This is – by no means – my complete portfolio of rescued corals with before and after photos. Honestly – it’s just what this little hobbyist website could handle without bogging down too much (please let me know if the site starts acting like it’s 1995 on dial-up). In the early days, I didn’t document my rescued corals – because I didn’t think I was doing anything unusual or interesting to anyone else. So, there aren’t many photos of the early rescued corals with before and after images for comparison. I have documentation that I’ve successfully rescued over 300 corals in my home aquariums, but I don’t know where the true number really is.
Photo Composition
In showcasing this portfolio of rescued corals, I’m often asked to show the “before” corals in better lighting and in the same orientation as the “after” photos. As you can see, some of these photos go back over a decade (and a few back over 15 years). That was the age of dinosaurs, when I had to pull out an actual camera, try to remember all the manual settings, add the dates, upload and edit everything in a program, and somehow not lose the files after years of device changes… In other words, I’ve improved alongside technology. But, care of the coral during intake is my first priority (and not getting an Insta-worthy image).
Another consideration (that I have yet to solve) is… when to take the “after” photo? Should I take the “after” photo when the coral is just fully healed, or should I take the photo when the coral is at its full, mature glory? During the rehabilitation process, I try to photograph all corals monthly, and for the “after” photo, I typically use the first photo where the coral looks actually “good.” However, there are a few success stories, where I just love to show the coral as a thriving colony years later.
Photo Layout
Each photo “block” within the portfolio of rescued corals has two images: the “before” image is on the top, and the “after” image is on the bottom. Both images should have dates when the images were taken to help give a timeline between the two for comparison. On the top right of each set is just my categorizing nomenclature.
Coral Categorization
And, regarding nomenclature, I nearly gave up trying to recategorize my system after the latest round of scientific re-naming (e.g., a lot of coral in Lobophyllia were reclassified into Acanthastrea, Scolymia was reclassified as Homophyllia). I tried to categorize everything correctly here, but who knows anymore. If you see something under an old name, please just consider it a legacy item within this portfolio of rescued corals.
Gallery: Portfolio of Rescued Corals
Note: Some images have links to the full story of the coral’s recovery (this is a work in-progress; more will be added later).
Through coral restoration efforts in St. Croix, Curacao, the Florida Keys, and other areas, I’ve learned ways that marine conservation efforts can contribute substantial knowledge to our own hobbyist-level coral rehabilitation efforts. Much of what I’ve observed in my own aquariums since 2007 aligns with research efforts across the Western Atlantic and Indo-Pacific. However, there are some nuances and differences in aquarium-based coral disease assessment, especially since the coral’s location is not a useful determination factor in disease identification. This coral disease assessment information is for general purposes and is not for medical or professional advice.
Since coral diseases are typically only distinguishable at the microscopic level (which is not accessible to everyone with corals in their care), we need a way to work at the macroscopic level. Using common terminology to describe an unhealthy coral by lesion characteristics can assist in creating a “usable diagnosis,” track healing progress (or decline), and support data aggregation for further research. Below is a mixture of corals with various lesions, both from my home aquariums and from scuba diving in the Western Atlantic region.
Coral lesions are changes to the tissue of a coral, such as infections, wounds, growth anomalies, or other injuries or diseases. Click a coral with a lesion below to read more about coral disease assessments, or scroll down to browse various ways lesions can manifest.
Although there are generally three accepted types of coral tissue-related gross lesions (i.e., discoloration, loss, or growth anomaly), I’ve also included other soft tissue lesions (not sufficiently described in literature from what I can find) and skeletal anomalies (may lead to gross lesions). In the research literature, gross lesion types seem to only encompass horizontal plane changes (coloration, tissue loss) rather than vertical plane changes (soft tissue bumps, extensions), while growth anomalies tend to focus on the tissue rather than the underlying skeletal deformity. However, in my experience, there are skeletal deformations without initially identifiable tissue lesions (e.g., boring sponges). Maybe those do not belong here, but they seem to be relevant outliers that could help in our coral’s care through detailed coral disease assessments.
Tissue Discoloration (Color Change) (Bleaching and Pigmentation) Lesions:
Intact yet abnormally colored tissues are characteristics of tissue discoloration or color change lesions. Bleaching is the spectrum of a loss of color, ranging from slight fading to complete transparency (such as the following example). However, there are pigmented discolorations as well (although less common).
This coral has an extreme lesion of tissue discoloration (bleaching). Despite the nearly complete loss of pigmentation, the coral made a full recovery.
Here is a bleached Trachyphyllia coral, but it retained a fluorescent color (pigment?) I have multiple examples of this type of Trachyphyllia bleaching (but few of other species), and I have not yet figured out a sure-fire way to save them. If I had to totally guess, it appears like a self-digestive response to a stressor; the coral slowly seems to starve despite attempted interventions.
Growth anomalies are still considered lesions for descriptions of patterns, progression, and margin (but typically not of color). Genetics or environmental stressors may trigger these changes, and the specific characteristics are used for coral disease assessment.
Gall (Explained) Growth Anomaly:
Galls are skeletal deformations instigated by an inhabiting creature, such as a crab or fish.
A gall crab‘s home is circled in red (small tube toward the top of the coral). This is an example of a growth anomaly, where the coral grew around the gall crab’s tube. Although gall crabs are commonly associated with dying coral, the gall crabs are likely not a sufficiently substantial environmental stressor to be the root cause.
Here’s a little troublemaker Blenny (ok, but in all fairness, it’s pretty cute). Notice the growth anomaly, where the coral’s skeleton is growing down into the Blenny’s home.
Similarly, this maze brain type coral has a lovely structural pattern surrounding a creature’s home (I did not stick around long enough while scuba diving to determine the inhabitant). The structure is interesting to me – the coral terminates many times down at the hole. I wonder if this provides the coral some type of benefit – maybe it functions as a food distribution source (i.e., the inhabitant’s leftover’s/waste become the coral’s next meal).
Lesion Reliefs are other Growth Anomalies and include umbonate lesions (rounded growth), exophtic lesions (growing out beyond the surface), nodular lesions (small mass), and bosselated lesions (small bits that protrude). An example of exophtic lesions is below. While I do have other photographic examples of lesion reliefs, they may not be clear enough to distinguish between the other three lesion relief types.
