FAQs about Caryophyllid Coral Disease, Pests, Predation 5 Related Articles: Coral Pests and Disease; pests, predators, diseases and conditions by Sara Mavinkurve, Caryophyllid Corals, Elegance Coral,  FAQs on Euphylliid Disease: Caryophyllid Disease 1, Caryophyllid Disease 2, Caryophyllid Disease 3, Caryophyllid Disease 4, Caryophyllid Disease 6, Caryophyllid Disease 7, Euphylliid Health 8, Euphylliid Health 9, Euphylliid Health 10, & Elegance Coral Disease/Pests, FAQs on Euphylliid Disease by Category: Diagnosing, Environmental (Pollution/Poisoning, Lighting...), Nutritional, Social (Allelopathy), Trauma, Pathogenic (Infectious, Parasitic, Viral) Predatory/Pest, Treatments  FAQs on Stony Coral Disease by Category: Diagnosing, Environmental (Pollution/Poisoning, Lighting...), Nutritional, Social (Allelopathy), Trauma, Pathogenic (Infectious, Parasitic, Viral) Predatory/Pest, Treatments   Caryophylliids 1,  Caryophylliids 2,  Caryophylliids 3, Caryophylliids 4, Caryophyllid ID, Caryophyllid Compatibility, Caryophyllid Systems, Caryophyllid Selection, Caryophyllid Behavior, Caryophyllid Feeding, Caryophyllid Propagation/Reproduction,

Brown Spots on bubble tips of Torch Coral.   9/11/07  I just got this new torch coral from a reputable reef shop here, and they had it for several months and was doing fine. I'm not 100% sure it wasn't like this to begin with, but I just noticed and now I'm worrying; On quite a few of the bubble tips of the arms I have noticed small brown dots, please see the attached Picture. <Yes, I see.> My SG is 1.025 PH 8.4 Alk 11 DKH Calc 375 (yeah its a little low) Nitrate 5 Nitrite's ammonia 0 [img]http://www.wootgold.com/algae/torch.jpg[/img]  Is this something I should worry about? <I would not worry.> Or is it just acclimation stress. <Could just be a color variation, I wouldn't be overly concerned.> Oh and all my other corals: Zoas, A Brain, a Hammer Coral, and a couple Candycanes - look fine. <Just give them all some space. Lots of potential for sweeper tentacles here! I hope you run Carbon as well.> Thank you <Welcome! Mich> Ryan

Hammer coral problem... just beh.     8/30/07 I have a younger branching hammer coral. It hasn't branched yet its still a single piece. As I was watching my tank tonight, aprox 15 min before the lights would turn off, I noticed that a few of the tentacles started to turn a dark brownish color and shrink in. Then a brownish, stringy film started coming straight out of the center of the coral. It would grow to about an inch or so then break off as it continued. Before the lights had turned off, the entire coral had shrunk up and doesn't look very healthy. <So long as it returns to normal by the morning, it's fine. Corals do this all the time. It's something like pooping (for lack of a better word). They also do it to expel zooxanthellae.> This all took place 1 day after a 50% water change. Everything else in the tank is incredibly healthy and as vibrant as ever! What can I do? <You don't need to do anything. Hakuna matata my friend.> ~Mike F <Best, Sara M.>

