Rescue Coral Archives - Page 3 of 4

Dying Sarcophyton Coral Rehabilitation

reefdup Rehabilitation, Sarcophyton May 30, 2021May 30, 2021Dying Coral, Leather, Rehabilitated Coral, Rescue Coral, Sarcophyton, Toadstool 0 Comment

“Is this…gum? What is this? Ew!” I honestly had no idea what the off-white algae-covered blob on my rescue coral was. When I touched it, it reminded me of a leather, but there was no sign of polyps. Finally, I decided to just place it in my quarantine tank – after all, that’s what a quarantine tank is for! Turns out, I had a dying Sarcophyton coral rehabilitation on my hands.

Assessing the Coral’s Health:

I took in this Favia-type coral on 31 May 2020, as it had two tiny little polyps remaining (the local fish store was about to throw the entire rock into the sump, which would’ve meant death for the coral). As I was preparing the two polyps, I cut off the weird off-white algae-covered chunk in the top right of the photo. I had a million thoughts running through my head as to what it could be (e.g., is this a new type of epoxy?). But, a nagging feeling kept telling me to put it on a frag plug because it might be a dying Sarcophyton coral. It might just be a really unique rehabilitation.

This is a close-up of the same image above, just rotated. It seemed grown-into the coral skeleton, which made me think it could be a leather, although I did not see any polyps.

Of course, this “blob” went through my usual dip process and mounting in preparation for quarantine.

Quarantined Coral:

A few weeks later, on 19 June 2020, I still did not have any real new information. The algae covering it was gone, but there was still no sign of life. But, this was the day that I thought if I squinted really hard, I could start to see polyp pores in the center of the coral. Was I just getting my hopes up?

Just a few days shy of a month after I got the coral (and a change in tank placement), I was sure. Yes, those were polyp pores right in the center! It *is* a leather!

By 15 June 2020, I was totally excited! It was a “toadstool” Sarcophyton coral. The polyps were out, and I was starting to get an idea of how this coral would recover.

On 17 August 2020, the previously dying Sarcophyton coral was fully rehabilitated. All it needed was a healthy aquarium and a chance to live.

Coral Grow-Out:

Here is the coral on 15 November 2020. I think the coral agreed with me, because it started growing up rather than out. Although its stalk is hidden, it grew about an inch in height between this photo and the previous. (Although, I did move the coral just for logistics purposes).

Rehabilitated Sarcophyton Coral:

Even until April 2021, the coral was only really growing up. The stalk in the photo was about four inches tall (it would’ve been growing out of the water in its previous location, so I had to move it again).

Although it is not the most colorful or unique coral, it is still attractive, hardy, and would make a great addition to a new hobbyist’s aquarium. I plan to keep this coral in my collection for fragging, so that the story of this previously dying Sarcophyton coral rehabilitation will be passed on hopefully for generations.

Dying Acropora Coral Rehabilitation

reefdup Acropora, Rehabilitation May 29, 2021May 29, 2021acropora, acropora eating flatworms, AEFW, brown coral, Dying Coral, red bugs, Rescue Coral, Tegastes acroporanus 0 Comment

Acropora Rehabilitation Before and After

Back in 2012, I took in several corals from a fellow reefkeeper, knowing they were all rescues. Included in the bulk were a few dying Acropora corals that desperately needed rehabilitation. However, rehabilitating small polyp stony (SPS) corals has its own challenges, and in many cases, these sensitive corals may experience a more rapid death than their large polyp stony (LPS) counterparts. Below I will cover the initial inspection, diagnosis, treatment, for a complete dying Acropora coral rehabilitation.

Assessing Dying Coral Health:

All dying Acropora coral were brown, not extending polyps, and had white marks on them. Upon initial inspection (and not shockingly), they had red bugs (Tegastes acroporanus) and Acropora-eating flatworms (AEFW). I treated the AEFW and red bugs with a series of coral dips as part of rehabilitation efforts. I also inadvertently subjected the tank to a reduced temperature (thanks power outage), which quite possibly killed the red bugs. (At the time, Interceptor was the normal protocol for treating red bugs, but there were also several other suitable treatments.)

Since AEFW lay eggs, it was critical to regularly inspect the coral and re-treat to completely eliminate the parasites. Thankfully, red bugs are live-bearers, so once they were initially eliminated, I no longer had to worry about them.

Quarantined Acropora Coral:

Of course, Acroporas require stable salinity, alkalinity, magnesium, calcium, etc. Given that I had over 50 corals undergoing rehabilitation at the time, my quarantine tank was not exactly a healthy aquarium. I had to focus particularly hard to make sure the other dying corals did not adversely affect the SPS. Water changes to remove excess nutrients were crucial. Once the Acropora parasites were gone, I maintained my alkalinity at 9 dKH, magnesium at 1350, and calcium at 450. I also performed 20% weekly water changes.

