HELP! My cynarina is spewing guts!?!?

[skylergirl]

Hello:

Can anybody tell me what is going on with this coral. I've had it for over 2 months now. Throughout the day, it looked fine. I've been gone about 3 hours and it now looks like this

http://home.comcast.net/~runningwhippet/reeftank/cynarinasick.jpg

It has NEVER had all those white filaments coming out of it before. Usually at night like this, it extends white bulb like polyps out, not this stringy bunch of stuff.

Is it dying? I've noticed that some of the ricordea I have in the vacinity and all closed up more than usual.

Do I need to pull this from my tank before it pollutes the water further??? :eek:

Please help with any advice.

Thanks!

[reefmarker]

Although my cynarina has never done what you show in the picture...

My ricordia do this if something large is presented to them to eat. It seems to be a normal feeding mechanism for things that are too big to fit in their mouth.

[EricHugo]

It has extruded its mesenterial filaments. This is usually a response to acute stress - often acute physcial stress (being dropped) or chemical stress.

[skylergirl]

How bizarre. It has not been moved or touched in several weeks.

As of today, it looks perfectly fine and inflating as usual.

If indeed it is stressed, what signs do I need to look for to determine if it is chemical stress?

Thanks Eric!

[EricHugo]

I don't know...are they still out or have they pulled back in?

[skylergirl]

They are all pulled back in now.

However, I had a wessophyllia next to the cynarina. Now the wesso is not inflating as much and is showing some skeleton at night time. I've had the wesso longer than the cynarina.

I think it was a chemical something or other to have affected the wesso so drastically, almost overnight.

[Machiavelli]

Had an anemone do that chronically for weeks before it finally died--most likely because it wouldnt eat. Not sure how it'll play out in the case of your coral. Good luck either way.