This staghorn Acropora coral was covered in these growth anomalies. During my quick swim past while scuba diving, I was unable to discern the cause. The growths (exophtic lesions) appear like the skeleton has broken through the tissue and then become covered with cyanobacteria.
Growth Anomalies of Unknown Cause (GAN):
Growth Anomalies of Unknown Cause include various areas of accelerated growth, chaotic polyp arrangement, “gigantism,” and other as yet undetermined causes of unusual growth.
It appears some algae may have colonized prior areas of damage on this coral and created growth anomalies.
Various coral predators (e.g., flatworms, fish, sea stars, other corals), infections (e.g., viral, bacterial, fungal), mechanical interference (e.g., falling rockwork, directed water flow, sedimentation), chemical interference (e.g., high alkalinity with low nutrients), and as-yet unexplained issues may all cause tissue loss. The tissue loss lesion appearance may provide clues to the root cause, such as blenny bite marks shown previously.
Another coral stung this Fungia coral, which resulted in a tissue loss lesion. Although the damage was severe, the coral did survive (click here to learn more).
“Elegance Coral Syndrome” (ECS) is what I’d consider an outlier for gross tissue lesion types. The initial signs are external mesenterial filaments with retracted polyps and stubby tentacles. This isn’t a tissue pigmentation issue, tissue loss, or a growth anomaly (at least to my non-medically trained brain). Do we need a new category for soft tissue changes beyond simply its presence/absence and color?
Skeletal anomalies do not fall within the tissue response categories (according to some sources, but other sources include them), but it is a gross change to the coral that can result in one or more of the lesion types above, especially tissue loss or growth anomalies. I’ve included them here for completeness.
Skeletal damage from poor fragmentation, damaging rockwork (or storms, if in the ocean), fish bites, and other root causes can result in lesions. This Euphyllia coral was poorly fragged, which resulted in a tissue loss lesion and ultimately death.
On the left is a slice of a Euphyllia coral skeleton that was infested with a boring sponge, while the Euphyllia coral skeleton slice on the right was not affected. Notice the dissolved areas on the left. While this type of damage is not a tissue lesion, it may result in lesions.
Where the lesion is located on a coral can provide clues toward the coral disease assessment for a root cause. For example, certain bacteria are sediment-associated, and sediment typically aggregates along the base of the coral. As another example, some fish are corallivorous, and they eat while swimming, which means the top of the coral is typically the most damaged. Therefore, the lesion locations are broken up into basal/peripheral (base or around the perimeter), medial/central (middle/center), and apical (top). Of course, severe or extreme cases could present as combination locations.
Basal/Peripheral Lesion Location:
Basal or peripheral lesions are ones that originate at the base or outer perimeter of the coral. As pictured, this coral has a lesion that originated at its outer perimeter along the base. (I found this coral while scuba diving, and I do not know its long-term outcome.)
Medial or central lesions occur around the middle of the coral. The coral colony pictured does have a few lesions that would fall under the “apical” category, as they are along the top of the coral, but hopefully this is still a sufficient example of centrally-located lesions. (I found this coral while scuba diving, and I do not know its long-term outcome.)
Apical lesions are found at the top of the coral. The Acropora coral pictured has a few branches with lesions at the tips, caused by fireworms. (I found this coral while scuba diving, and I do not know its long-term outcome.)
There are lesions covering these coral colonies, for a combination presentation (more common in severe or extreme cases of lesion severity). The lesions are along the base, at the top, and all across the center. (I found this coral while scuba diving, and I do not know its long-term outcome.)
Documenting the lesion size is, in theory, fairly straightforward, as it is just the measurement of affected tissue. However, coral structure, obstructions, and indistinct margins can complicate the measurement. And, of course, the measurement units must be consistent in documentation (e.g., using centimeters or inches).
Simply observing the coral’s skeleton can provide a good indication of how long the lesion has existed, and, if monitored over time, how fast the lesion is progressing. White skeleton indicates recent necrosis (about a few days), while a light green skeleton may indicate necrosis of a week or more ago. Skeletons populated with multiple algal types indicate necrosis in the more distant past (possibly months or more).
Acute Lesion Duration:
The left-center of this coral shows an Acute Lesion Duration, with the white skeleton showing no algal colonization. Notice the far-left side of the coral skeleton, where there is a film algal colonization along with filamentous algal growth.
No, you aren’t seeing double (at least not unintentionally). The far-left side of the coral’s skeleton represents a Subacute Lesion Duration, where filamentous algae is beginning to colonize on the coral. This is in contrast to the left-center of the coral, where there is an Acute Lesion Duration showing the white skeleton.
Although there is a portion of an Acute Lesion Duration to the center-left of the coral shown with white skeleton, the majority of the remaining coral skeleton shown represents a Chronic Lesion Duration. There is a gradation of algal colonization, with caulerpa, bubble algae, and coralline algae growing across the coral’s skeleton.
Lesion severity is the percentage of affected coral and ranges from mild to extreme. Interestingly, I had a difficult time finding mild and moderate examples to show, as most of the corals I’ve rehabilitated fell into the severe or extreme categories. Typically, I do not attempt to salvage mild or moderately affected corals, as they tend to heal without any intervention.
Mild (<10%) Lesion Severity:
This Echinophyllia (chalice) coral had a mild lesion on one side, where the lesion size was less than 10% of the coral size. This is an example of a mild (<10%) lesion severity.
This Homophyllia (“Scolymia”) coral had a moderate lesion (let’s assume this one is 24%, although it is close to bumping up into the “severe” lesion severity category) due to a coral sting. This is an example of a moderate (10-24%) lesion severity. To learn more about this coral and its recovery, click here!
Similar to the Homophyllia coral, another coral severely stung this Trachyphyllia coral. Notice how the lesion was just shy of half of the coral. This is an example of a severe (25-49%) lesion severity. This was a severe case, but the coral made a full recovery. To learn more about this coral’s journey, click here!
This Lobophyllia coral had multiple issues, with lesions covering more than half of the colony. Despite such a bad condition, this coral recovered in only four months. This is an example of extreme (50-100%) lesion severity. Read more on this coral here!
Lesion colors are important to coral disease assessment, as they may indicate potential disease to consider (e.g., white patch disease). Lesion colors are highly interesting to me, and I haven’t found enough research to support what I’ve been seeing with my corals. I’ll add more here as I learn more.
