Looks like I'm going to lose this piece!

[melev]

If you have any suggestions, now is the time to mention them!

I got this coral almost two years ago at MACNA, and it has been under 165w of PC lighting in my 29g. Last night it looked great, but today I woke up to this:

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0604/pocillo_going.jpg

I just checked my parameters, and nitrates are up a little bit higher than I like (20 - 25ppm), but it has endured worse over the past couple of years. Temp, salinity, alk (10.4dKH), Ca (455ppm) all look quite normal.

About three weeks ago it looked like this:

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0404/pocillopora_041804.jpg

Is it doomed? Any consoling words? Time to write the eulogy? :sad2:

[Gary Majchrzak]

Marc- Pocillipora is incredibly resilient. Don't give up on that coral- it can easily bounce back under the right conditions.

[melev]

Should I leave it alone, move it to my 55g under MH lighting, do a Lugol's dip? I don't know about ideal conditions at this point, since the only change to the tank is the addition of the bi-color blenny (netted, so no foreign water added).

Think the blenny is sucking the color out of the coral like an Icey? :D

[Gary Majchrzak]

I know I'm going to take a lot of flak for posting this, but I'll do it anyway: Bi-Color Blennies are {secretive} clam and coral nippers. They don't belong in a reef aquarium. I'd definitely put the Poci under MH if you have a MH lit aquarium handy.

[melev]

I didn't know that about the blenny! It was so tiny and adorable, and I was told it lives in LR nooks & crannies, and eats algae. Sounded like the perfect fish.

Now I have to rethink that lil' guy, because I don't want issues with my gorgeous Maxima. :eek2:

[melev]

I moved the coral to my 55g. I don't have a low spot in the tank to place it though, so it'll definitely get a boost of light under the 175w MH. However, it is late in the day, so it will only get 3.5 hours today. I need some waterproof SPS 175 for that little guy.

[rjwilson37]

That coral is use to light that does not penatrate as much, I would make sure it is off to the side. That is weird to have it for so long and then in one day do that.

Good Luck!

[Gary Majchrzak]

Marc- Please notice that in both of the pics you've posted that Pocillipora polyps are extended in the inside of the colony- beyond the reach of a predator. Was the Blenny intoduced within the last three weeks, by chance?
{The colony shows signs of Vermitids and the effects of lower lighting in both pics.}

[melev]

The polyps have always extended within the branches, but at night the whole colony would get a fuzzier all over.

The blenny was introduced two days ago.

Here it is:

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0604/new_home.jpg

And my Maxima clam:

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0604/maxima_060604.jpg

Maybe it'll rebound in the new location? Gotta go luck up Vermitids now. I broke off a bunch of rigid tubing off the colony before moving it, and found some valonia bubbles deep in the core that I removed ever so delicately.

[melev]

So a vermitid is that hardened worm that extends a web to pull in food? I've had it forever, and it throws the web at a different coral or zoos or LR, depending what is nearby. I never did anything to the coral in question.

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally posted by melev
at night the whole colony would get a fuzzier all over.

Got any other fishes that would bother coral polyps- maybe an angelfish? Pocillipora damicornus {I'm guessing the coral ID to species} usually extends polyps both night and day...

BTW- I'll bet you don't loose this piece, Marc, even though I am not at all familiar with your sytems.

[melev]

I have a beautiful Flame Angel. :D This coral has never extended polyps during the day time. This one does, but it is in my other tank and nothing bothers it:

http://melevsreef.com/id/fuzzy_pocillopora.jpg

The one in question is a <i>Pocillopora verrucosa</i>.

[EricHugo]

I'm sorry, but what is the problem with the coral in the first photo compared to the second photo?

[melev]

Originally posted by EricHugo
I'm sorry, but what is the problem with the coral in the first photo compared to the second photo?

The first photo you should be able to see a lot of the coral yellowed on the outer portions, where just a few weeks ago it was pink all over.

I also noticed that my Psammacora looks less green (or is closed up pretty tightly). I can't see the fuzzy 'hair' that is normally obvious. I'd guess that my Alk is too high all of a sudden, but 10.4 dKH isn't that high. I ran out of B-Ionic over 3 months ago, and what I dosed with instead was Seachem's products. My numbers fluctuated quite a bit, and perhaps the corals are a little shocked by the regular numbers B-Ionic is not creating in the tank? Here are the readings from my tank this year. (29g reef, disregard the 55g)

http://www.melevsreef.com/parms.html

[EricHugo]

Nitrate level, more than likely. Do a lot of water changes and get them below 5, preferably unmeasurable. I'll leave it up to experts on the other boards to take you through possible set-up problems as to why these levels are so high and how to address them. Since things generally look heatlhy, I'd probably tend to do this rather slowly - maybe over a month or so.

[melev]

Sounds simple enough. I'll start some water making now.

[dmar836]

So Marc.....what ended up happening? Did it continue to deteriorate or is it holding on?
Dave

[melev]

I just took a picture of it today:

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0604/pocillopora_061604.jpg

Remember, lighting is different. 175w MH 10,000K XM bulb, 2 x 110w VHO Actinic plus a 54w T5 Actinic bulb.

Back in the other tank, my Psammacora still looks pretty bad, as does on colony of zoanthids, but everything else is great. I think I need to run some carbon on that tank to clear things up. That is my guess anyway. The red mushrooms are getting out of control and I have a feeling they may be dumping toxics in the water.

[rjwilson37]

It looks alot better now.