Previously Dying Acropora Coral Rehabilitated:

With stable parameters and a lack of parasites, this previously dying Acropora coral was quickly rehabilitated. They can heal quickly and add a beautiful touch to the aquarium. However, I don’t recommend Acropora rescues for beginners as they can have more severe pests than LPS corals, are sensitive to poor water conditions, and require careful monitoring of water parameters.

Dying Acropora Coral Rehabilitation

Dying Acanthastrea Coral Rehabilitation

reefdup Acanthastrea, Rehabilitation February 20, 2021February 20, 2021Acan, Acanthastrea, quarantine, Rehabilitation, Rescue Coral 0 Comment

Assessing the Coral’s Health:

This dying Acanthastrea (“Acan”) coral came out of a hobbyist’s tank that had been neglected due to an impending move. Notice the lack of tissue between the polyps. Luckily, corals in poor water conditions usually recover quickly in a mature, well-maintained aquarium. Rehabilitation should be easy with just proper, basic care. (Photo taken 9 June 2012)

Preparation for Quarantine:

Since the coral just needed a healthy environment, there wasn’t a whole lot I could do. There was some nuisance algae on it, so I cut those sections off. I gave the coral a dip in Coral Rx to check for pests just in case. Within less than a month, the polyps were already expanding out more and growing larger. (Photo taken 30 June 2012)

Quarantined Coral:

Within a month, the previously dying Acanthastrea coral looked almost like it had never had a problem. Unfortunately the remaining skeleton kept growing nuisance algae, so I kept having to remove it to facilitate its rehabilitation (white areas in the photo, taken 7 July 2012.)

Coral Grow-Out:

After a month in quarantine, I was able to re-dip the coral and place it into a grow-out tank. In a grow-out tank, I can continue to monitor the coral for any remaining issues while not exposing it to other incoming quarantined corals.

Within only two months the polyps were fully expanding and growing tissue between them (14 August 2012). Around this time I purchased a band saw, so I cut off the part of the disc that kept growing nuisance algae.

Rehabilitated Acanthastrea Coral:

Not too shabby! All this coral needed was a bit of TLC and some good water to make a full recovery within six months. (7 October 2012)

I had this coral for several years, during which time I fragged it many times to pass along to other hobbyists. For all I know, I may still have some of it, but I’ve lost track of which Acan coral it may be in my tank after a few moves and having several similar corals (what a great problem to have!)

Dying Lithophyllon Coral Rehabilitation

reefdup Lithophyllon, Rehabilitation February 8, 2021February 8, 2021carbon, chalice coral, Coral, Dying Coral, flatworm, Lithophyllon, poison, quarantine, Rehabilitation, Rescue Coral 0 Comment

A local fish store (LFS) called me to ask if I wanted to try to save some of their corals. An employee had overdosed their reef tanks with a chemical used to treat flatworms (I was not told what chemical it was). When I arrived, honestly, I was shocked at how bad many of the corals were. I don’t know if these corals were dying from an overdose of some unknown chemical or if the flatworm toxins were killing them. Either way, something was poisoning these corals to death. I picked up two “chalice” corals, amongst others. These dying Lithophyllon coral mouths were gaping open, the tissue was falling off, and what tissue did remain was barely hanging on. Rehabilitation was going to be dicey. (Photo of Litho#1 taken 11 May 2013)

Dying Lithophyllon Coral Inspection and Dipping:

When I brought them home, I temperature acclimated them to my quarantine tank and prepared the dips. Like most of my rescues, I dipped the corals for pests. (Photo of Litho#2 taken 11 May 2013)

*NOTE: This post tracks the corals as “Litho#1” and “Litho#2” to show individual progress.

Coral Quarantine:

After the dips, I placed the two dying Lithophyllon corals into my quarantine tank in a low light, low flow area. I made sure that no crabs would bother the coral, especially with all the decaying tissue. Since the corals were poisoned, I made sure the quarantine tank had new carbon to help absorb anything that the corals might leach. Both corals did start to quickly recede, so I tried to stop it by smearing a bead of superglue gel along the receding edge (white lumpy band in the photos below). Rehabilitation was definitely already proving rough. (Photo of Litho#1 taken 11 May 2013)

Receding Lithophyllon Coral (Photo of Litho#1 taken 9 June 2013)

The corals also refused to eat until about a month after I received them. I started them on fish food pellets (shown here and above) since they are quite processed. In my experience, sick corals seem to digest fish pellets better than whole foods (like mysis, etc.) This helps them recover faster. (Photo of Litho#2 taken 9 June 2013)

Coral Grow-Out:

After stopping the recession with superglue and maintaining regular feedings, the corals started to heal quickly. And how great they started looking! After 30 days in quarantine, I inspected, re-dipped, and placed them into the grow-out tank. (Photo of Litho#2 taken 4 August 2013).

