Saving a STN acro colony... :-(

[kleach]

So I'm an idiot...One of my favorite colonies in my tank just died because I placed a frag, not glued to the rock but a plate, right near the colony. The water flow caused the frag to knock over and touch the colony. When I got home from work yesterday the back half of the colony was dead, but the front half was still looking good with polyps and great color.

I considered fragging the pieces that were still alive but decided to leave it incase the colony just stopped with the STN. Woke up this morning and pretty much the entire colony was dead, except for 2 tips. Before going to work I fragged them and glued them to a plate and they are still alive right now...the sole survivors of my stupid mistake.

My main question is, would it have been better to frag the living pieces immediately to separate the living pieces from the dead? It seems that the 2 fragged pieces are doing well and I'm kicking myself thinking "if only I had fragged it when half of it was still alive..."

Let me know your opinions or personal experiences. Thanks in advance and hopefully I will never have to deal with something like that again because of my stupidity!

 

[catman78]

In my experience you did the right thing. Sounds unusual that you lost the whole thing. Most battles I've seen between two acros stay local around point of contact.
Only time I've lost something entirely is with SPS vs LPS/Softie

I'm guessing the battle was between two acro's?

Don't sweat it, we've all been there.

 

[MIKE NY]

welcome to the world of SPS keeping..nothing is worse than growing out a little frag and after 5-6 years literally overnight the next morning it's all white...sometimes fragging the dead area will save it and sometimes no matter what you'll lose the colony..

 

[Editour2]

welcome to the world of SPS keeping..nothing is worse than growing out a little frag and after 5-6 years literally overnight the next morning it's all white...sometimes fragging the dead area will save it and sometimes no matter what you'll lose the colony..

+1.......sometimes there's no rhyme or reason. Frustrating...nonetheless.

 

[quagmire]

welcome to the world of SPS keeping..sometimes fragging the dead area will save it and sometimes no matter what you'll lose the colony..

Yep
Don't beat yourself up Kev.
You saved a piece.
Sort of a win.

 

[kleach]

Thanks guys....As it turns out the little pieces I fragged are on their way out too. Just a little blue left on the end of one of the frags.

Now I'm surveying the entire tank to see what other potential issues I might have. I do have a millie on a rock and a Red Planet that is encrusting on the rock next to it. The encrusting Red Planet is sprouting new branches and on its way to the millie. I'd take pictures now but I'm on my way out to the city, so I'll try and post them later today if the lights are still on when I get home.

Thanks again