Rehabilitation Archives - Page 3 of 4

Dying Pectinia Coral Rehabilitation

reefdup Pectinia, Rehabilitation January 21, 2021October 16, 2022coral dip, Dying Coral, ostracod, Pectinia, Rehabilitation 2 Comments

A fellow hobbyist in my local reef club at the time contacted me about his dying Pectinia coral. He said no matter what he did, the tissue kept receding, and it was just a brown color. Knowing the hobbyist and his system, this was out of the ordinary. So, after much discussion, I took it in to attempt a rehabilitation of this dying Pectinia coral. (Photo taken 8 March 2014)

Inspection:

Upon inspection, I noticed that the tissue recession was slow (notice the coralline algae growing on the old skeleton). I also noticed it was covered in very tiny, moving, white dots (and majano anemones!)

I wanted to take a closer look at the “white dots,” and found that they were Ostracods – seed shrimp. This was the first coral I’ve encountered that had a massive pod population covering it during the day. Typically I’ve only seen ostracods out at night.

Although a microscope isn’t ideal for examining seed shrimp, it was still neat to see.

Treatment:

As with all my dying corals, I started the coral out with a series of dips.

During the dipping process, I trimmed off all of the excess skeleton to expose any hidden issues, reduce the likelihood of pests, and allow the coral to regrow a skeleton unencumbered.

I didn’t really believe the ostracods were the source of the problem, but dips are always wise.

Quarantine:

After three dips and a skeleton trim, the Pectinia coral was quite stressed, but it went into my quarantine tank for observation.

Continued Care:

The coral started to regain color, but the ostracods came back. Interestingly, they only covered this one coral during the day. I decided to perform the dips again.

Final Results:

After the second set of dips, I never saw the ostracods again, and the coral started to recover. By 1 May 2014, the coral was turning a beautiful blue and starting to grow. Shortly after this photo was taken, I gave the coral back to its owner. Below, you can use the slider to see rehabilitation of a dying Pectinia coral from beginning to end!

Dying Echinophyllia Coral Rehabilitation

reefdup Echinophyllia, Rehabilitation January 18, 2021October 16, 2022brown coral, chalice, dying, Echinophyllia, Rehabilitation, Rescue Coral 0 Comment

A friend of mine asked about this dying Echinophyllia coral’s rehabilitation, “How did you even know there was any living tissue on that one?” That’s a really great question, because this Echinophyllia sp. (also known as a “chalice”) coral was in a really bad shape and dying.

There was a local fish store (LFS) near me back in the day that used to have massive coral runways with massive runway sumps below. If any corals died, the employees would just throw the pieces into the sump. I used to take a UV-light and run it along their sump to see if there was anything with the tiniest hint of life clinging to it. Although I didn’t get this particular coral there, a UV pen was what gave me hope. This coral might be brown under regular light, but it fluoresced a beautiful green under UV.

This dying Echinophyllia coral got its start with me on 22 May 2012. Of course, I dipped it to check for parasites and placed it in a low light, higher flow area.

Coral Quarantine:

Just a little over a week later, on 3 June 2012, the transformation was amazing. With regular target feedings, this previously dying Echinophyllia sp. coral was no longer clinging to its skeleton, showed off its orange mouth, and it developed what can only be described as “glitter” throughout its tissue (notice the specks around the mouth). I was getting excited! Its rehabilitation was coming along!

By the end of June (30 June 2012), just a little over a month later, and the Echinophyllia sp. coral had nicely filled out. It was time to transfer the coral from quarantine to the grow-out tank, so it was dipped again and inspected to ensure it was clean.

Coral Grow-out:

This photo was taken on 14 August 2012. The grow-out tank’s lights were much stronger, so this coral started out in the sand again. Even down in the sand, the coral began to develop some beautiful coloration, with blues, greens, and orange mouths.

Fully Rehabilitated:

By 19 February 2013, the coral looked as if it had been beautiful all along. There were no signs of fragging, and the coloration was fantastic. This previously dying Echinophyllia coral was rehabilitated!

After about a year-and-a-half recovery (2 November 2013), the coral was ready for a permanent home (excuse the oversaturated photo!) This coral went from essentially the “trash bin” to having a new start.

Catalaphyllia Rehabilitation

reefdup Catalaphyllia (Elegance), Rehabilitation January 17, 2021February 25, 2022catalaphyllia, Coral Restoration, dying, Dying Coral, elegance, Rehab, Rehabilitation 0 Comment

Catalaphyllia Rehabilitated Before and After

This dying elegance coral (Catalaphyllia) came in on 24 November 2012 covered in aiptasia anemones and flatworms. Although I believed the flatworms were just Waminoa (nuisance, but not parasitic), but the previous owner was convinced the flatworms were actually parasitic. At the time, reports of LPS-eating flatworms were becoming more prevalent, so I wasn’t about to take chances.

This photo shows the coral in a dip to remove the flatworms and any other unseen parasites. I had to manually remove the aiptasia (chopping off parts of the old skeleton).