Bubble Coral, hlth., fdg., beh.  8/29/07 Greetings Crew, I've had a bubble coral for about 2 months now and he has been doing very well. Recently with the last few weeks he is just not inflating very much. He has 5 separate stalks in which 4 of them will at times stretch out extremely far, but one very rarely extends. The bubbles themselves have not achieved the sized that I had recently had. I have them under power compact lighting in a 29 gallon BioCube ( 144 watt ) 2 actinic and 2 10000 k sunlight. My water parameters are as follows Ph 8.4 Nitrites 0 Nitrates 0 Ammonia 0 SG 1.025 Calcium 520 ppm <whoa, seriously?!> Phosphate 0 Temperature 78-79 F <What is your alkalinity?> I have seen my temperature climbing in excess of 81 degrees on occasion since I do live in Florida and it's summer. I've recently propped up the enclosure so I have a 3/4" gap around the tank and hood and opened the rear sump door and front feeding door to get in some more airflow to see if this alleviates some problems. I'm also feeding some i some silversides once a week to whichever stalks happen to have their "mouths" open. If it turns out not to be a heat issue, what else could it be. I also feed them phytoplankton and regularly does Coral-Accel and Coral Vita<<Not useful... the latter two are pollution in bottles. RMF>> <Ok, no more silversides unless you chop them up as small as diced onions. A lot of people make the rookie mistake of thinking that because the mouth of the bubble coral is so big, it must want really big food. It doesn't. It's similar to the fact that you could probably fit a whole lemon in your mouth but getting it down is another matter. Try feeding the polyps much smaller pieces (Mysid shrimp are a good start). I'd ditch the coral-Accel and coral vital.> Missing info ... I have the coral skeleton in live sand at the bottom of the tank in mild water flow area. It is in the open so it is also receiving direct lighting. I rearranged the live rock a little bit so I could get him out of direct light per your article. <Also try to make sure that they can fully expand without scraping the sand.> Tim <Best, Sara M.> Re: Bubble Coral, hlth., fdg., beh.  8/29/07 Lol... Yeh... I use a 2 part kit for calcium and alkalinity ( B-ionic ) I ran out of alkalinity test solution so I couldn't provide that :( <Yikes! Dude, how did you even measure that? My test kit only goes to 500ppm! lol Anyway... your alkalinity is probably dangerously low. You should get an alkalinity kit ASAP. If it's low you can raise it with baking soda (couple teaspoons at a time).> and yes I do chop the silverside up extremely small and the bubble eats it very very slowly <Ah, good... sorry I underestimated your sophistication. :-) Best, Sara M.> Re: Bubble Coral... hlth.   7/29/07 Actually had some more test fluid ... grr... my alkalinity is dKH 12 ppm KH 214.8 Is this too high ? <It's a little high. Which is surprising given your calcium level. But it happens. You must be using one of those two-part solutions. Stop using it until things fall down to normal. You'll have to keep testing the water regularly to get a sense of what your routine needs to be (how often to add the solution).> I included a picture of how he is at the moment. I have never seen him extended this far, feeder tentacles are out also. <It's really closed up in the photo. Is this the one you meant to send? It looks like it suffered quite a bit of tissue recession around the base. But given the color of the skeleton I'm guessing that happened some time before you got it, right? The polyps still look ok, except for being closed.> I decided to feed him some Kent Phytoplex at this point. <That's not going to do anything. The corals we keep in aquariums don't eat phytoplankton (at least not directly). If you want to feed it something small besides the minced silversides, try Cyclop-eeze or brine or Mysid shrimp. Warming up the water a bit wouldn't hurt either. 80 to 83F is usually the best temp range for these indo-pacific corals. Best, Sara M.> Re: Bubble Coral... hlth.   7/29/07 Your right on the money there, I'm using Bi-Onic two part solution <Ah, that would explain it. The two part solutions are great for smaller tanks (except that they're sometimes easy to over dose). It gets difficult to afford using them in bigger tanks. I mean, seriously, $20 a bottle?! At that price you'd think it involved the feces of some exotic bat found deep in the rain forest, harvested by an Incan priestess and dissolved in holy water.> I'm not sure what you mean by tissue recession and he picture doesn't quite show it, but tissue is actually up very high (may be the angle I took the picture at, here is second one <On pristine bubble corals, there is tissue covering the whole base and completely covering the "teeth" of the polyps. When, because of stress, starvation, etc., tissue recession starts, it often starts at the base and works its way up. If it keeps going, it will leave only part of the polyp tissue left (it looks like this happened on at least one of the polyps of your coral). When it recovers, it doesn't grow back the way it came. As far as the coral is concerned, its dead skeleton is now just another rock. It can grow new skeleton and tissue over the old skeleton, but this takes time. And in the mean time, you can have a bubble coral that's a little funky looking. A lot of aquarists don't recognize this because they don't have any mental image of what the coral should look like. They only know what other store and aquarium corals look like. And it's rare to see a coral in an aquarium that's in pristine condition. But don't get down about it. Your guy is a survivor. The coral looks like it's been through hell (likely quite some time before you first saw it). But it also looks like it's been healing and growing back. It just needs a little TLC to keep it going. Ideally, you should feed it at night (after lights out).> Grrr... guessed I wasted my money on that. <Happens to the best of us... ;-) Phytoplankton can be useful for other reasons, but I probably wouldn't use PhytoPlex this way.> I feed frozen brine every day to my fish, will the coral get enough nourishment out of this. <Probably not (not for this kind of coral). The best thing you can do for this coral is to target feed it at night. Don't over do it (obviously), but don't get discouraged if it doesn't start opening up right away. Give it a week or two.> I was worried when my temperatures got to high. Would 80 be a happy medium for most species ? <Yep. Do keep us updated! :-) Best, Sara M.>

