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FAQs about Merulinid
Corals Disease
Related Articles: Merulinids, SPS
Corals,
Related FAQs: Merulinids
1,
Merulinids 2, & FAQs on:
Merulinid Identification,
Merulinid
Behavior, Merulinid Compatibility,
Merulinid Selection, Merulinid
Systems, Merulinid Feeding,
Merulinid Reproduction/Propagation, &
Stony/True Coral,
Coral System Set-Up, Coral
System Lighting, Stony Coral
Identification, Stony Coral Selection, Coral
Placement, Foods/Feeding/Nutrition,
Disease/Health, Propagation,
Growing Reef Corals, Stony
Coral Behavior, SPS Identification,
SPS Behavior, SPS
Compatibility, SPS Selection,
SPS Systems, SPS Feeding,
SPS Disease, SPS
Reproduction,
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Hydnophora health decline. Env. and
allelopathy 6/21/07
Hello guys, how's things? I'd like some help here, I'm having a Hydnophora
that seems to be dying
<dying>
there are a number of factors this could be attributed to so i would like help
in narrowing it down.
The problem started a few weeks ago, my Hydnophora simply just refused to
inflate, i
<I>
was also having problems with summer temperatures, it was abnormally hot and
tank temperatures were fluctuating with up to 6 degrees
<Yikes! Too much>
over 24 hours, down to 78-79 and peaking at about 84, i managed to get that
under control with a fan. Then i also noticed that one of the surface powerheads
had quit and a thick scum layer on the surface formed, i did note some of my
Palythoa loose some color.
<Both trouble>
after a week or two of not inflating it finally browned out, and now i am seeing
bare skeleton in the brown areas which suggest to me a tissue necrosis of sorts.
I also have a briareum colony in the tank,
<...>
possibly and possibly not toxic
<More likely so>
(frequent water changes and carbon usage), my candy cane and Favites brain who
are both very very close to it seem unaffected (just a few inches away, measured
between expanded polyps). with all these problem thou the other colonies have
remained healthy including my Montipora that's growing like a weed, i did
however note my Zoa frag being closed up alot
<No such word>
of this period but seems to now open up again after i cleared the surface scum.
I have checked the water parameters, nitrate, calcium, PH, hardness etc.
and they all check out fine.
Short summary of the symptoms, deflated, brown out, tissue recession. so the big
question, what's killing my Hydnophora, the stress from the temperature swings
under control now) surface scum blocking out the light? now under control) or
allelopathy even thou its farther away from the briareum colony than most of the
other corals? and what can i do to save it?
Hope to hear from any of you soon,
Best regards, Mark Forsling
<Is highly likely the variable environment, the encrusting Gorgonian and
Zoanthid at play here. Solutions? More water changes, carbon filtration,
moving/enlarging their world... Bob Fenner>
Coral
Recession... Merulina - 08/05/07
Hi,
<Hi Brian, Mich with you again.>
You helped me identify this a few weeks ago and it had been doing fine.
Now I am noticing some recession.
<I am not surprised. This coral is not generally not easily kept in
captivity. Merulina often suffer from tissue recession, bleaching,
decalcification and overall failure to thrive and the causes are seldom
well understood.>
Any ideas?
<Tissues may be compromised by sediments and contact with other corals>
What can I do to slow, stop it?
<Is difficult to say, as the causes are not often able to be determined.
You will need to keep sediment off of this coral. Keeping your water
quality as high as possible with frequent water changes and regular
carbon replacement may help. Borneman recommends generally leaving this
coral alone and untouched. He further recommends keeping this coral
under strong lighting and a good distance from any potential
allelopathic organisms. Merulina grow quite slowly so if, and a big if
here, it does recover it will likely take a good bit of time. I'm sorry,
I wish I had better news for you.>
See attached pic.
<Got it. Thanks, Mich>
Coral Recession... Merulina -
08/05/07
<Hello again Brian, Mich here.>
Guess I deserve it for not doing my research before I purchased.
