Will this grow back?

[BillNye]

Or should I clip it off and hope new heads grow?

Any idea what is wrong?

 

[CHizer]

Those won't come back. You can safely cut them out.

 

[stingeragent]

Incorrect. Although it's unlikely you'll get growth out the top of that same dead head, there is a very real possibility you will get new heads out the sides of it. I have had this happen on both hammers and frogspawn. Don't clip it. My tank lights are out currently, but if you want proof I can take some macro pics tomorrow.

 

[HaiD888]

clip it off.

 

[Ray68]

I left mine and three heads grew out the side of it

 

[Ron Reefman]

Live with it for a month or two and see what happens. If nothing grows and you consider it unsightly, then remove it. But I've seen new growth out of heads that looked dead to me. So I give them time to prove they are dead before I react.

 

[SnoopyDaPimp]

I left mine and three heads grew out the side of it

I can attest to this also.

 

[Dugless]

In general, there is no harm trimming these pieces. For those that have had growth from the sides of dead heads, if these would've been removed the coral most likely would have used the same energy to produce new growth elsewhere. I'd suggest trimming it out. I prefer new growth from healthy structure and don't like having an inviting spot for algae growth within a coral.

 

[Bogue Chitto]

That's a choice you will have to make...

 

[Sk8r]

The colony will soon begin to overshadow it so you won't even be able to see it. Its expansion covers a lot of forgotten territory, and you risk damaging other heads. It's apparently happy. Just let it grow.

 

[nuxx]

I leave ours...

 

[lespaul339]

I left some dead heads on mine and new growth is on all 3 heads I thought were dead. I'd keep it on there.

 

[fredfish13]

Leave it. Like they said, new ones will grow on the sides of the head.

 

[stingeragent]

What I have found perplexing, as I have had this same exact thing happen. Why does 1 head completely die of, yet all the other ones surrounding it look great? As close in proximity as they are to each other, you can basically assume it wasn't temperature, salinity, nitrate, phosphate, ca, alk, mg, etc.

 

[Ron Reefman]

What I have found perplexing, as I have had this same exact thing happen. Why does 1 head completely die of, yet all the other ones surrounding it look great? As close in proximity as they are to each other, you can basically assume it wasn't temperature, salinity, nitrate, phosphate, ca, alk, mg, etc.

Why does the person sleeping in the bedroom next to yours die and you don't?

A reef isn't one big homogeneous mix. Even on a single coral colony there can be hundreds of individuals and they are just that, individuals. So they are different and therefore live different lives.

 

[stingeragent]

Guess i never thought of it like that.