Candy cane/ torch coral loss, help please!  8/23/07 Hi Crew, I have a 37 gallon salt water reef tank. My nitrates are in the o.k. range, and my filtration system is (2) 50 gallon aqua clear filters, lighting is coral life, 30in 130 watt fixture, (1) T-5 30in 36 watt fixture, salinity perfect, 50 lbs of live rock. I have torch coral that shrivels, falls apart, dies one head at a time, (no brown slime). I also have been battling red algae (with frequent water changes & rock cleaning) which seems to also be on the stem of the torch coral. <These events may be related...> I do maintain an arsenal of snails in the tank. How can I salvage what is left of my torch coral?? <Break off the living heads, or the dead ones... move the live part/s to another system> I also have candy cane coral which appears to have some sort of pale yellow calcified growths with one small tube protruding out per growth. The growth surrounds the base of the heads and at this point I have lost 3. The growth is starting to appear on the live rock at various points in the tank. What should I do to save the rest of my coral and do I need to eradicate the growth, and if so, how?? Thanks, JP <"Frag momma frag, whatcha gonna do?" Need to discern what the real/root cause/s of the trouble in this one system is/are... and fix... "Small systems are hard to keep stable, optimized"... Perhaps a cursory reading on WWM re toxic tanks will bring something live to your consciousness. Bob Fenner>

