Coral conservation, one polyp at a time.
On 8 January 2012, I received this dying Lobophyllia coral. It was covered in several nuisance species of algae, and it had both old and new damage.
Here it is overexposed for a better view of its condition.
As you can see, the bubble algae was quite severe.
By 13 May 2012, the coral was healed and regrowing.
What a difference only four months can make!
This Lobophyllia coral was badly receded, as shown by the remaining pink skeleton. 14 July 2012
By only a month later, on 14 August 2012, the coral was mostly healed and regrowing.
About six months later, 6 January 2013, the coral was fully healed and growing well.
Although the coral’s growth rate was not ideal, by 11 August 2014, it had formed a second polyp. Coloration was also phenomenal.
In 2.5 years, this Lobophyllia coral went from nearly dead to thriving with a new polyp.