Scolymia - Septa tissue damage   2/24/06 Crew, <Jason> Thank you for providing all this great information and I will try and be both detailed and brief! I have recently purchased a Scolymia - red button which I am having some problems with. First my parameters: 50 gal system, CPR Bak-Pak skimmer, CPR 24" Refuquarium, activated carbon running in a small power filter, T5 lighting 1 Daylight and 1 Daylight/Actinic combo on a 12hr timer. Water is great with 0 nitrates, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, PH 8.1, calcium is 400. My salinity is 1.025. Additionally I have 45lbs of live rock, and 3" of live sand. I do small weekly water changes of 5 gallons. I have 1 hairy mushroom, 1 small button polyp, 1 large button polyp, and a 1 week old Scolymia. I also have a Maroon clown pair, 1 three stripe damsel, and a dwarf flame angel. Lots of snails, and some blue leg hermits. I use Mysids, zoo-plankton, pellets, Nori, DT's, Cyclops-Eeze, with periodic Selcon soak in a daily rotation. I try for a good diet variety applied lightly. My tank is 7 months old, cycled fishless for 3 months. I purchased this new addition 1 week ago at a live fish store. The creature had been at the store for several months and I drip acclimated it for 2 hrs after a temperature float. I did not add the creature to my tank before testing the shipping water and matching salinity... but I think I missed something or did a step wrong. I placed the Scolymia mid level and in moderate water flow with lots of room around it. <All sounds good/fine thus far> The night of the addition the Scolymia became mucousy... probably a form of shock and some of its septa pierced the flesh. <Very common with just-moved Mussids> Over the next week it looked better day by day, no mucus and the pierced tissue seemed to be recovering. Today and yesterday it look significantly better and was inflating its polyp/flesh. This evening however I arrived home to find that all of the septa had pierced the flesh of its mantle and the tissue had de-inflated. I have read in the archives that a few septa poking through isn't uncommon (shipping transport damage) and can probably heal. What I didn't find was the likelihood of recovery with so much of its skeleton showing and tissue damage. An additional problem is that the first two septa that broke through have an algae film on them... possibly limiting its ability to heal? <The algae are indeed a bad sign> My feeling is that this was probably caused by me during acclimation (its killing me trying to figure out what I did wrong), different salinity's LFS at 1.021 then acclimated to 1.025. <! Very different... would be a good idea for you to use a quarantine/treatment system and slowly (a 0.001 per few days) move this animal between these differences> As I have only had this previously healthy creature for a week it doesn't seem likely that its food or lighting. Nothing has changed in the tank since it arrived one week ago. So... can this creature heal with so much tissue damage? And will the algae film on septa be a cause for concern? <Yes and yes> Thanks so much for such a great site!! Jason <I encourage you to add Iodine... likely as Lugol's solution here, and increase circulation, aeration around this colony. Bob Fenner>

Blastomussa wellsi Troubles 2/18/06 Hello. I (as the title says) am having some troubles with a Blasto Wellsi I recently purchased. I bought it about a week ago and placed it in the bottom of the tank in low flow and low light. For the first few days, it opened fully and looked great. But then on about the third day, it didn't open completely. Day by day, it's been opening less and less. I wouldn't be worried so much about it, but this is the exact say way my last Blasto Wellsi colony died last fall. I was never able to figure out then why it died and finally decided it was probably caused by something that happened before I bought it. Now I'm not so sure. I have since lifted it up on to a small piece of pvc in the corner to keep it away from the hermit crabs (they have a knack for annoying new corals sometimes). <In addition to hermits, do consider your fish, especially pygmy and dwarf angels and blennies.  You may have to observe very carefully to notice them picking at the coral.  Also, in my experience, these corals are very sensitive to water quality especially those parameters that can't be measured, like the noxious defensive chemicals of other corals.> The lighting is two 96W PC 12 hours a day on a 45 gallon tank. It's been set up for about a year now. As for water conditions, they're fine (78 degrees; S.G. 1.025; 0 Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate; Calcium 430) as they have always been, and no other corals (including many zoos and Shrooms, a few LPS and SPS, and some rather large softies) are showing any signs of trouble. <What about alkalinity?  Without proper alkalinity, calcium is unusable to corals.  Also, Zoanthids, mushrooms and softies are all good candidates to produce harmful allelopathic chemicals that my be harming the Blastomussa.> Nothing has been done since I received the coral that would change water clarity (water changes, cover glass cleaning, new bulbs, carbon, etc.). I think that's all the info I can offer.  Thank you, Kevin <You can try running some carbon to help reduce the defensive chemicals from the other corals and please do measure alkalinity regularly and correct if low.  Hope this helps.  Best regards.  AdamC.>