Can Frogspawn pull a Lazarus? Mmm, yes... Euphylliid hlth, octopus Systems    5/7/07 Hi, I recently purchased a small green frogspawn coral from a local LFS. It seemed to be fine viewing it in the store but upon bringing it home and acclimating it the coral refused to open and soon afterwards had this whitish stringy goo coming off it. It then proceeded to degenerate rapidly until it appeared only a skeleton was left. I moved the remnants of the coral to the 30gal <Mmm, a comment for all... re order of operation... Better by far to isolate all new such incoming livestock up front... to "harden", observe...> I had set up for the octopus <? For a cephalopod? This is too small a volume for most all available species> (temp quarantine tank now I guess). Shortly after this move the coral seemed to be showing signs of life. whitish filamentous tissue began growing inside it. Over the last few days it has rapidly began to look like a piece of cauliflower attached to rock. I am observing it now hoping it is indeed alive and it isn't just "mold" growing on it. Is it possible for a stony coral to regrow from a skeleton if the tissue inside the disk was still alive? <Oh yes> How might I help this process (other then leaving the poor guy alone already)? <Posted...> Should I try and feed it some micro-vert if I think it's exposing tentacles? <This and other materials, yes...> The octo tank is fitted with a single actinic strip <Not useful... needs other wavelengths, intensity...> and an undergravel filter. I have a nano-skimmer on order (should arrive the middle of next week). The last test for things showed ph at 8.2, ammonia and nitrite 0, and  nitrate at 1. The tank is still relatively new. Just some of the old h2o was saved from the move to the 55gal to help the cycling for said future dwarf octo home. <Much, much to relate... Thankfully you can find/access all on your own... Please learn to/use the search tool, indices on WWM... Your answers (and more) are already posted/archived there. Bob Fenner>
Re: can Frogspawn pull a Lazarus? Mmm, yes... Euphylliid hlth, octopus Systems  -- 05/07/07 Hi Bob Thank you for the reply. I had tried looking but didn't see the info I was searching for. I will try again tonight to find info on regenerating corals/frogspawn. <Yes... use the search tool on the "Asking the WWM..." page that can/will highlight cached view terms... Euphylliids and many other stony corals can/do regenerate thus... esp. important in the wild re "bleaching events"> The coral has began to show a greenish brown around the base to middle portion of the main stem. <Mmm, might be just algae...> I will add more light and continue to observe it. My research showed they liked lower light levels and relatively still waters. Is this incorrect? <... I REALLY don't like to just state qualitative terms... please see WWM re actual values> The octo I intend to acquire is the Atlantic joubini species. Is a 30 not recommended for them? <Mmm... might do here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Pygmy_Octopus> I am taking my time with finding one. The tank will need to cycle for at least another 2 or 3 months before I am ready for him. Thanks again. Jon <Do take care to ensure the top is COMPLETELY escape proof... Not just with the water level lowered... BobF>

Strange "hand" Coral Barnacle (Pyrgomatid)   4/24/07 <Hi Harry, Mich here.> I purchased a nice size torch coral 3 days ago, and have noticed this strange looking white thing that appears out of its hole (about 1/8 of an inch in dia.) It appears every few seconds and seems to be coming out then popping back inside its hole. The "thing" in question has approx. 10 to 12 very thin white fingers . Attached are 2 pics. the first one is the hole and the second is the "thing" coming out of the hole,,,, hope the pics help <Yes, photos are usually very helpful.  This is a barnacle.  It shouldn't do any harm and will likely not survive more than a few months in captivity.> Thx for your help,,,,,,,,, Harry B <Welcome!  Mich>

Hammerhead coral, hlth., beh.    3/31/07 Hi Guys <Hi Sue, Mich here!> Love you all lots <Gimme some lovin!> - so  much information in these QA's its mind boggling! <Or as Chaz Michael Michaels would say it's "mind bottling"> Thanks.   <Welcome!> I have a problem with my Hammerhead coral which is in a nano reef 15gals.  I've had this coral for about six weeks and its been fine then, of all things a snail push this off its perch at the top of the tank and it had a fall onto a ledge below.   As you can see from the photo, one of the three branches has since withdrawn and does not come out.  Is this shock? and/or is it dying?   <Either are possibilities.> Do you think it was the fall that caused this or something else; <Yes, likely the fall caused this.> water quality is fine. Is there anything I can do? <I would keep a close eye on it.  Watch for signs of Brown Jelly disease and if it occurs, quickly and I do mean quickly, remove this head (you should be able to break it off relatively easily) and dip it in a solution of 10 drops of Lugol's in a quart of water.  More here:   http://www.wetwebmedia.com/caryophyllids.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/corldisfaqs.htm  > Should I attach the coral to the life rock permanently (assuming it lives long enough!)? <Once it either returns to health or kicks the bucket, attaching it would be wise.> The corals are fed on a weekly basis. <I would encourage you to soak your foods in a vitamin supplement such as Selcon, which also has HUFAs (highly unsaturated fatty acids) and while you're at it take your vitamins too!   More here also: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/corlfdgfaqs.htm   Also I need to mention in your photo there is a Catalina goby pictured.  This fish is completely inappropriate for your system.  Catalina Gobies (Lythrypnus dali) are a cool water species, preferring water temps between 64-71 F.   Please read here:   http://www.wetwebmedia.com/lythrypnus.htm Your corals are found in tropical waters.  An appropriate temperature would be around 78-79 F.  The elevated temperature will cause this beautiful fish an early death.  I would encourage you to find this fish a more suitable home outside of this system.> Thanks <Welcome!  Mich> Sue

