Flesh melting from an Echinophyllia aspera?

[SeanT]

I received this piece from RM a few days ago.
Everything seemed fine upon arrival.
However, over the past few days it seems like the flesh is melting off of the coral...like it is being torn slowly by pulling.
Bits of this coral are falling of.
Is this a disease?
Is the coral doomed?

Thanks,
Sean

[SeanT]

I will post a pic in a few minites.

[SeanT]

Here are some pics of the problem areas.
It is spreading rapidly.

[SeanT]

[SeanT]

Last one.
I have more but you get the idea.
The skeleton is visible in many places.
Any hopes of saving?

Thanks,
Sean

[Jus Reefin]

If I were you i would try to frag it up. Looks to me that if you don't chop it up you may lose the entire piece

JMO

[clownfishcrazy]

I would frag it and move it to a low flow area, if it already isn't in low flow.

[brahm]

yea drop it down, lower light, lower flow./. i've had that happen.

[SeanT]

Thanks for the advice guys.
It is already on the bottom right of mtank near the overflow.
It gets the lowest light I can give and very gentle flow.

[ReeferMac]

Frag it, similar to an Acro when experiencing RTN... keep the frag line a little distance from the affected area.
I would opt for more flow, rather than less, for the remaining pieces. You could also try a Lugol's dip. I've heard of people having success w/ injured LPS using that as an anti-bacterial fix. It might not stop the problem, but should prevent any brown-jelly type infections from ripping through the coral. Best of luck... Maybe Randy will chime in, he's had lots of experience w/ Echino's (and many other types of corals).

- Mac

[JenDub]

Hey Sean,

I wouldn't frag it just yet, I had a similar thing happen to mine when it was shipped to me. Low light, low flow is the key. Keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't turn jelly like or spread to other spots. Also make sure nothing is around it, if it get's in a fight with something now, it could collapse due to stress. It should bounce back...just have some patients.

Reefermac does have a point, I have done this to some of my lps and it has helped.

[RandyO]

Hey Sean,
It looks like your piece is stressed from shipping. I've seen that happen many times. In my opinion, that piece is in serious trouble. If it was a coral that was in your tank for a while, and suddenly had some holes in the flesh, you'd be in much better shape. Since it is already weak, if you frag it up, you may loose the whole thing. It's really a tough call.
If it were my piece, I would put it in a cup of SW with a few drops of Lugol's for about 5 minutes. If it looks worse the next day, I would do the dip for a little longer, with a few more drops. Also, I use a turkey baster to gently blow into the damaged areas. It may look like it makes the hole bigger, but your getting out the infected, dying flesh.

I've had this happen to some of my healthy Echinos in the past. When I did nothing, the hole got bigger, and the entire coral stopped inflating/puffing up. When I couldn't get it under control, I cut out the infected area from the coral.
The coral immediately got better, and the frag with the hole in it slowly got better after a few months. It never healed 100%. Since then, I've had a few other times where these holes have shown up, and I don't hesitate to cut them out now.
Your piece has them all over it, so cutting it out is not an option.
If it keeps getting worse, you might want to take one small, good frag off it, just in case the whole thing goes. I would dip the frag with Lugol's after making it.

Sorry man. I hope it gets better for you.

[SeanT]

Thanks for all the excellent advice.
I am off to do a Lugol's dip.
Thanks,
Sean