Purple Lesion Color:
The lesions depicted are purple (and are a combination of annular/irregular with a coalescing distribution). This was the first example I had seen of purple lesions aside from Aspergillosis fungus in Gorgonian corals and may be an example of Dark Spot Disease (DSD). (I found this coral while scuba diving, and I do not know its long-term outcome.)
Although these lesions are not entirely white, white lesions are areas of bleached tissue. This coral had two large areas of bleached tissue, but it made a full recovery. To learn more about this coral’s recovery, click here!
Distinguishing a pink lesion from coralline algae may be a bit tricky, but in this case, the pink coloration is possibly originating as a defense mechanism from the coral. Despite the coral’s poor condition, it made a full recovery. Click here to learn more!
This coral has both blue and white lesions; the blue coloration is not natural, as it occurred post-bleaching during recovery. In my experience, sometimes corals with bleached lesions will heal back with blue coloration. However, these corals rarely survive long-term after the initial recovery, in my experience (my guess is that the blue coloration is from hosting a particular zooxanthallae population that is insufficient to sustain the host coral – it is almost like they become non-photosynthetic corals – or at least insufficiently photosynthetic). This is such a recurring challenge for me that I call it “Bleached-Blue-Death” given the progression from bleaching to blue coloration to death. When I have rescued corals like this, I continue spot feeding them long-term. This seems to work so far as a way to keep them alive. (I found this coral while scuba diving, and I do not know its long-term outcome.)
This Gorgonia coral has Aspergillosis, which starts with deep purple lesions that can expand and develop yellow centers.
Coral Disease Assessment – Lesion Pattern:
Lesion patterns, especially when combined with other lesion characteristics, can help provide a holistic picture for coral disease assessment. These patterns help determine if the cause may be bacterial, due to corallivore predation, or just due to poor water quality.
Annular Pattern:
This isn’t the best example of an annular lesion pattern, but it’s the best I have. An annular lesion is shaped like a ring, with healthy tissue typically on both sides of the ring. Unfortunately (and surprisingly), this coral did not recover.
An irregular shaped lesion has edges without any sort of pattern or form. The lesion edges are not smooth or straight. Although this Homophyllia had multifocal and coalescing lesions, it still survived and was one of my favorite rescues. Click here to learn how all this decay still recovered!
Linear lesion shapes are in a straight line (or straight but curving along the skeleton in rounded or massive bouldering corals). This Micromussa (Acanthastrea) coral likely had “Brown Jelly Syndrome” (the coral is pictured in a dip, with the brown jelly-like substance already removed); this damage entirely occurred overnight. Thankfully, I was able to stop the infection and salvage the coral.
Similar to the “annular” pattern, both are round-shaped. However, the “annular” shape is more of a ring-shaped lesion with a healthy center, whereas the “circular” lesion pattern is entirely the lesion.
Oblong Pattern:
The “oblong” pattern is similar to the “circular” pattern, in that the entire lesion is in an oblong shape, rather than a circle. Crazy, I know. I’m sure I have a photo for this, but I feel like it wouldn’t add anything that your imagination hasn’t already addressed.
Coral Disease Assessment – Lesion Distribution:
How the lesion presents across the coral can also provide key insights to the coral disease assessment process. If the lesion is across the entire coral, then it could be a waterborne issue; whereas, a focal lesion could indicate physical interference or corallivore predation.
Diffuse Lesion Distribution:
Diffuse lesions are spread across the coral, without a central location. This lesion presented as tissue decay across the highest points of the coral, with only tissue in the lower points surviving. Despite the coral’s terrible condition, it still fully recovered. Click here to learn more!
Focal lesions are very defined, with healthy tissue surrounding a central point. Initially, I thought something fell on the coral to cause the damage (e.g., a heater); however, I found flatworms were consuming it. Removal of the flatworms and the damaged portions resulted in the coral’s recovery.
Although this is likely a combination presentation with diffuse and coalescing lesions, it is still a good example of lesions across the coral growing and merging together – coalescing into larger lesions. Only a very small piece of this coral survived.
Linear lesion shapes and linear lesion distributions are practically synonymous. The lesion progresses in a line across the coral (even if it is a bit of a curved line). (I found this coral while scuba diving, and I do not know its long-term outcome.)
Oh, this little fellow is a troublemaker for the host coral. Notice all of the white lesions around the hole (and the hole is a growth anomaly, as well). These lesions are from fish bites, so they are multifocal (more than one location). Although multiple fish bites in a central location could form a coalescing distribution appearance, a multifocal lesion description is more appropriate given that the lesions themselves are not growing.
Personally, I tend to mix up the lesion edges/border with the lesion margin/band. The lesion edge/border is the entire length of the lesion across the coral. This length should be much longer than the lesion margin/band, which is the distance from the apparent healthy coral to the lesion or coral skeleton.
Lesion edges (or the border of the lesion) are typically considered distinct/discrete or indistinct/diffuse, as shown below, to support in coral disease assessment. There is also a category for “annular,” but given that it’s already a lesion shape, I don’t see the value in having it describe the border as well. (I also don’t have a photo for an example, so maybe I’m just already biased against it.)
Distinct or Discrete Lesion Edges/Border:
The sharp contrast between the brown tissue and the white skeleton creates a distinct lesion edge (notice how some polyps are split between half-healthy and half-skeleton). Although this Cyphastrea coral only had a small portion of healthy tissue remaining, it recovered and eventually grew to one of the largest corals in my aquarium. Click here for the before and after photos!
Contrasted with the previous Cyphastrea with distinct lesion edges, the indistinct lesion edges on this Cyphastrea create difficulty distinguishing healthy tissue and the remaining skeleton. Thankfully, this coral made a full recovery. Read more about its journey here!
Lesion margins are the lines separating healthy tissue from unhealthy tissue or the coral’s skeleton. These are also frequently called “bands.” As previously mentioned, I tend to mix up the lesion margin/band with the lesion edge/border. The lesion edge/border is the entire length of the lesion across the coral. This length should be much longer than the lesion margin/band.
Smooth Margin/Band:
As previously shown, this lesion progresses in a smooth line across the coral (even if it is a bit of a curved line). (I found this coral while scuba diving, and I do not know its long-term outcome.)
This isn’t the best example of a serrated lesion, but when I think of serrated lesions, I think of coral predation, like corallivorous starfish or Acropora-eating flatworms. This poor Acropora was dying from a bit of everything but did make a full recovery.