Only two days later (26 November 2012), and the coral was looking much better. (Only one piece of the Elegance is shown here.) With good water quality, I was hoping the coral would grow well.

Unfortunately, even seven months later (16 June 2013), the coral had not grown. Many rehabilitated corals often have stunted growth for about six months or so (some have had stunted growth for about two years). The coloration was significantly better though, with beautiful pink tips and fluorescent blue streaks reminiscent of lightning in the center.

Shortly after this photo was taken, the coral was permanently rehomed.

Catalaphyllia Rehabilitated — Move the slider to see the before/after coral rehabilitation!

Favia (Moon Coral) Rehabilitation

reefdup Favia, Rehabilitation July 5, 2020July 5, 2020Dying Coral, Favia, Moon Coral, Rehabilitation, Rescue Coral 0 Comment

On 14 May 2012, I received this bleached and receding Favia sp. coral. There was algae covering the exposed skeleton between the polyps as well. Although it isn’t shown, the back portion was mostly dead (and so was the front left area).

Here it is in the quarantine tank after the appropriate dips and inspections. Shortly after this photo, I decided to trim the dead portions off, which left mostly a flat piece.

By 14 August 2012, the coral had stopped receding and was regaining color. The algae was gone as well.

After five months (7 October 2012), the coral was starting to display a lovely “glitter” effect in its tissue.

Ignoring the bit of damage on the top (a coral fell into it – these things happen), by 6 January 2013, the coral was nearly recovered.

However, after another ten months (12 October 2013), it started to morph with these dark rings. Here, it is eating, which helped highlight its color ring.

By 2 March 2014 the coral was full morphed and healed.

After two years (5 May 2014), the coral stabilized and just continued growing naturally.

Two years may seem like a long time, but it was so worth all the effort!

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Trachyphyllia Rehabilitation

reefdup Rehabilitation, Trachyphyllia June 27, 2020June 27, 2020Dying Coral, Rehabilitation, Rescue Coral, Stung coral, Trachyphyllia 0 Comment

Another coral stung this Trachyphyllia, and then the trachy continued to die after the initial injury. (8 January 2012)

Here’s another view of the damage.

Unfortunately, I don’t have good photos of the coral throughout the recovery process, but here it is, roughly a year later, on 6 January 2013. Although it looks significantly smaller than the original colony’s healthy tissue, there is a frag not shown.

This was never a fast-growing coral for me, but here it is on 16 June 2016, over four years later.

With just a year and proper care, the coral went from dying to thriving.

Lobophyllia Rehabilitation

reefdup Lobophyllia, Rehabilitation June 26, 2020June 27, 2020Bubble Algae, Caulerpa, Dying Coral, Lobophyllia, Rehabilitation, Rescue Coral 5 Comments

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!

Dying Homophyllia Bowerbanki Coral Rehabilitation

reefdup Homophyllia, Rehabilitation June 7, 2020January 31, 2021Acanthastrea, Bowerbanki, Dying Coral, Hillae, Homophyllia, Rehabilitation, Rescue Coral 0 Comment

When I received this dying Homophyllia bowerbanki coral, I had no idea what was happening to it, but it was obviously rotting. Most of the tissue had come off in the bag, and the coral stunk extremely bad. I had absolutely no hope for its rehabilitation, but, I couldn’t give up on it either. (8 January 2012)

*Note – Acanthastrea hillae was recently recategorized as Homophyllia bowerbanki.

Coral Quarantine:

By 27 January 2012, the coral had stopped rotting and started to heal.

This is half of the remaining coral, as of 6 February 2012.

Fully Rehabilitated:

Nine months later (7 October 2012), the previously dying Homophyllia bowerbanki coral was fully rehabilitated. One half of the coral is shown. This coral, more than any other, reminded me to keep hope.

Rehabilitated Homophyllia bowerbanki Coral

Plerogyra Rehabilitation

reefdup Plerogyra, Rehabilitation May 30, 2020January 17, 2021Bubble Coral, Coral, Dying Coral, Plerogyra, Rehabilitation 0 Comment

This Plerogyra (“bubble coral”) was significantly damaged on 14 July 2012. The damage was so new that the tissue was still attached.

Although the coral looks worse here (15 August 2012), the damage was stopped.

By 7 October 2012, the coral was mostly recovered and growing again.

Here, the coral is completely recovered and beautiful! (21 October 2012)

Only three months went by between when this Plerogyra (“bubble coral”) was damaged and fully recovered.

Physogyra Rehabilitation

reefdup Physogyra, Rehabilitation May 30, 2020January 17, 2021Bubble Coral, Dying Coral, Physogyra, Plerogyra, Rehabilitation, Rescue Coral 0 Comment

I believe this is a Physogyra coral (closely related to Plerogyra), and I received it on 8 February 2020 in quite bad condition. Most of the tissue was rotting along the edges, and the skeleton was exposed.