Lost my first coral

fierceseaman · #1 10/14/2007, 01:33 PM

Well, got a reverse hammer coral that was absolutely stunning from a dealer on this past tuesday. I do not think that the coral was damaged in shipping but it might have been. Either way, on wednesday night I believe that a hermit crab might have accidentally damaged it. On thursday when I woke up half of the coral was receded and damaged but the other half was looking fine, tentacles were fully inflated and extended with great color. I was hoping that it would pull through. Friday came and I started to see some things that should have tipped me off but I am still pretty new at this and have never seen the dreaded brown jelly. The coral was sliming and had stringy substances coming off of it, all signs of brown jelly I now know. I left friday evening and the coral still looked like it might pull through with only half of the head being affected. I returned today to find the entire head pretty much dissolved with only a couple bleached pieces of tissue still deep in the skeleton, those pieces still surrounded by what I can definitely identify as brown jelly. As soon as I got home and saw this I did an iodine dip on the coral. Nothing has really changed but I put it back in my tank and am working on a 20% water change.

So where to go now. Should I just remove what is left of the coral? I have a euphyllia dominated tank and desperately don't want it to spread but there is absolutely no evidence of brown jelly on any of my other corals and I'm definitely inspecting them well. Is it possible for the hammer to recover with just 10% of its original tissue after having taken such a bad beating? This hammer was a beautifully neon green and purple and if there was any chance I'd really like to try. Am I being silly though? Thanks, Adam.

mikekman · #2 10/15/2007, 07:28 PM

fierceseaman, sorry to hear about what happened. I like your optimism but sometimes things just don't go your way.

I'm also losing my balanophyllia ponderosa I got from Captivereef. Its such a nice coral and cost me a good amount too. It was doing great for a week and bam all of a sudden its not doing well. I'm extremely bummed like you are because I can't find another one to replace.....you might still be able to find a replacement, I can't. The balano was extremely hard to get in the first place.

Currently I done a large amount of water changes but not much else I can do except see if it make it or if it slowly receeds away and dies. I'm optimistic but I dunno........

I feel how you feel too!
Mike

fierceseaman · #3 10/15/2007, 08:34 PM

Yeah, well unfortunately despite my optimism, my hermits had lunch on the remaining flesh of the hammer.

But not all is lost, reverse hammer is just slightly less common than normal hammer and I've found someone that has sold me some at a great price. I should have the pieces tomorrow!

Hogfish77 · #4 10/17/2007, 02:21 AM

That sucks man! I know how you feel. I've lost 2 very nice corals lately. Bought a nice 5 head Blasto that within a week recession started with one head and spread to all the rest dying away helplessly. Then today I tossed away what was left of a nice orange/white aussie acan that I bought for $120. It's such a helpless feeling to know you just can't save it.