Carnation Coral n Sun Coral... need help...?

[cwrenge]

:doubt: Anthony... I have just aquired 2 Carnation Corals... a Red one , and a Off-White.... the red apears to be stable....yet not showing signs of being happy...? the Off-White hasn't even opened up since it left the LFS...they are in my 55 reef... under a Halmiton 175 Halide/ two 96 Actinics.... i have the carnations on the bottom of the tanks with limited light coverage......and a moderate water flow...it's been over 48 hrs in my tank......i don't know what to do to help them....? they seemed so happy in the LFS... my second question is.... " my Sun Coral ( 1 1/2 yrs in my tank ) is showing a Gray Covering Encroaching "... this type of encroaching is growing from the base , and slowing overcoming the Sun Coral.... its about 15 % coverd now at the side....? can i take the coral Out of the tank, n Cut the Gray Encroachment off....??? using some Big Wire Nippers...../ how much time is OK... ? with the Coral out of the water, to do any cutting....? and what after 1 1/2 years in my tank is this attribute to....? Anthony... thanks for your help with us at Reeffrontiers.... cw. ps. i have both your coral books... with some good wishes from you... i quite often rely on your Books/ Experience.... ( Nam Myoho Renge Kyo , Anthony ) charlie w, new jersey...

 

[Anthony Calfo]

Heehee... I do remember you Charlie! I'm chanting in my head as we speak

As for your carnation corals... its tough to say where to begin. I'll mostly spare you the chiding for the purchase (short story being that you and I/most aquarists cannot even correctly ID the azooxanthellate Neptheids to species, let alone say what it is that they actually eat: arguably, they should not be imported, and assuredly, they should not be purchased for casual keeping in a community tank like this.).

The practical concern here is what to do now that you have them. The first thing is strong water flow! It is life or death for these corals. If stifled long enough... they "deflate" and never come back up. More flow here bro... not laminar/linear... but strong turbulent.

Secondly, for feeding... hard to say without an ID. The likely first food attempts are plankton drips. You might make a mix of say an oz of phyto...1/4 tsp of oyster eggs (DTs Natural diet)... some Selcon for good measure... and dilute all in a liter or two of seawater and drip into the tank slowly through the/each day.

This honestly is a pot shot, but we have t do something. Research in the meantime. Start with Fabricius and Alderslades "Soft Corals and Sea Fans" (2001) to ID the corals to genus at least. Then take the genus and search for species and papers published (hopefully) on their diet (use http://scholar.google.com for starters)

For the sun coral... can you send some pics?

 

[cwrenge]

Anthony... thanks for the direction/hope/n/help....! i have yet .... a Camera to use to get Pics.... as to my Sun Coral... ( i have 2 , one Yellow size of a hard-ball, A Chocolate the size of a soft-ball..... the chocolate is fine , nothing adverse..... the Yellow.... I just had to finally do something....! :idea: so i took some Electrictians Wire Cutters... and cut off the gray matter... i felt the gray matter and it was slightly slimy.... very soft light texture to the touch.....what was left under the cutted area was Clean n Very White Exko Skelleton..... so i this is the best i could come up with to help this coral out.... all this was done in a container out-side the tank.... the Chocolate shows no signs of disturbance....( Yaaaaaah... ! ) i am persisting to read/study all i can on my Carnations..... again thanks for being there Anthony..... and i hope your very busy man....... cw.

 

[Anthony Calfo]

very welcome my friend.

Yes... it is sometimes necessary to be proactive and excise infected portions. I'm not sure if it was needed here, but at worst it harms nothing more than aesthetic til it grows back.

I think you made the right call under the circumstances

Best of luck!

Anth-