abbydaisey said:
My sense is that a combination of moderate to high water flow and only feeding Phytoplankton over three months have stressed the coral.
Agreed it would but you also seem to have a placement problem. The coral is being irritated on the left side (distressv3.jpg). The rock appears to be rubbing up against the area higher up on the coral skelaton where the flesh of the crown is located. There is also the presence of cyano on that adjacent rock. If you could post a full tank shot, I (others) might be able to suggest better placement options. The rock from what I can see along with the proximity (too close) to the lighting are your issues.
We read in another post that this coral shares a common stomach. Do you know if that is true? As the healthy area is eating it would be nice to know that at least the coral has food in it's stomach.
Yes but only to a point. As the coral grow it begins to divide and no longer shares resources. If you notice the "V" shape of the coral, it has two distinct coral heads so these will not benefit from each other from what I can tell by the picture.
On the subject of lighting we have a Coralife canopy with two 95 watt lights (Actinin 03 Blue and 10,000K Daylight) and the coral is about 8" down from the top of the tank. Due to heat restrictions we have not gone the halide route and were told that this type of light would be acceptable to the Coral. As you can see from the picture the area on the left has minimal bubbles and is dying back while the area on the right looks, to my untrained eye, great.
Actually it's much more common this coral will die in extreme reef lighting than less adequate lighting. They can/will adapt to it but if placed in a high area of the tank immediately, they often go into "light shock" if you will and kills it quite quickly. These corals no matter the lighting when first introduced are best placed in a low region (substrate) of the tank and gradually if possible moved upwards ever so slowly an inch or two every few weeks. If an MH tank, they may actually need to be placed in an area that provides shade, an outcropping or cave perhaps.
We have not tested the water since last week when we performed our bi-weekly water change. We have a six stage RO filter and our water tests have always been dead on. We will test again this evening and if ther is something out of wack will let you know immediatly.
If you could actually post the numbered results good or bad, that would be a great help. Sometimes an insignificant number to some can be a significant piece of the puzzle to the health of a coral.
What do you think we need to do to save this coral?
Quite honestly I think you need to relocate the coral to somewhere it will have "free" reign on all side and only be supporeted at it's base. The substrate would be a good place but without seeing the total depth/rock placement I am unsure if the coral would recieve sufficient light. If it can be placed on the substrate (if no sifting fish species), this will also make it much easier for feedings. A plastic container can be fashioned (with holes) to cover it when fed to keep the shrimp et al out while it can digest the foods unhindered. You may actually need to make choice between these two if it comes down to it. The coral cannot be continuously moved or it will just add to it's ailing health. Feedings are the best means of improving that. If you have Selcon or another good liq marine vitamin, soak the foods in that overnight before feeding.
At worst you may end up losing the left side of the coral but you will not lose the entire colony. Be absolutely sure you keep a close eye out for "brown jelly" disease as these corals are easily susceptible.
Cheers
Steve