Regular feedings likely helped the coral recover. (Photo of Litho#1 taken 12 October 2013)

Here is Litho#2 on 3 November 2013.

A month later (8 December 2013), Litho#2 was growing down its skeleton.

Fully Rehabilitated Lithophyllon Coral:

Nearly a year later, both previously dying Lithophyllon corals were growing rapidly. This Litho#2 is shown on 1 May 2014, when it was fully rehabilitated. Below is a close-up shot showing the corals’ beautiful patterns.

Conclusion:

I had very little hope for these dying Lithophyllon corals due to their poisoned state. However, the fast reaction of the LFS along with continued care over a year fully rehabilitated these two corals. Shown below are the before/after photos of the dying Lithophyllon coral rehabilitation. One coral was nearly immediately rehomed, and the other coral was rehomed a couple years later.

Before and After: Dying Lithophyllon Coral Rehabilitation (Litho#2 shown)

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.

The before and after an Echinophyllia 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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Fungia Rehabilitation

reefdup Fungia, Rehabilitation June 28, 2020June 28, 2020coral sting, Dying Coral, Fungia, plate coral, Rescue Coral 1 Comment

Here is part II of the Fungia rehabilitation story request! The previous post focused on Fungia reproduction (anthocauli) that formed after the coral died. This one will focus on coral recovery.

This Fungia was stung, and I took it home on 29 December 2012.

By 26 January 2012, the coral was regrowing over its old skeleton. At this point, I decided to trim the remaining skeleton.

This coral loved to ingest sand – I assume this was to filter out food. Notice the sand particles along the body of the coral. The coral would move the sand particles onto its body, use its tentacles and inflate its body to move the particles to its mouth, and then dump the sand onto the other side. (30 June 2012)

Even after a year later (6 January 2013), the coral had not regrown its circular shape. In fact, it had not done much of anything.

Here it is on 16 June 2013. Notice how the mouth appears to be moving outward (the sides are now becoming more acute than obtuse). This is opposite behavior from what I expected.

I can’t say that I’m thrilled with this recovery, especially after a year and a half. Maybe next time I’ll leave the skeleton alone to see what happens. But, a lop-sided coral is better than a dead coral any day!

Fungia Coral Reproduction

reefdup Fungia, Rehabilitation June 28, 2020January 31, 2021anthocauli, Baby coral, Dying Coral, Fungia, plate coral, reproduction, Rescue Coral 0 Comment

A reader requested a Fungia rescue story, so here you go! I received this essentially dead Fungia coral on 12 January 2019, and I wanted to see if I could see Fungia coral reproduction in the form of anthocauli.

Anthocauli are essentially tiny clones from the parent coral that may form when the parent is stressed or dying in a final attempt to reproduce. Extremely small amounts of Fungia tissue appear capable of re-growing into full-sized corals. When the anthocauli are removed from the parent skeleton, new anthocauli may even regrow from that spot! One parent skeleton can act as a Fungia farm, constantly regrowing babies. How cool is that?

A good way to search for anthocauli is with a UV-light, as the babies may fluoresce.

Unfortunately, months went by with no sign of life. Eventually I placed it into an unused dark corner of my tank as a sad reminder of a failure – and encouragement to learn and try again.

Fungia Coral Anthocauli:

The skeleton was covered in various forms of algae and had no sign of tissue whatsoever for months. I had lost all hope, but I still happened to check on the coral occasionally. Eventually I saw this (the red circles) on 24 October 2019. There were new anthocauli – baby Fungia plate corals! It had reproduced after all!

As of 19 June 2020, three anthocauli remain. Unfortunately a bout with Lyngbia killed the others. Hopefully these three will continue to grow!

The timeline for this one example was 10 months, from decay to anthocauli presence. Had I not had the Lyngbia, I imagine the babies would be larger (and more would remain). I’d love to hear your experience with dying Fungia coral reproduction with anthocauli down in the comments – how long did it take yours to appear?

Check out another Fungia coral rehabilitation here!

Dying Fungia Coral Rehabilitation

Wellsophyllia Rehabilitation

reefdup Rehabilitation, Wellsophyllia June 27, 2020June 27, 2020bleaching, Dying Coral, rehabilitated, Rescue Coral, Trachyphyllia, wellsophyllia 0 Comment

Wellsophyllia… Trachyphyllia… “What’s in a name?” The jury appears to still be out as the genus has changed a few times over the last several years.

Regardless, this poor coral had asymmetrical bleaching, which is not only unusual, it can be due to an infection (rather than environmental factors, such as light). (10 February 2013)

By 31 March 2013, the bleaching part was dying or dead. But, I had hope, as the bleaching portion was not spreading. The healthy portion of the coral was regrowing over one area of the dead section.

After only four months (16 June 2013), the coral was essentially recovered!

And here it is under actinics.

This could have had a much different outcome. Rather than the entire coral bleaching and dying, we were able to save it with just four months of care.