<We are all human and hopefully we learn and grow from our mistakes.>
Need to practice what I preach.
<Yes, don't we all?>
Actually we need a mobile solution to be able to look something up at a
LFS in the case we see something we like that we do not know what it is.
Here's an idea for a new web site.
<<RMF has seen some shops making Net access avail... where folks can
easily "look up" at least what there is to find thus>>
You email a picture of a coral and it emails back info about it. Just
need a coral identifier system :).
<Heehee! Actually Jake Adams is working on a mobile coral reference
guide that can be down loaded to your MP3 player. See his website here:
http://www.coralidea.com
I hope you find this helpful. Mich> |
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Hydnophora Dying
– 09/08/07
I wondered if you could help me with my Hydnophora frag which has been doing
well i my tank for half a year now, recently i have been seeing major tissue
recession from the main body, and exposure of the skeleton, its gradually got
worse and worse and i don't know what to do i wondered if you can be of any help
at all. All my parameters of course are fine,
<Hmm... what does "fine" mean exactly? These corals need your water chemistry to
be as close to natural sea water as you can get it. (i.e. salinity
1.025-1.027sg, calcium 410 to 420ppm, alkalinity 3 to 4 mEq/L, etc. Always keep
in mind that what's "fine" for one coral might not be so fine for another. You'd
be surprised what I can get some species of Zoanthids and clove coral to grow
in. But Hydnophora is a bit more picky.>
recently lost a Ricordea which may have caused this what do you think?
<I doubt it, unless maybe if the tank is really small.>
The Ricordea did start to disintegrate due to too high water flow causing it to
be moved around.
<It might not be disintegrating. It might have just scrunched up and let go to
find a better spot.>
please help it looks so gorgeous and i understand they are not the easiest of
corals to keep but that is why i took up the challenge, but my hopes have been
dashed by this recent event and i am at a loose end. I hope the picture helps
you with your diagnosis.
<These corals often suffer frightening tissue recession before getting truly
settled into a tank. But they're also known to make some heroic recoveries. Do
you feed it anything? If not, that's likely part of the problem. Keep it under
strong light and moderate water flow and start target feeding it. If you have
to, turn the pumps off for an hour or so while feeding.>
Yours Laurence Sykes
<Good luck,
Sara M.>
Hydnophora Dying
9/10/07
I wondered if you could help me with my Hydnophora frag
<Forgive me if I already answered this email. I can't seem to find my
response anywhere so I'm afraid maybe I never sent it. Anyway, here it
goes again...>
which has been doing well i my tank for half a year now, recently i have
been seeing major tissue recession from the main body, and exposure of
the skeleton, its gradually
got worse and worse and i don't know what to do i wondered if you can be
of any help at all.
<This is typical for Hydnophora which is not yet settled into a tank.>
All my parameters of course are fine,
<Hmm... what is "fine" exactly? What's fine for one coral might not be
fine for another. Hydnophora need water parameters as close to natural
seawater as possible (calcium 410 to 420ppm, salinity 1.025 to 1.027,
etc.)>
recently lost a Ricordea which may have caused this what do you think?
<Highly unlikely unless the tank is really small.>
The Ricordea did start to disintegrate due to too high water flow
causing it to be moved around.
<It might not be disintegrating. It likely scrunched up and let go to
try to find a better spot.>
please help it looks so gorgeous and i understand they are not the
easiest of corals to keep but that is why i took up the challenge, but
my hopes have been dashed by
this recent event and i am at a loose end.
<It's quite common for these corals to suffer frightening tissue
recession when not well established in a new tank. Fortunately, they're
also capable of heroic recoveries. Do you feed it? If not, that might be
part of the problem. Try target feeding it (turn off the pumps for an
hour or so if you have to).>
I hope the picture helps you with your diagnosis.
<not doomed yet... could definitely come back with some TLC>
Yours Laurence Sykes
<Good luck,
Sara M.>
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