Coral Problem

[MikeyB73]

I need some assistance identifying what might be happening to my coral, and if there are some percautions or corrective measures to take to save it. The coral is about 2 weeks old and was doing well up until a couple days ago. One of my leather corals little tenticles are not coming out either. I have attached a picture of the coral that has these slimy build up forming around it. Looks like the polyps may be dying away. The water temp was around 78-80f a couple days ago, but went down to 72 with the current cold front. Salinity is at 33 and specific gravity is at 0.0124 currently. I had the water tested about 7 days ago at the LFS and they said the levels were good. I performed a 40% water change 48 hours ago with fresh RO water from the LFS, just to make sure since I notices the leather coral blooming less. Not sure what to do, looking for some input of suggestions.

Tank:
24 JBJ NanoCube
2x36Watt 50/50 Compact Flourescent


Mike

 

[MikeyB73]

Pic of coral

 

[Len]

Hi Mikey,

:welcome:

The coral you have pictured is a Goniopora ("Flowerpot"). They are notorious for high mortality in captivity. Sadly, almost all of them die after some time, and it is a coral to avoid in the future. No one quite knows why they don't do well in aquariums.

Leather corals often retract their polyps for many days (even weeks) on end. This is natural behavior. Usually, during this time, they will slough off a layer of skin ... a natural shedding process.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Mikey,

:welcome:

The coral you have pictured is a Goniopora ("Flowerpot"). They are notorious for high mortality in captivity. Sadly, almost all of them die after some time, and it is a coral to avoid in the future. No one quite knows why they don't do well in aquariums.

Leather corals often retract their polyps for many days (even weeks) on end. This is natural behavior. Usually, during this time, they will slough off a layer of skin ... a natural shedding process.

I know a heck load of reefers that have kept goni's for several years to 10+ years. What species of goni makes a HUGE difference. The pictured species above is one that just doens't do that well for many people.
www.goniopora.org used to be a great spot for info but it seems to be down now. Looks like I need to email Justin and see what's the deal

 

[iseeweed]

I had one of those for about 8 months. It seemed to be doing great until one day--pooof-dead??? Here is a time lapse video I took of it after I had it about 6 months. I noticed it really liked a lot of light. I had it under 500w of metal halides in my 75g. Your Goni does look healthy even though it is retracted. When mine went south, the polyps started getting brown and slimy. IMO I would say it could use some more light. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmuuB7Wm7-4

 

[Anonymous]

Blowing the leather with a turkey baster usually helps the shedding process and lessens the time closed. You can do it so it opens quicker, but it is not necessary to do.