Catalaphyllia in that tank, so I don't believe it's ECS.
My current water parameters are:
Temp 78 F
pH 8.2
Ca 440 ppm
Alk 9 dkh
Mag (unknown)
Nitrate 0 ppm
Weekly 10% water changes to replenish Ca, Alk, Mag. Running a carbon reactor, fuge with chaeto and caulerpa,wet skimming. It's a more nutrient heavy system for Euphyllia and other LPS.
The next one is a doozy. Elegance coral that was recieved before a large snail die off in the retail tank. Spent 4 or so days in these conditions before they were corrected. It's still got some flesh and before taking it home yesterday, I could see some green start to protrude from the center.
This picture was immediately after transporting, but it is severly receeded and I can see bit of flesh coming off of the coral. Any tips on this one? It's an aquacultured elegance from Quality Marine, and the only Catalaphyllia in that tank, so I don't believe it's ECS.
My current water parameters are:
Temp 78 F
pH 8.2
Ca 440 ppm
Alk 9 dkh
Mag (unknown)
Nitrate 0 ppm
Weekly 10% water changes to replenish Ca, Alk, Mag. Running a carbon reactor, fuge with chaeto and caulerpa,wet skimming. It's a more nutrient heavy system for Euphyllia and other LPS.
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