Similar to the serpiginous lesion margins, the undulating lesion margins wind about the coral but in a less tight manner. (I encountered this coral while scuba diving, so I do not know its outcome.)
The lesion margin/band size is the measurement of the edge tissue, which, due to the narrow shape, may be difficult to obtain. And, in indistinct or diffuse lesions, the margin/band may be impossible to discern. Once again, the measurement units must be consistent in documentation (e.g., using centimeters or inches).
Lesion margin/band colors vary and provide good indicators for coral disease assessment. In fact, several named coral diseases reference the band color in the name – it is the primary indicator of the disease. Some of these include Black Band Disease, Yellow Band Disease, Red Band Disease, and White Band. Conversely, other syndromes and diseases have no distinct colored band, such as the Caribbean white syndromes. While I wish I had my own photos of these diseases to include here for educational purposes, I’m thankful that I have not yet encountered many obvious examples.
This coral has a purple margin or band color, surrounding the lesion in the center. (I photographed this coral while scuba diving and do not know the outcome of the colony.)
This staghorn Acropora coral may have “White Band Disease.” Notice the zip tie placement near these bands toward the base of the coral. This physical indicator helps reef managers track the lesion growth and determine its growth rate. Also, there is a damselfish hiding in the top center of the photo. Damselfish nest in these corals and create algal beds. (I photographed this coral while scuba diving and do not know the outcome of the colony.)
Conclusion:
We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of coral diseases and how they may present, especially as Western Atlantic and Indo-Pacific creatures cohabitate within our aquariums. As you find new information on coral disease assessment, please reach out or share in the comments below. For additional information, please consider the following references.
References:
“Coral Disease Handbook: Guidelines for Assessment, Monitoring & Management,” Global Environment Facility, June 2008. Website
Hawthorn, Aine, et al. “An introduction to lesions and histology of Scleractinian corals.” Veterinary Pathology, vol. 60, no. 5, 31 July 2023, pp. 529–546. Website
“Lesion Terminology and Visualization.” Coral Disease & Health Consortium, 13 Nov. 2023. Website
Edited by Cheryl M. Woodley et al., Diseases of Coral | Wiley Online Books, Wiley Online Library.
When I first started keeping a saltwater aquarium, I was looking everywhere for inexpensive live rock (college debt was all-consuming). Down in the rubble bin of a local fish store, I happened across a neat semi-spherical piece. The owner asked $5 for it, which looking back was quite expensive for a 0.5lb piece of rock, but oh well. Little did I know that I would have a beautiful piece originating from a previously dying moon coral.
When I got the piece of “live rock” home, I realized it had about the most pathetic coral remaining on it. I tried to not get my hopes up, and I definitely didn’t see any beauty potential in it. When I placed the rock in the aquarium, the crabs swarmed over it like bees on honey. There apparently was a fair bit of algae on it. And, since this was 2007, there was no quarantine, no dipping, or any other good practice.
Please don’t mind the poor quality photo. This was at some point in 2007 (likely around July/August). I lost the original version somewhere along the way to 2024 (all that remains is a tiny enlarged thumbnail), my camera wasn’t the best, and admittedly, my photography skills were never great from the start.
After a few weeks, it started to extended tentacles, so I fed it. I was new to feeding corals, so it was probably just eating some pellets.
In this embarrassing photo (likely taken around December 2007), please don’t mind the bleached Alveopora and the fake colored blue ridge coral. I learned my lessons.
The coral changed very little from ~July to December 2007 (~5 months), so the change from December 2007 to April 2008 (4 months) still amazes me. During that time I upgraded from power compacts to metal halides, and my system reached over 1 year maturity. (Just look at that coralline!)
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After one year (~July 2008), the coral was not only healthy, but it was also becoming quite beautiful! And, my reefkeeping skills were a lot less terrifyingly bad!
Note the incredible size difference between this photo (~October 2008) and the previous (~July 2008). The coral appeared to double in only about three months.
By late October 2008, there was almost no evidence the coral ever had any issues.
June 2009 (the latest photo I can find has this watermark)
I sold the coral in 2011 as it had fully outgrown my aquarium space, and we had to move across the country. If I remember correctly, the final diameter was about 8″. I never imagined my little piece of “live rock” would turn into such a beauty.
When I saw a rock at my local fish store with two dying Ricordea corals bleached to practically zero color, I knew I had to try to rehabilitate them.
Intake: Acclimation, Inspection, and Dips
Upon arriving at my home, I worked through my typical inspection, dip, and quarantine processes on these two dying Ricordea corals. Although hard to tell, this retracted Ricordea coral was nearly colorless (bleached) (March 14, 2012), but there was fluorescence. The mouths weren’t gaping, and the corals were intact (no damaged tissue). The bleaching severity led me to react to these corals as an “urgent” situation. The “usable diagnosis” (I’m not a medical professional, but this helps me create a care plan) was bleaching due to high light. (I saw where these two corals were physically located in the aquarium, so it was pretty obvious that they were receiving excessive light.)
Then, I had to assess the corals’ overall health. Since bleaching is often due to excessive light, wherein the zooxanthallae leave the coral, the coral has an increased chance of starvation. Note that the coral is surrounded by colorful coralline algae, which can typically tolerate higher-light conditions. This particular Ricordea coral was stressed but appeared in relatively good health (not quite starving). However, the other Ricordea (not pictured – I can’t find a photo) was extremely small and appeared on the brink of starvation.
Next, I removed the dying Ricordea corals from the substrate as much as possible to reduce introduction of parasites and nuisance algae. I continued through my dipping process, which included both a hydrogen peroxide-based dip and a CoralRx dip. Afterward, I glued each coral to a frag plug and placed both corals in the quarantine aquarium.
Quarantine: Care and Feeding
Although “soft corals,” like these dying Ricordea corals, can have a higher saturation point (level of light for optimal photosynthesis) and possibly photoinhibition point (level of detrimental light) than their stoney counterparts, they can still get stressed and expel their zooxanthallae. With proper water conditions and lower light, they will frequently heal on their own. Supplemental feeding helps replace the energy source previously provided by the zooxanthallae.
Therefore, the solution for these corals was a healthy tank, low lighting, low flow, and a bit of feeding. Ricordea are not the most apt to taking food directly, especially when unwell. But, within a few days, the larger coral was eating well (very very small particulate food.) Once the corals went through 30 days of quarantine, were eating well, and did not have any concerning indicators, I used the dip process again before moving the Ricordea corals into my grow-out tank.