Caution:  Falling Rocks'¦ Possible Damage to Frogspawn (Euphyllia divisa)   3/18/07 Hello, <Greetings!  Mich here.> I have a 24 gal nano and I have had it for three months and every thing has been great but today some of my rock has collapsed and my frogspawn is very mad along with every thing else. <Yikes!  Can't say I blame him for being mad.  Kind of rocked his world...> Will they die <Hopefully not!> or can I rebuild and replace them? <You can make him better than he was before, better, stronger, faster!  OK, maybe not faster...  Rebuild!  Keep your water quality up.  You didn't say much about anything else in the tank, but the frogspawn may product mucus that could be harmful to tank mates.  If possible I would add either carbon or a PolyFilter, both would be better.  More here and the links in blue:  http://www.wetwebmedia.com/caryophyllids.htm   http://www.wetwebmedia.com/caryoeuph2.htm Good luck!  Mich>
Re: Caution:  Falling Rocks. Damage to Frogspawn (Euphyllia divisa) and Others.   3/21/07 <Hi again Tyler, Mich here.> Sorry for not giving the details I was kind of traumatized at the time. <Understandable.> I have the following in my tank frogspawn, xenia that just died due to an ammonia spike, <Sorry for your loss.> green and brown star polyps, <Pachyclavularia violacea is quite capable of allelopathy.> multiple mushrooms, four zoas well three one was lost in the accident,  Fish: a Rainford goby, red firefish, and a 6 line all of which are doing fine, <Very good.> but it's the coral I am worried about.  My green Zoa that was doing absolutely fine and now it will not open nor anything else except the frogspawn. Surprisingly he has coping with it more than anything else. <Well this is good.> How long does it take for a tank to get back to normal? <Depends, give it some time.> Thanks for responding. <Welcome  -Mich> Tyler Kohring   
Re: Caution:  Falling Rocks. Damage to Frogspawn (Euphyllia divisa) and Others.   3/21/07 <Hi Tyler, Mich with you again.> I have tried to stay alert with my tank but the frogspawn and candy alike have their skeletons sticking through them <Hang in there my friend.  They can recover.  They may benefit from some supplemental feedings with meaty foods soaked in the vitamin supplement Selcon.> Star polyps have algae all over them. <Move them to an area with more circulation.> every thing except the mushrooms and fish seem doomed to dieing I don't know what to do   <Well, don't give up!  You are fortunate you didn't loose any fish.  I'm sorry about the problems you're having.  The good news is these corals are relatively hardy and could very recover.  They may need some time.  Are you running carbon and a PolyFilter? I think these would help.  A well-matched water change wouldn't hurt either.  -Mich>
Re: Caution:  Falling Rocks. Damage to Frogspawn (Euphyllia divisa) and Others.  Follow-up   4/1/07 Hello sorry I didn't email you my computer had technical difficulties. I am happy to say that my tank is doing better <Great!> it seems I had a broken heater and once I fixed it every thing flourished. <Yes, this could create a whole host of problems.> I have one last question since my frogspawn has come back out his arms aren't long like they use too be. Will they grow long again or will they stay short? <They may extend with time.  Glad to hear things are improving.  Mich>