Maze Brain Coral Hi I have what I think is a maze brain coral I've had for a few weeks that seems happy in my one month old tank opens at night closes during day apart from opening some parts every now and then in daylight. It originally had some small crustacean things living in holes in it  which didn't bother it at all but they died recently either due to low pH (7.5) or high spec grav (1.029) which I have now fixed, or lack of whatever they eat in the ocean and one of the vacant areas now has what looks like a spider web over it with a funnel area the creatures were removed as they died. What could this be, will it harm my coral and should I do anything about it? << I tend to leave things in for two reasons.  One is laziness, as I just let my tank grow as it may.  The second is because I like to see natural tanks be.... well... natural.  I like letting them take their course and balance themselves out. >>I use natural sea water from the area my inhabitants come from. << That is convenient. >> And what, how often should I feed my coral? << Good question.  Those corals can be directly fed, and I would recommend doing so once every couple of weeks. >>I know nothing and live in the country where there is very little information or product available to me. << I wouldn't worry yet, but just keep watching it.  If the coral tissue starts to recede, then I would suggest fragging what remains.  If it stays the same or starts to grow, then I wouldn't stress it with fragging for a while.>> <<  Adam Blundell  >>

Saving Lobophyllia (not Silverman) 10/3/04 I hope all is well with you today.   <and with hope for you in kind> I do need some help in saving my Lobophyllia.  My flame angel was nipping at it continuously and causing it to recede to not much more than a skeleton.  Since I have a 180g tank with much live rock, catching the flame angel was nearly impossible until I recently moved and had to drain the tank.  Since that time the Lobophyllia has expanded from about 2.5' in diameter to over 7'! Just when I thought all was perfect (for over a month), now my purple tang has apparently grown to love the taste of the Lobophyllia.   <heehee...> The coral has once again deflated to a little more than a skeleton.  I really like the purple tang and prefer to leave it in the tank (not to mention I do not plan to drain 180 gallons of water again!).  Is there anything that can be done to stop the tang from nipping at the Lobophyllia and to keep the both healthy in the same tank? --Greg <nothing at all... really, short of separation. Its a compatibility problem that cannot be conquered by extra feedings, etc. Do consider placing the coral in a small inline refugium instead - perhaps the best of both worlds. Anthony>

Lobophyllia tissue recession 3/31/05 Hello, I have a Lobophyllia spp. For 2 months and never has been very healthy, firstly started with a small body reduction in the upper part (it was inclined in the aquarium) so I moved it down. But 2 weeks ago it started to have a severe body depletion, I have read different articles about corals, bleaching etc and I would like to know if I should move it down a bit more or any other tip. Thanks very much.  <"Tissue recession" is the most common term for this. Bleaching refers to the loss of Zooxanthellae (symbiotic algae) and color from otherwise normal healthy tissue. Lobophyllia is quite adaptable to different lighting conditions, but in my experience it is quite sensitive to water quality and the defensive chemicals produced by other corals. I would suggest thoroughly testing your water and making sure the following parameters are in the proper range: pH 8.0-8.4, Alkalinity 2.75-4.0 mEq (9-12 dKH), Salinity 1.025, Calcium 350-450, temp 79-82. If you have soft corals (especially leathers or mushrooms), it would be a good idea to run small amounts of carbon and change it weekly and perform 20% monthly water changes. Best Regards! AdamC.>