(Coral shown on 13 May 2012)
The second Ricordea was not recovering as fast as the larger one, but it was starting to regain color.
(Coral shown 14 May 2012)
By 22 May 2012, the larger Ricordea coral had almost fully recovered. The smaller one still had a ways to go.
Conclusion: Ricordea Rehabilitation Success
By 30 June 2012 (only slightly more than three months later), the larger Ricordea was fully rehabilitated. The smaller Ricordea made a full recovery as well.
From bleached to beautiful in only three months!
References:
For more information on light saturation and photoinhibition in corals and clams, see this link. (It’s a bit dated, but it still contains some interesting information.)
A local reefkeeper contacted me about possibly saving his dying Scolymia coral (Homophyllia australis), and the condition of it sounded quite bad. But, seeing its condition was still a shock. I wasn’t sure if there was even a mouth left since the tissue was so shrunken and discolored. But, I went ahead and did my best; its complete rehabilitation was a success! Read on for more information about this dying Homophyllia australis (Scolymia) coral’s successful rehabilitation.
Intake: Acclimation, Inspection, and Dips
When I brought the coral home (12 March 2022), I placed it (still in the container) into the sump of my quarantine tank to acclimate to the temperature for only 15 minutes. Next, I brought it over to my workbench for inspection, dipping, etc.
First, I had to assess its health. For more information on assessing a coral’s health and potential causes of damage, check out “Assessing Coral Health: An Introduction.”
Next, came the inspection and dip process. My “handy-dandy flow-chart” led me to classify this coral as an “urgent” case, which meant that it was in bad shape requiring lots of care. However, it wasn’t to the point of an emergency. This category determination was based on the algae-covered skeleton, clinging tissue, and unknown mouth situation (along with the mesenterial filaments coming out everywhere). Then came my dip process, which was fairly standard for this case. Typically I would remove excess skeleton and glue down any damaged tissue, but in this case, I absolutely had no clue what was what. Even what little tissue remained didn’t fluoresce much, so I just rolled with what I had.
Quarantine: Care and Feeding
After the dips, I placed the coral into my quarantine tank. Typically, I place these types of corals on the sand bed, but I wanted to really observe this one closely. So, I placed it up on a frag rack up near the surface of the water. This would also make feedings easier. I still wasn’t sure what was tissue and what was skeleton at this point.
In several days (18 March 2022), I was able to start to see the actual remaining tissue condition a bit better. Granted, it was pretty bad. At this point, I was in a “watch-and-see” mode. Attempts to feed could cause the coral to rot, if it is unable to properly digest the food. However, I did start target feeding corals nearby to see if I could elicit a feeding response.
In less than a month (8 April 2022), the coral was no longer retracted into the skeleton. It wasn’t pretty, but by this point, I had confidence in its survival – as long as I could get it to eat. However, I still wasn’t ready to start feeding it, as its mouth condition was unsuitable.
The coral was finally ready to start taking supplemental food by about the 1.5 month point (21 May 2022). Notice the tentacles extending and mostly-formed mouth. Success!
Conclusion: Scolymia Rehabilitation Success
Today, the previously dying Homophyllia australis (Scolymia) coral is an absolute stunner (although my photography is lacking). Notice how a lot of the grayish stripes turned green over time. This coral also features various orange shades and even yellow hues! Absolutely lovely! (Photo was taken 25 November 2023.)
Pipe Organ corals (Tubipora musica) are absolutely amazing, in my opinion. They build red tubes for each polyp, and the varying heights of those tubes makes the coral look like… wait for it… a pipe organ! Their polyps extend out from the tubes and wave in the current. The green variety makes a great alternative to green star polyps, for those who like the wavy green mats but would prefer something a bit less invasive. With years of success keeping and sharing these unique beauties, hopefully this introduction to Pipe Organ corals will help others.
When I entered the reefkeeping hobby back in the 00’s (wow – I’m old), Pipe Organ corals were on the no-go list, as they typically slowly diminished in most aquariums. Of course, as a newbie, I didn’t do my research and bought a fantastic green one. Somehow, some way, I managed to keep it… and it thrived! Over the many years I had it, I fragged it over a hundred times. This is it a bit browned out from high nutrients (note the green hair algae).
Then, when a local fish store heard of my success, they gave me a dying white one (not bleached) to try. Again, I had success! It turned into one of the most stunning corals I’ve ever had. (And, to be clear, the coral stayed a very slight peach color for years, as shown in this photo.)
So, based on my success over years, here is what I’ve learned. First, knowing what they are is key. Pipe organ corals are usually mistakenly categorized as “large polyp stony corals” as they form solid tubes, but they are actually classified as soft corals. However, their care level is more intensive than most soft corals.
Quarantine and Treatment of Pipe Organ Corals:
Since the Pipe Organ coral is made of tubes, there are tons of perfect living spaces for all sorts of creatures. Be aware that the pipe organ could harbor bristle worms, flat worms, and lots of detritus. Use of a good coral dip and quarantine will help prevent unwanted organisms.
I took this coral in to rescue it. Note the complete lack of tissue on the tubes near the polyps. However, the skeleton is mostly clear of algae, and the coral’s degradation has occurred over a long period of time. If the skeleton was covered in algae, the coral would likely struggle to recover more. [Learn more about assessing coral health]
Lighting:
The green variety definitely requires higher light than the white variety, as it easily will brown out in lower light. I usually kept the green ones up on the rocks with my SPS corals and the white ones down on the sand bed. Although, as with all corals, an initial acclimation period is recommended.
Flow:
This is tricky. Flow must be high enough to prevent detritus from settling on/in the tubes, but low enough to not whip the delicate polyps around. Detritus settlement is a huge concern as it will fuel algal growth, which will, in turn, outgrow the coral.
Nutrients:
As stated above, nutrients are a huge concern, as any algae covering the Pipe Organ coral tubes will prevent the coral from extending its polyps. I do not recommend pipe organ corals for aquariums having an issue with cyanobacteria, hair algae, or other invasive alga. I’ve seen recommendations that Pipe Organ corals need pristine water parameters, with phosphate and nitrate levels toward those recommended for SPS (nearly undetectable). However, that has not been my experience. They seem to tolerate high nutrients well, as long as there is no nuisance algae on the colony.