Example of how NOT to ask for advice 2/14/07 ...? Or not how to respond... I had two torch coral frags, one of them recently died. (All of the soft membrane torches detached from the stony body and landed in the sand, I am no longer able to see them) The remaining frag is now starting to detach also, I have one of three corals on the frag that is literally hanging by a thread to the stony body. My water is fine, as per my local marine aquarists store. What is going on? <I wish I knew. Maybe your retailer wants to sell more corals to you in the future. You didn't include any of these "fine" test results, nor any system specifics. This job of determining cause/effect is extremely difficult to perform *WITH* the pertinent info. Imagine how that difficulty increases when given none of it. Hmm? Firstly, I suggest you decide if your system meets any of the basic needs of the  animal you are trying to keep, by looking at the index under corals and finding the Catalaphyllia section. Then read read read.> <<Mmm... who is this? Torch corals are Euphyllias... RMF>>

Tale of two polyps ... Plerogyra beh., hlth.  11/16/06 <Hi Brian, Michelle here.> Thanks again for answering another question.  Last week I purchased a small green bubble coral.  <I'm assuming you are writing about Plerogyra sp.>  Looked good at the LFS as usual. Placed him medium high in the tank, 2x96 watt PC 10k and actinic.  One polyp does exactly what I expect it to do. Nice bubbles during day, tentacles at night and readily accepts, Mysid shrimp and small pieces of squid.  <Sounds happy.>  The other polyp, not so good.  During the day, only sort of half fills up with bubbles. <I am assuming you mean the bubbles are only partially filled?   Lot of times the mouth looks wide open.  At night, it shrinks down to a white flesh next to the rock and it will not accept food. The tentacles sort of dangle. What's going on here?  <It's not happy.>  Is the one dead or dying.  <maybe, maybe not>  If you loose one, does the other one die? <If it is a separate branch, it should be ok.>    Any help would be appreciated.  <There are several reasons one branch may be unhappy, while the other is ok.  Some things to consider: water flow, neighboring corals (chemical allelopathy) and possibly injury to a branch during transport.   Thanks <You're welcome!> Brian F

Green hammer coral   11/8/06 We have a 72 gal tank with 130 lbs of rock.  Our lighting is 4 X 96 watts, 2 of the 6,700/10,000K and 2 of the 420/460 actinic that are 7 1/2 months old.  We leave the full light on 8 hrs a day.  We have a wet/dry filter with a Pro Clear 150 Skimmer.  I also have 3 Maxi-Jets to push the water around.  My water tests our pH 8.2-8.3, ammonia is 0, nitrites 0, nitrates are very low, salt is 1.022, <Too low...> phosphates are 0.2, and calcium is 420. <Alkalinity?>   We have an old green hammer and a new one.  Both are about in the middle of the tank.  The old one faded and is a light pink color now, but it was never that colorful to begin with.  We just bought another bright green hammer that was full of color. <Mmmm, what about whatever was the cause/s for the old ones demise?>   It has been in there for about a month.  It seems happy and is extended nicely but the color is fading.  Any clue why it would be doing this?  Should I change the type of bulbs? Thanks a lot Chris <... please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/carydisfaqs.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Hammer Coral in Peril - 11/04/06 I have a soft hammerhead coral <<Euphyllia ancora is a "stony" coral, often referred to in the trade as an LPS coral (Long Polyp Stony)>> which is actually two separate corals on two ends of one piece of rock.  One side of the coral appears to be dying.  Some of the tentacles are shrinking and others are very light colored on the end, but very dark red at the base. <<May be environmental/water-quality related...may be bacterial>> I noticed this evening after the lights were turned off and then back on that there is some type of very small crustacean-like creature, which appears to be living in the rock too.  Could this be the cause? <<Maybe...but more likely these are a species of harmless amphipods...a beneficial detritivore>> I cannot find anything about this online.  How can we save the coral? <<Sometimes a temperature and pH compensated freshwater dip (with or without the addition of mendicants) will help, but depending on the degree of deterioration, you might be better breaking-off/removing the afflicted coral head.  Please do start reading here (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/caryophyllids.htm) and here (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/carydisfaqs.htm) and do follow/read among the related links at the tops of the pages.  Regards, EricR>>