Cynarina looks sad Bob I enjoyed hearing you at the MARS meeting and watching your slide show a few months back in Sacramento. I wanted to ask you about a Cynarina, I think his common name is a button coral, I purchased in July. He seems to be slowly shrinking. He still fills up and expands but not as big as he used to.  <Why do you think this is so?> I have him placed near the top of the aquarium with MH and power compacts. Not a lot of water movement there. My water tests are good. Calcium at 455 DKH 9 and 0 ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I was told he only needs light.  <You know there is more to this> But then I read they do put out feeder tentacles to trap food. I have never seen this. I only feed the tank frozen brine shrimp and flake food for the fish. The only other corals are a Colt and Green Star Polyps. Is his problem food related and should I be feeding the tank something additionally for the corals?  <Yes> I also read he is a low light coral so I thought about moving him but I didn't want to make matters worse either. Any suggestions would be appreciated Thanks Jim Uptegrove <Do look about more... and try other foods/feeding moda... these are "planktivorous" species to a large/r degree. Bob Fenner>

Problem with Lobophyllia Dear Bob, As always, thanks so much for this great site. I have another question that I'm sure you can answer. <I will try> Last Tuesday, I received my order of a Lobophyllia hemprichii (red brain coral) and a Euphyllia glabrescens (torch coral) from a dealer that is well known and, supposedly, very well respected in the trade. When I removed the torch coral from its bag, I could see nothing but the white skeleton and a few places where the polyps were supposed to extend. After two days of waiting, as instructed by the dealer, the polyps never came out and they just became shriveled and died. That must have been RTN. <Maybe> As for the brain, it has not died, but I am very concerned about it. When I first received it, I placed it in the bottom of my 90-gallon tank and even shaded it from the VHO lighting for some time. The coral opened some during the day, but when it retracted, a large part of the skeleton was exposed. In fact, the "spines" show when the coral is contracted. <This happens with new specimens> According to our research, the coral should be of such a size that no part of the skeleton should ever show and that the whole coral should look more robust. The coral we received looks so "thin". When it's expanded, there are pinpoint places that are depressed; and the flesh looks "corroded". The color is rust red now; it may have been darker and lost some of it's color, but that is hard to determine. At times, the coral would expand when the main aquarium pump was turned off, while at other times it would expand when the pump was turned on. The coral gives off this rust-colored cloud when the pumps are turned off. This morning it looked better; however, when I turned off the main pump it retracted and gave off its rust-colored matter. The dealer says in their literature that this coral would "slough off" some when first introduced, but it seems to be sloughing off its flesh and deteriorating. The aquarium is a 90-gallon reef with all parameters at or near perfect reef readings. We have a 30-gallon sump, Turboflotor skimmer, Aqua UV sterilizer, and a water turnover rate of about 10 times per hour. Other inhabitants look great. There is not a heavy bio-load as there is just a purple tang, a peppermint shrimp, some mushrooms, a purple blade, some snails, and a few scarlet hermit crabs, and three sand sifting starfish. All water is purified by Kold Steril. I added vitamin C and some trace elements (Vital Gold) by Thiel, along with Coral Vital by Marc Weiss. Any thoughts? Thanks for any help you can give. Regards, Michael Rivera <Per the descriptions of both newly arrived specimens, it does seem like they were either "in the bag" too long, or suffered some other sort of shipping insult (chilled, overheated... delayed in transit...). At any length, you can just wait at this point and hope that they will regenerate. Nothing in your description points to a difficulty in your system or handling... Bob Fenner>

-Scolymia showing teeth!- Dear Bob, <Kevin here in his stead> I have had a Scolymia for about 2 months. It feeds nicely -almost every other day on bits of lancefish nicely soaked in Selcon and Zoë. Originally it didn't have any 'toothy' extensions or they were all entirely  covered by the flesh. I have noticed that now one or two protrude. <Likely from some sort of light damage> It inflates nicely and eats avidly, if slowly -about 25 minutes- what I provide. <That's a good sign> It is in good light, slight water motion and no nasty neighbors that would sting. I was a bit worried that the toothy extensions through the flesh my signal some kind of unhappiness or decay. <The toothy extensions are it's septa which have pierced the flesh somehow, likely from some sort of light trauma. If it does not become infected at the spot where the flesh has torn, it should heal nicely. The only problem with the septa sticking out is the possibility for an encroaching algae to develop and push the tissue back further. Keep an eye out for this.> I like it very much and it is a coral now no longer imported in the UK <Really?! Why is this?> so I am especially keen to see it do well. Am I worrying too much? or is there something wrong? Thanks for all the help on your fab site. <Good luck! -Kevin> Massimo