In my experience, Pipe Organ corals also don’t appreciate target feeding. I’ve tried various foods and various methods, but they all result in the coral polyps “wilting.” As soon as the food touches their polyps, the polyps just shrivel and droop, which more resembles a defense mechanism than feeding.
Since the coral is made of tubes, there are tons of areas for detritus collection. If the coral is not opening, the tubes can be blown off lightly with a turkey baster to help remove detritus. The can tubes grow in a structure similar to the inside of bamboo with internal closures. If the coral is not kept free of detritus, portions of the tubes can trap the detritus indefinitely. This may leach nutrients from the colony over time and may cause issues in the future.
Other Water Parameters:
While I was not concerned with higher phosphate and nitrate levels for Pipe Organ corals, I was concerned with maintaining proper alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium levels. These corals may not be growing the typical SPS or LPS skeletons, but they are still creating massive structures. While I won’t debate the “proper” ranges here, I have always maintained my tanks around Alk: 9 dKh, Ca: 425 ppm, and Mag: 1350 ppm. But, that’s just me, and it seems to work just fine.
Fragging Pipe Organ Corals:
I believe the lack of success from decades ago came from poor fragging. Most colonies imported were chopped very close to the top of the polyp, which ended up chopping the body of the polyp itself. I highly discourage the use of bone cutters on pipe organs since the cutters are more likely to crush the coral than cut it. Instead, I recommend a razor blade. Cut a healthy specimen from the top downward, hopefully going between tubes. Keep as much tube height as possible as it is hard to determine where the polyp is inside. Use cyanoacrylate (super glue gel) to mount the frag on a piece of rubble or plug. Within about a week, small fleshy bumps should appear, as shown, as the start of new tubes. They usually start about a centimeter down from the top of the red tube and form a horizontal base around the tube. It is these horizontal attachment points that the razor blade should cut through during fragging, rather than the tubes themselves.
When All Else Fails:
If a pipe organ dies, its skeleton is still useful. They are gorgeous additions to fish-only aquariums due to their bright red natural coloration. They are also great in sumps due to their porosity (great hiding places for all sorts of critters). My favorite way to recycle the skeleton is to crush it up and add it to a white sand bed. The red dots contrast beautifully with a stark white background.
Conclusion:
Pipe Organ corals are a beautiful addition to a reef tank, and they do not deserve the reputation they have received. Their red skeletons provide a bright pop of unique color, and their polyps provide interesting movement within the tank.
Thanks to everyone that has supported my coral rehabilitation efforts along the way! It has been an amazing journey – culminating in presenting at MACNA 2022! When I was asked to speak, I reflected on the last few years, where we were unable to meet in most capacities. The theme for MACNA 2022: Gathering and Growing, highlights the path forward for us as a community, but we need to translate that vision for gathering and growing corals as well. This presentation focuses on what is preventing that growth and how to move forward.
Synopsis: These are not your average, ordinary, everyday reefkeeping problems. These corals are dying – for a reason. Learn systematic troubleshooting techniques, unusual parasite identification, and potential treatment options through short case studies and copious photographs, all presented through the holistic lens of systems engineering. Join us as we delve into rehabilitating corals, one polyp at a time.
Rough Transcript
This rough transcript is not exact, and it is still in work. Thanks for your patience while I add everything in.
Slide 1:
Good morning! Before we get started, I’d like to thank all of the leadership, volunteers, sponsors, vendors, the other speakers, our hosts here at the convention center and partnering hotels, and of course, all of our attendees! You all have truly pulled a remarkable event together.
And, once I saw the event schedule, I got excited. 8am on a Saturday morning after a great reception?! I knew I was going to have *the most* hardcore group of reefkeepers at MACNA!
As the slide says, I’m Nikki Bridges, and you can typically find me as “Reef’d Up” on various forums. When I was asked to speak, I reflected on the last few years, where we were unable to meet in most capacities. The theme for MACNA 2022: Gathering and Growing highlights the path forward for us as a community, but we need to translate that vision for gathering and growing corals as well. This presentation focuses on what is preventing that growth and how to move forward.
To help wake you all up a bit – I have a question. Just raise your hands – don’t be shy. Who has watched a coral die, despite all attempts to save it? This presentation on coral triage and rehabilitation covers my approach.
Slide 2
As most of us are well aware, reef degradation is ongoing globally. While our knowledge is rapidly increasing, it may not be sufficiently rapid. Over the last forty years, there has only been an average of one coral disease described per year, and there are substantial gaps in the applicability of this research of native habitats to that of what we find in our aquariums. These native habitats are complex systems that we try to replicate at home, which can help or hinder our success. Aquarists have come up with some incredibly innovative treatments for various parasites, algae, and sick fish, but much of that information is insufficient for the scientific community – nor is it readily scalable. As a hobby, we can help ourselves and the broader scientific community by progressing toward evidence-based modern medicine.
Slide 3
This presentation is based on well over 250 successful rehabilitations – these are just a sample of the before and after photos. My rehabilitations have ranged from fish to corals to anemones to other invertebrates, but my specialty and the focus of this presentation is on coral rehabilitation.
Slide 4
We’ll walk through the most critical aspect, in my opinion, of rehabilitating corals in aquaria, some unique challenges, some pests and parasites that may be a bit uncommon, along with various diseases and syndromes I’ve encountered along the way.
Slide 5
Slide 6
For those of you that don’t know me, I’m an engineer by trade, and aquariums are my hobby. I’m a military spouse and mom to two awesome kids (that you’ve probably already heard by now). And for those of you that have had enough coffee and put it all together – you’re right – we move frequently, which means my aquariums do too. In my infinite free time, I also scuba dive and love to volunteer with reef clean-ups and restoration. That being said, I’m not a photographer, doctor, vet, or really anyone qualified to give opinions. This is just what has worked for me or what I’ve noticed.
Slide 7
After I put this presentation together, I realized I’m actually a daughter and grand-daughter of wildlife rehabilitators. I grew up with all sorts of “normal” and not-so-normal pets, including a fox! We always had aquariums too, so when I went off to college, I was thrilled when I found a “free” tank. The expensive part was over! HA!
Slide 8
After that, it was all history – so I have to thank my family for supporting my tinkering. This was one of my old rescuing systems. Unfortunately, being based in the Washington, DC area doesn’t allow such large working spaces.