PLEASE HELP ASAP!!!  Ammonia spike!!! Cnid., Anemone incomp.   9/30/06 Hey crew.  I need your advice.  I have (maybe had) a 29 gallon reef with a 15 gallon refugium.  I was gone for 2 days and came back to see I had a bubble coral looking like it had died twice!  I removed it, and took a water sample.  Ammonia was .25 ppm.  Well, I just so happened to be out of salt and needed to wait till the morning to go get some.   All of a sudden... white slime (looks kinda like mucus) come off of everything.  Every piece of live rock, every mushroom... everything.  I tried syphoning as much as I could.    <Yikes>   I ran and got an old Fluval and threw some carbon in it and ran it for the night. <Good try> I woke up the next morning to about 10 dead mushrooms, a dead hammer coral, and a rose bubble tip <... incompatible> that was not looking good at all.  I removed all of them.. <Best... but not back together... the root cause...> and noticed lots of goo coming off over every part of the anemone.  So, ... as I tried not to freak out, but rather act quickly.....  I went as fast as I could and got some salt.  I did a 10 gallon water change right then, and had to run into work.  I cam back from work and did a water test and the ammonia was 1.0 ppm.  I was at a loss of what to do.  I contacted my LFS and asked what they recommended.  I  was instructed to do a very very large water change.   <About the best stop-gap measure>   I changed 21 gallons of the 29 or so (less cause of live rock)  and left the water that was in the refugium.  I added a bag of live sand and mixed it with the sand currently in there hoping not to destroy all the helpful bacteria.  I then added 21 gallons of freshly made water and added a packet of bio-Spira marine.  Before the water change... everything looked like they were saying good bye to life... now they look like they want to fight to live.  I have a strange feeling this large of a water change will cause the tank to cycle again.  I was hoping to defeat this fear with bio-Spira.. but only time and your advice will tell.   I did a full water test.  Here are the results:   Ammonia - .25 (maybe .5, holding the test tube looks like both of them.  More so the .25 but I guess I should error on the side of caution)   Nitrite .05   Nitrate 5.0   Alk 2.9   Ph 8.4   Ca - 300   Salinity 1.026   Please give me some advice on what to do.  Anything and everything I can do.  I was planning on doing another 8 gallons tomorrow to try and lower that ammonia.  Are the benefits of doing the change worth the risk of further causing the tank to cycle?  I am soo lost and need your help.      Josh Henley <Mmm, something "caused" the initial stress/reaction of the one Euphylliid... very likely something to do with the presence of the Anemone... cascade of bad-events after this... Please read here:     http://www.wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompfaqs.htm and the linked files above, particularly re Anemone Incompatibility with other Cnidarians. Bob Fenner>

Dead hammer  9/15/06 Hey guys: First thanks for all the great advice and information I've received from your site. I have a hammer coral that I picked up from the LFS about a week ago. Within about 8 hours of being in my tank, two of the three heads expanded out really well, but the third has gotten progressively worse and now I fear has died. <Happens at times> There isn't any of brown slime or evidence of any parasites or infection.  Is there anything that can be done to try and stimulate it to re-grow, or, if its too late, was there something I could have done? Also, probably just wishful thinking, can it re-grow after it has completely receded to just the skeleton? thanks you guys; you're always lots of help. <Yep. Read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/caryophyllids.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>  

Dying torch coral   8/12/06 Hello. Your site is great. I have had a torch coral in my 75g tank for 4 months. About a month ago it started to not look so good. Some of the tentacles were not reaching as far out of the arms as before. One of them eventually died completely. <I see this> I attached a picture of what it looks like now, with part of the picture showing it before. I do regular water changes, have a skimmer, and also have star polyp, mushroom, green finger, and elegance coral that are fine. Is there anything I can do for this coral, or is it doomed? Thanks - Jake <Mmm... I would not "break off" the limb that appears lifeless... it may well become re-populated. Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/caryophyllids.htm and the linked files above re Compatibility, Systems... You may have an instance of negative interaction/allelopathy here... and need to improve water filtration, move the other cnidarians... Bob Fenner>

