Rescue Corals

[MechEng99]

No luck here. Even with trying your 3 step dip and following it to a t. I did get the right Bayer product too. I cut the skeleton with the fragging saw here at work and everything. On a side note, that Bayer product is a miracle in a bottle! I rid my tank of red bugs by pulling all my acros and dipping. So technically, I saved a bunch of sps! Lol. On a side, side note: Mecheng, here is your dream find. It's our lagoon tank here at work that we put all our distressed stuff in. Even fish!

Yikes...sorry to hear that. I've managed to save 4 Trachy's now, but I think it took losing about 10. Do you have photos of the ones you tried? I'd like to compare the failed ones to the saved ones.

Love the giant lagoon tank...wish I could do something like that at home...LOL.

 

[Steveb]

From what I have read so far very interesting....

I will confess I have not read the whole thread yet (but will)...

I am curious to find out if anyone has experimented with this yet for bleached corals?....from Algagen -- PhycoPure Zooxanthellae

It sounds interesting (sales lit always does...).

 

[MechEng99]

I am curious to find out if anyone has experimented with this yet for bleached corals?....from Algagen -- PhycoPure Zooxanthellae.

Huh...I hadn't heard of that.

I thought the zooxanthallae species were pretty specific to the type of coral they inhabited...with a few exceptions. Hmm... For $15, I might try it, but just feeding bleached coral works just fine for me.

 

[MechEng99]

10 Feb 2013

15 June 2013

 

[akitareefer]

10 Feb 2013

15 June 2013

Now that's a great recovery. Did you know it would come out that beautiful?

 

[Motish]

Really nice MechEng99!

What kind of light you use?

 

[MechEng99]

Now that's a great recovery. Did you know it would come out that beautiful?

The guy who had it before me told me it was one of the best pieces he'd seen in a while...but how he described it was still nothing compared to how it turned out. I think that's one of my favorite things about rescuing - you never really know what you're going to end up with! I took off one medium polyp and placed it in a separate tank just to make sure I never lose the colony. It looks just as insane under regular lighting as actinics.

Really nice MechEng99!

What kind of light you use?

That photo was taken under 2 x 54W ATI T-5's, but the colony lives under 2 x 400W MH + the 2 x 54W ATI's.

 

[Motish]

That photo was taken under 2 x 54W ATI T-5's, but the colony lives under 2 x 400W MH + the 2 x 54W ATI's.

Thanks...
Lots of W. How deep is it placed?

 

[MechEng99]

Thanks...
Lots of W. How deep is it placed?

LOL...about 25" down...tucked into a little cave. It does NOT like light!

 

[mike nickerson]

@Mecheng99.
Where do you get all your rescues at and how do you talk them into selling them for dirt cheap? My lfs wants sell there bleached out and or dying LPs for full price ��

 

[MechEng99]

@Mecheng99.
Where do you get all your rescues at and how do you talk them into selling them for dirt cheap? My lfs wants sell there bleached out and or dying LPs for full price ��

Most do that...as their own protection. I have a reputation with all my LFS (about 10 that I frequent), and they know I won't give them a bad reputation if I find whatever pests on them. They know I won't bash their store, bash their policies, etc. Moreso, I do this as a service for them and my local fish community. It's not about getting the corals for dirt cheap. It's about bringing the corals back to life so that they can be redistributed.

I donate some of these rescues to disabled children who have tanks, to elementary schools, or people just getting started in the hobby. I won't lie, I keep some for myself too. But, if people know you're doing it for the good of the coral and of the hobby, the rescues will flow your way.

And...lastly...DON'T DO THIS FOR THE MONEY!!! It's not cheaper to buy "rescues" than a healthy coral. Maybe for one or two it will be, but it ends up working about the same given all the supplies I need for the sick corals (medicine, dips, fragging supplies, etc.)

 

[wildman926]

Got a trachy a couple of days ago. It is bleached due to the LFS using AI Vega at 90%. I should be able to bring it back. I can see a difference in a few days. Here is a pic of it when I first got it.

 

[MechEng99]

Yikes...make sure to feed it well! Be careful...trachy's like to go quickly if they start to recede at all.

 

[Jstn]

I have a few acans I am trying to nurse back after worms eating them, brown jelly along with not eating for weeks.

One Is declining rapidly and ejecting heads, I can help to think its because it hasnt eaten in a while. I feed rods to the tank twice a week, but can never get feelers out to accept food. Do you have any tricks on how to get a stubborn acan to eat?

 

[Duna_]

Acans love the smell of raw salmon ... Just put a bit near its mouths and it will spread the tentacles.


A few years ago I also rescued a coral. It was a Tubastrea, starving to death ... Nobody had fed it for weeks, I felt sorry for it and bought it.

We took it out of the tank twice a week and put it in a glass with tank water, and covered it with three or four huge spoonfuls of fish purée, for fifteen minutes or so. We made the puree triturating raw hake and shrimp and then froze portions of it.

We also put a small hook with epoxy to catch it easily with a long thin stick with another hook, not needing to soak hands.
In a few weeks it looked like this:

I lost it along with the fish and most of the corals when the lights went off two years ago.
Now I have another rescue project with some caulastreas, that lost most of their tissue. When they get better I'll post a pic.

 

[MechEng99]

I have a few acans I am trying to nurse back after worms eating them, brown jelly along with not eating for weeks.

One Is declining rapidly and ejecting heads, I can help to think its because it hasnt eaten in a while. I feed rods to the tank twice a week, but can never get feelers out to accept food. Do you have any tricks on how to get a stubborn acan to eat?

Well, let's back up. What did you do to treat them initially? Any dips?

Amino acids tend to perk corals up initially to eat. But, keep in mind, a sick coral doesn't have to extend tentacles to eat. If you drop some food into its mouth, it should, within about 15 minutes, move the food to its mouth with mucus. My guess is that it is more energy-efficient than trying to capture prey. If it doesn't eat, remove the food, and try a day or two later.

I find that with really sick corals, using processed foods seems to work a little better (like pellets, extra-fine purees, etc.) They don't seem to process whole food (like mysis) very well.

 

[wildman926]

Got a trachy a couple of days ago. It is bleached due to the LFS using AI Vega at 90%. I should be able to bring it back. I can see a difference in a few days. Here is a pic of it when I first got it.

Had to fix the pic I provided as I had moved it's location.

 

[wildman926]

Here is a pic after only a few days, with it swelled up, and tentacles out. I can already see it to start coloring up -

 

[Jstn]

Well, let's back up. What did you do to treat them initially? Any dips?

Amino acids tend to perk corals up initially to eat. But, keep in mind, a sick coral doesn't have to extend tentacles to eat. If you drop some food into its mouth, it should, within about 15 minutes, move the food to its mouth with mucus. My guess is that it is more energy-efficient than trying to capture prey. If it doesn't eat, remove the food, and try a day or two later.

I find that with really sick corals, using processed foods seems to work a little better (like pellets, extra-fine purees, etc.) They don't seem to process whole food (like mysis) very well.

I dipped them in Bayer advanced to kill worms, this didnt work well and I lost a few acans from this treatment. In addition I use revive to help them, although I havent seen any improvements.

I dose Zeovit AA, and never see PE for my acans, I today tried the trick with pellets, some of the heads responded and took the food, the near death acan I don't think responded to the food. I have been also dealing with acans ejecting heads starting at the base and working their way up, any ideas what leads to this.

 

[MechEng99]

I dipped them in Bayer advanced to kill worms, this didnt work well and I lost a few acans from this treatment.

May I ask how you treated them? I've dipped a few hundred corals in this with no adverse affects. Time, dosage, etc.?