Slide 9
So, while I may not have a medical background, I believe I can still contribute to the greater knowledge by my systems engineering approach, which anecdotally appears to work. Just like in my professional life, corals live in a complex environment, where all of the interacting parts affect each other in novel ways. We need to look at the biology, chemistry, and mechanical underpinnings of the systems to see the big picture. Systems engineering brings the thought-processes to connect the pieces of the system throughout the life-cycle, across various biological functions, anatomical structure, and behavior. With that interconnected knowledge, we can use tools to identify patterns, model to predict outcomes, determine how things went wrong and why.
Slide 10
As we go through this thought process, we have to start with assumptions. Down in the corner is a Venn-Diagram (don’t worry, we’re going to start nice and easy with this 8am presentation). Many problems in aquaria are multifactorial – something hosts an agent, but the environment has to also be conducive for the problem to manifest. When a coral is dying, the environment is often the easiest to begin to control. That’s where I start. I remove the dying coral from its previous habitat and place it in an aquarium that I know is as ideal as possible. From there, I work to minimize the host and agent interactions, thus minimizing this central area for issues to continue.
Slide 11
Slide 12
Whenever I can, I go searching for all corals that I can possibly help save. Typically, I bring home a box of 10 to 20, all in various stages of dying. Over the years, what I found is that categorizing them can have profound effects on their outcome.
Slide 13
Ultimately, I need to create a usable “diagnosis” – what is causing the coral to decline? Typically, in industry, I see the “Root Cause Diagram” with a tree, but to me, this alga is more akin to how we need to think about coral health issues. The signs are what we can physically observe at a surface level. Tracing back the signs can help identify the problems, and at the root of problems may be one or more causes.
Slide 14
At the hobbyist level, with a batch of declining coral, I use signs to determine what I need to do. This eye chart has worked for me, time and time again. I start at the top, in the terminal range. Corals here, in my experience, have essentially no chance at survival. If the coral is not in that category, I move down to the Emergent category. Corals with these signs need immediate, all-encompassing care to survive. If the coral is not in that category, I move down to the urgent category. Signs in this category mean that I need to move fast and provide a lot of resources, but the outcome is promising. The last category is just the routine category, which is the easiest category to manage.
Slide 15
Going back to the top of the flowchart is the Terminal section. First, I look for tissue – I know, to some of you, that sounds like an insane first step. But, sometimes, there is nothing left of the coral by the time I get home. Next, I look for signs of fluorescence, and of course, the amount expected varies by coral species. These corals were subjects of a literal bleach bath caused by an angry customer at a local fish store. Unfortunately, these did not recover. Next, I hope for more than 50% of a mouth. This, too, varies by species and comorbidities. If it had more than 50% of its mouth, I would look to see if the mouth was gaping, like shown in this coral. And, finally, if the mouth is gaping, I look to see if there are mesenterial filaments present. If the coral reaches this point in the diagram, I have never seen it recover. I consider these terminal cases, where I should minimize my resources. But, if the coral’s signs lead us away from a terminal case, we must next consider it as an emergent case.
Slide 16
Here, I consider if the coral has been exposed to improper chemicals, like in this case. If not, then I worry about bare skeleton cases, but more on that in just a moment. If the skeleton is not visible or is mostly ok, I look for any signs of a brown jelly substance, like in this bottom photo. Going back to the visible skeleton, I worry less if the skeleton is covered in algae as that means the coral has been declining for some time. If the damage looks new, I need to classify the signs by tissue loss speed and skeletal color: is it green, white, or pink (and by pink, I don’t mean coralline algae). These are all cases that I identify as Emergent – they need fast care with extensive treatment. All of these corals, except the last, made a full recovery.
Slide 17
As an example, this Homophyllia coral did not meet the signs for the Terminal category, and to my knowledge was not exposed to improper chemicals. However, its skeleton was showing with no signs of coralline or other macroalgae, and it looked like concrete. The coloration was light green, which meant this was an Emergent case. I trimmed the skeleton, removed obviously rotting tissue, dipped it according to my protocol (more on that in a moment), and used veterinary-grade tissue glue to help reattach the remaining healthy tissue to the skeleton. Over the next 30-days, I monitored the coral daily in quarantine. At that time, I determined the coral was on its way to recovery. I trimmed the remaining skeleton, performed my dip routine again, and moved the coral to the grow-out phase. The coral spent the next 30-days growing out before receiving its final set of dips, fragging, and then move to new homes.
Slide 18
If the coral has signs inconsistent with Terminal and Emergent, I move on to consider the Urgent category. This area has challenging signs, but many of these signs also indicate that there is ample time available for treatment. For instance, coral bleaching is a serious concern, but many corals can live for extensive periods – up to weeks – in this state. If the coral isn’t bleached, I look at signs in the tissue for treatment clues. Is the tissue clinging? Is the coral’s mouth unresponsive? If there’s slow tissue loss, is there a sign of pests or parasites? Or, is there a sign of infection in the coral that doesn’t meet the signs of an emergent category? If so, these signs warrant urgent treatment. Note, that all of these corals survived, and I have all of them except the last, currently in my tank. Let’s take a closer look at this coral, which I’ve had going on 12 years now, as an example.
Slide 19
The overall process for Urgent is similar to Emergent. Here, the tissue had fair coloration, but the tissue was clinging to the skeleton. Once again, I trimmed the skeleton, used my dip procedure, monitored for 30-days, grew-out for 30-days, then moved it into its permanent home. The difference is in the details – the time to treat, dip procedure, and monitoring process were all less intensive in this Urgent case.
Slide 20
The last category is the Routine category. Unfortunately, corals that look like this are typically destined for the live rock bin; however, these are some of the easiest corals to treat, in my opinion. Mild bleaching, poor fragging, mild recession, coralline-covered skeletons, browning, a lack of polyp extension, slow tissue recession, and burnt tips are all signs that indicate the coral has a good chance of recovery in the proper environment. Once again, all of these corals survived.
Slide 21
Now that we’re in the Routine category, we can go into more details with the basics of my process. This coral had browning and mild recession with a coralline-covered skeleton. Easy, right? I started off with a more in-depth inspection, with both white light and UV light. This helps me search for any evidence of pests and further assess the fluorescence health of the coral. Next, I magnify my view, typically with a camera so I can thoroughly inspect the coral over time – preferably in a comfy chair!