- High Temp Problems 6/15/06 - Hey guys, I have a problem in my tank. The temp is usually 76-77 Recently The temp shot up to 81 in a few days time.  All inhabitants are doing fine but My torch coral has some what it looks to be bleaching in the base of it, this is one all of the polyps. I have a big fan cooling it down. Will the torch recover? <Only time will tell. Keep that fan running. Cheers, J -- >

Re: Aiptasia and Frogspawn corals  5/31/06 Hello Bob. The return of the Aiptasia, imagine that! A strange thing noticed on the specimen growing among the frogspawn colony: The tentacles closest to the frogspawn polyps are receded and wilted while the pest tries to avoid these polyps. I found several others growing near the top of the tank where the P. skimmer empties into the water. I know why they grow here though only discovered their presence in the passed couple weeks. This is where I put food for dispersion by the flowing water and it sometimes collects near the top of the rock. I purchased what I thought are Peppermint shrimp but I am not so sure as these are larger than usual and the coloration seems more subdued and the specimens darker. These are neat little guys at any rate even if they do happen to be the wrong shrimp. I am still looking for the Berghia but have never seen one offered at any of the LFS(s). Right now I am using my QT tank for control though the one rock is exceptionally large where these pests reside. I may restart my 55 gallon tank and purchase a Copperband butterfly or similar species for control... not sure though as incurring more expenses and maintaining yet another tank might get real old real fast. Maybe if I can repair the light fixture on the 24 gallon (I think the external ballast went) then the new light I got could get moved.... Decisions, decisions.... Sincerely, James Zimmer <<James:  Frogspawn has a powerful sting.  Sounds like it is stronger than the sting of an Aiptasia.  Peppermints are hit or miss.  When I have bought them, only about 1/2 to 2/3 eat Aiptasia.  Berghia are available online.  If you do a search on www.reefcentral.com and other sites you may find people selling them.  Unfortunately, if they work, they will die once they have eaten all the Aiptasia.  Rather than use critters, if you don't have too many, I like to make a batch of Kalk paste and inject it into the Aiptasia holes with the plastic syringe you get with baby medicines.  After you inject it, don't scrape the paste off.  Eventually coralline algae will grow right over it.  Best of luck, Roy>>
Re: Aiptasia and Frogspawn corals - 06/01/2006 Roy. Thank you for the advice on Aiptasia control. I have used the Kalk paste or slurry also and depending on location or orientation to preferred animals I am sometimes reluctant. Yes, this latest crop will have my work cut for me. I may just use the paste method again for the large rock as it is too much to move into the smaller QT. As for smaller rocks I can move them and train, hopefully, the shrimp to eat the pest anemones. I will not use concentrated Ca(OH)2 near the frogspawn if I can at all help it. Again, thank you. James <<James:  You're welcome.  Based on my experience, the Peppermint Shrimp will either like Aiptasia or not (that's why if you have a big enough tank, it's good to buy 2 to 3 to see who will eat them).  In my best case, one peppermint ate about 100 Aiptasia within about a day.  It was amazing to see him attack them.  He looked like a boxer working on a speed bag.  Unfortunately, for that Peppermint Shrimp a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp attacked him and ate him.  I guess the Skunk Cleaner liked the taste of Aiptasia fed shrimp. If you are careful with the baby medicine syringe and make a thick enough paste, you can inject the paste with a lot of control (like you are decorating a cake).  If some of the paste starts to float off, just disburse it as fast as you can.  In my experience, if a little bit brushes a coral (such as your frogspawn) as it floats buy, it won't hurt anything. Best of luck, Roy>>