Dead Coral

[Craig J]

A Metalic Green Star Polyp that I bought from my LFS two months ago came out once or twice the first week and that is it.

I tried moving it and whatnot, but this point I'm assuming it's dead, right?

If it is dead, should I remove that from the tank? Does dead coral like that have a negative impact on the water quality?

Since my tank cycled my amonia and nitrite levels have always been 0. And the pH always between 8.2-8.4. But a couple weeks after I got the coral my nitrates rose. It was between 5-10 and is now between 10-20.

My tank is 110 and I do a 20% change once a month.

Any help appreciated.

 

[jdeets]

What else do you have in your tank? LR, other livestock, etc? Fish? What kind of filtration, skimming, etc?

Also, what kind of lighting do you have?

We need a little more info to be helpful.

 

[Craig J]

It's 110 gallon with about 100 lbs of LR and 4 inches of sand.

4 Blue Chromis (I had 7 but two of them swam into the filter and one of them had some problem where he couldn't control his swimming; he would do these big barrel rolls and sadly he was eventually sucked into the filter.)

1 Yellow Tang

1 Green Bird Wrasse

1 Lawnmower Blenny

5 Turbo Snails

12 Red Leg Hermits

1 Urchin

3 Emerald Crabs

1 Pom Pom Coral

1 Star Polyp Coral

1 Clove Coral

1 Green Metalic Star Polyp (presumable dead)

I have a filter that hangs on the back with two "foam type" filters.
I have a Berlin system in the sump and a protein skimmer with a Rio 600 attached to it. (The more I read the more I think the protein skimmer I have isn't enough for this size tank.)

I have two fleuroescents that run the length of the hood and two MH bulbs in the hood. (My LFS built it; it's what they recommended.) I really don't know enough about lighthing yet. (My wife got me the tank for my birthday.)

The SG is pretty steady at 1.025 and the temps is pretty steady at 79.

I have two pumps Sedras 5000As. And I have a smaller rio inside the tank to create more movement.

Is there anything else that I left out? Let me know.

Thanks for offer to help.

 

[jdeets]

OK, looks like you're not overloaded on fish.

Have you checked your nitrates and other water paramaters (Ca, alkalinity)?

Have you had trouble keeping any other corals?

I'm not familiar specifically with what you call metallic green star polyps--but polyps are generally pretty easy to keep.

Assuming you have MH, even if they are 150s, lighting would probably be sufficient for polyps. What is the wattage, and are the fluorescents VHOs?

Here are a few possibilities:

High nitrates, low Ca/Alkalinity, poor acclimation (i.e., if the salinity of the water they came from was substantially different from your tank salinity).

 

[Craig J]

At this point I'm more curious about any possible negative impact on the water quiality caused by dead coral than why it actually died.

What happens when coral dies and begins to decay?

 

[jdeets]

It will decay and the byproducts will go through the ammonia cycle the same as any other detritus in the tank does.

If you have sufficient LR and filtration, and it's not a huge specimen, it shouldn't be a significant impact on water quality. However, if it's dead, it should be removed, so as not to risk it.

If you're not sure if it's dead--here's how you can tell. Lift it out and give it the sniff test. If it has that salty, seawater smell, then it's not dead. If it has a stinky smell, it's dead.

 

[Craig J]

Thank you.

That's a great test. Didnt' want to remove something that might be alive.

 

[Craig J]

If the coral is dead I'd like to pull it out and try cleaning it out.
(bleach it and then soak it in a rinse of sea water for a while)

I'm wondering if I can them put it back in my tank and get some other coral to take over that network of tubes. Would that work? Are there certain types of coral, possibly getting another of the same coral and putting this piece next to it and try to get it to inhabit the thing. Would that work?

 

[jdeets]

Nope--they make their own tubes as they grow--they can't really take over a dead coral skeleton. Softies would grow on it--such as 'shrooms, etc.

 

[Craig J]

I just pulled it out and smelled it. It smells like sea water. No real odor at all. Is it possible that it's alive after two months of not coming out? Or is it more likely that it already fully decayed?

 

[jdeets]

If it hasn't come out in that long, it probably already has fully decayed.