Rescuing damaged plate coral...

[tgunn]

Hey all,
I got a damaged plate coral off another reefer who was having problems with his Angel picking on the plate.

It looks like it must've been nipped on some of it's ridges and subsequently algae is growing there. Of course my armada of snails aren't getting to it...

Is there anything I should be doing to help this guy recover? I target feed a few times a week with cyclopeeze...

My parameters are stable at:
Temp: 78F
Salinity: 1.025
Ca: 400ppm
KH: 8.94 dKH

I've got it sitting on the sand bed right now; should I perhaps move it up into the rocks?

Thanks in advance!

Tyler

 

[ALTI]

leave it on the sand. keep feeding it and try blowing off the algae and sand.

 

[pnsnowboard]

yea definantly keep him on the sand bed

 

[tgunn]

Okay, I always make sure to keep him clean...

The algae doesn't seem to want to blow off; I guess I shouldn't try to scrape it or anything then.

Thanks!
Tyler

 

[Mr. Ugly]

On the sand, in a cave, with low current, and feeding. Maintain your Ca, alk, and Mg levels.

 

[tgunn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6974423#post6974423 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mr. Ugly
On the sand, in a cave, with low current, and feeding. Maintain your Ca, alk, and Mg levels.

In a cave, so he's that low light of a creature?

Anyone know the scientific name so I can do a search for more info on him?

Thanks!
Tyler

 

[fuzz1974]

I have my plate on the sand and in decent flow. If his tentacles are out feed him meaty food like a piece of krill or silverside. A 1/2 inch piece will work for him. That will be a nice orange plate. I will get a pic of mine and post.

Fuzz

 

[fuzz1974]

Pic of the plate

Pic of the plate

Here is a pick of the plate, I usually feed him a piece of krill or silverside 2 times a week. He is a slow eater so if you have shrimp keep an eye on him till he gets it down.

Fuzz

 

[tgunn]

Fuzz,

Thanks for the pic and pointers. I'll have to pick up some krill or silversides from the LFS one of these days and give 'em a try to see how he likes it.

Thanks,
Tyler

 

[jafoca]

the scientific name for plate coral is fungia sp.

Is there any really good way to keep shrimp off of eating corals? mine is a pin in the butt every time i feed my LPS....

 

[pnsnowboard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6974423#post6974423 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mr. Ugly
On the sand, in a cave, with low current, and feeding. Maintain your Ca, alk, and Mg levels.

no i would definantly not put him in a cave they are low flow creatures but not low light creatures at all they love as much light as they can get

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Fungia are variable regarding light requirements. I've seen various documentations recommending all the way from low to high.

Here's some incidental info on lighting and fungia:

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache...s+fungia+"low+light"&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1

I've had my plate out on the sand in moderate flow and it does fine there. I moved it into a partially shaded cave with lower flow, and it's growing even faster now.

Mainly the low flow cave is useful for injured LPS. Blasto, acan, candycane etc seem to recover faster under those conditions.

Another way to "hospitalize" injured LPS is to cut a section of large diameter PVC pipe use it for a "coral corral" kind of thing. It protects and shades the coral, and helps keep food available when you target feed. You can put a screen on top to keep the pesky shrimp out too. Shrimp and LPS is not a good combination. A total pain, if you ask me.

You can feed blenderized food, like the Bourneman recipe. LPS are pigs, they'll eat pretty much anything. I pretty much grab whatever is handy at the time that I haven't fed in a while. You can feed daily if you are able to maintain your water quality.

I think our club VP used to feed his LPS like 2x a day. He could grow LPS like crazy. He's running the new Tonga aquaculture facility, so he knows what's up too.

 

[catdoc]

I don't know what to suggest that hasn't already been suggested, so hope it goes well. On the off chance that it doesn't pull through, keep the skeleton! Apparently fungia that have every appearance of being dead, can start to reproduce by budding off little baby fungia from the top. I've seen a few of these, the parent looks completely dead, yet there'll be a half dozen little baby fungia on the top.

 

[tgunn]

Mr. Ugly,
I may try moving him into the shaded area of the cave near where he is and see if he helps him recover. The coral corral is a great idea too; I'll have to see if I have some larger diameter PVC kicking around. I'll have to look up the bourneman food recipe; I've been meaning to try a DIY food. I take it it's one that's frozen into cubes or chunks? I assume they need to be thawed before feeding?

Christy,
That's good to know; even if he perishes I'll keep around the skeleton and see if babies bud off like you said; at least all wouldn't be lost then...

Thanks,
Tyler

 

[sage1970]

You can place a strawberry basket or a plastic colendar over the the top of the plate while he is eating, this gives him longer and keeps the shrimps off him.

 

[Kent E]

How about an area that is half shaded, and see how it reacts.

 

[tgunn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7002475#post7002475 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kent E
How about an area that is half shaded, and see how it reacts.

I've got a great spot for him; there's an over hang off to the right from where he is right now. It's basically just a dimmer area where it's a bit more calm...

How large of chunks should I try feeding this guy?

Thanks!
Tyler

 

[yardboy]

Here's a shot that covers some of what has been discussed.
Most are in full light, though on the bottom. The one in the shade moved out into the light over a period of a week. Current is medium and you can see a "dead" fungia putting off babies, some of which are already on the bottom growing too. Where they detach from the mother, new babies are forming, so no idea how many will be produced by this one fungia.

 

[tgunn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7005879#post7005879 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yardboy
Here's a shot that covers some of what has been discussed.
Most are in full light, though on the bottom. The one in the shade moved out into the light over a period of a week. Current is medium and you can see a "dead" fungia putting off babies, some of which are already on the bottom growing too. Where they detach from the mother, new babies are forming, so no idea how many will be produced by this one fungia.

Wooah, so it moved out into the light on it's own? I didn't realize they were mobile!

Well, I'll keep up the work with this guy and hope for the best.

I'm going to the LFS tonight to pick up some kind of frozen meaty food for my LPS...

Tyler

 

[JmLee]

keep us updated plz