Slide 22
Next, I remove as much excess skeleton or other substrate as possible to open up the skeleton for treatment, remove hidden pests and eggs, and allow the tissue to regrow more easily. Of course, this all depends on the coral species – I do not perform this step on Fungia corals as a rule. Typically I use my band saw and heavy duty toenail cutters. I know some of you use bone cutters, but typically those are too large for my hands. Adapt and overcome!
Slide 23
At this point, it’s time for dipping. I have a partially 3D-printed dip stirrer tank, and if you’re interested in making your own, you can find instructions on my website. This stirrer helps get the treatment throughout the coral more gently and steadily than using a pipette, in my opinion. Plus, it has a removable rack so that I minimize my own interaction with the dip solution.
Slide 24
For the most routine-of-routine cases, I use a three-dip process. However, this process varies widely by coral species, signs, and triage category. Typically I start with a hydrogen peroxide and tank water dip, and you can see the Pectinia coral in that dip here. I then follow that dip by another that is specific to whatever I notice is going on. Last, the Pectinia went into a CoralRx dip, used according to manufacturer instructions.
Slide 25
Initially, I thought the coral was declining due to poor water quality; however, during my daily monitoring sessions while the coral was in quarantine, I noticed something else was going on. My triple dip process had failed. I then had to re-evaluate the coral’s triage category and treatment plan. It appeared that these pods – probably Ostracods – were possibly irritating the coral and causing it to decline in health. Typically Ostracods are harmless, but this was definitely suspicious. Without a better plan at the time, I decided to use a treatment plan to break the lifecycle over a series of dips.
Slide 26
Yes, this process was stressful to the coral, and initially, it looked terrible. However, it was successful and necessary to properly treat the coral. Once it was healthy and passed all quarantine inspections, it went to its permanent home.
Slide 27
Slide 28
As I’ve briefly mentioned, there are a lot of challenges to helping corals recover. Corals are dying for a *reason,* and I have to ensure I take into consideration all factors – especially my personal safety. The decaying tissue can wreak havoc with an aquarium, from both a nutrient and coral warfare perspective, which can increase the risk to other tank inhabitants. Some tank inhabitants may try to clean up the decaying tissue, only to exacerbate the situation. Some creatures try to have one last hurrah with a reproduction event – which can also affect the aquarium’s biological filter. Sanitization and ensuring I had plenty of the proper treatments available was especially challenging during the pandemic, and it still isn’t easy on a good day! Then, there are long-term growth issues; many of these corals can take years to finally achieve typical growth rates after a degraded period.
Slide 29
Going back to personal safety for a moment – I always try to avoid dying corals that I am unable to safety accommodate, especially if I have any open cuts on my hands. I always wear my personal protective equipment, including this 3D-printed face shield that I made during COVID. If you’re interested in making your own, the instructions are on my site. Bottom line – this is a risky endeavor, so all precautions are required.
Slide 30
In addition to all the logistics and safety challenges, there are also substantial ethical considerations for my efforts. Of course, the owner of a dying coral won’t want to take a loss, so the owner sells the coral. If it’s purchased, then that reinforces the idea that severely damaged corals are acceptable, which in turn could incentivize substandard coral quality. Additionally, I have to worry that this sort of presentation could inappropriately increase hobbyist confidence in their abilities to rehabilitate a damaged coral.
Of course, a dying coral could potentially spread the problem to other corals, and this threatening situation has to be mitigated through multiple levels of quarantine, segregated tools, and prioritized cleanliness.
Similar to purchasing dying coral is the idea of flipping dying corals for a profit. A hobbyist buys a discounted coral, gets it healthy, then resells it for a gain. But, corals aren’t houses; they are living creatures that need proper care. Profit optimization undermines that care. My husband can definitely tell you that there isn’t a profit if the corals are getting the care they need.
Then, there’s the more philosophical consideration of having to determine what lives and dies. I can tell you right now that if I had a choice between rescuing a crashing 75-gallon tank full of Xenia or taking in a single dying Scolymia, I’ll choose the Scolymia every time (and that’s not far from a hypothetical situation – I had a very similar situation once). I have limited resources, so I do have to prioritize care.
Bottom line, please take away from this presentation that coral rehabilitation is for researching problems and saving corals.
Slide 31
Slide 32
Most of you are probably familiar with Acropora-Eating Flatworms, but I thought I’d share some other interesting worms and flukes I’ve found over the years. If you’ll recall my intake procedure, where I mentioned using white light and UV or actinic, you can see the importance of that process here. On your left, is an LPS flatworm under actinics, where it is mostly camouflaged. On the right, the coral is under white light, where the flatworm is much more contrasted with the coral.
Slide 33
Once again, red bugs are fairly common, but I’ve also dealt with various spiders and gray bugs as well.
Slide 34
Of course, I’ve found my fair share of various nuisance crabs.
Slide 35
Then, there are various predatory nudibranchs. Thankfully I don’t see these often. I lumped the pyramid snails in here, as I’ve even taken in various invertebrates. These are quite a pain to address, especially if you have small snails, as I found them even on Collonista and Stomatella snails.
Slide 36
So, as a hobbyist with limited samples, I model. I modeled the life cycles of Acro-eating flatworms, red bugs, and Montipora-eating Nudibranchs. I also attempted to model various coral growth rates so as to see how the food source would affect the pest population. And then, I added various treatments that could be switched on and off. Systems engineering can help fill the gaps.
Slide 37
Although I may be able to model pest interactions, I haven’t figured out how to handle boring sponges. Thankfully, I rarely encounter these in my rescuing, but I have been unable to find sufficient information on treatment. Here, in the top right, you can see these orange sponges growing up and out of a coral in the wild. For those of you unfamiliar, these boring sponges essentially dissolve the host coral’s skeleton out from underneath it. I took in a hammer coral that wasn’t doing well, and I found this spongy orangish mass inside the skeleton. Here, on the left, you can see that the sponge has dissolved the coral’s skeleton, just leaving tiny pieces in the matrix. Once I realized what was going on, I took a slice from the coral’s skeleton, along with a slice from a previously healthy hammer coral. On the left, you can see the sponge has fully engulfed the skeleton. Then, I bleached the piece so that I could see what was left, and a substantial portion of the skeleton was gone. More interesting to me were the tunnels that the sponge had bored – you can see these in the center photos.
Slide 38
Slide 39
Moving into the diseases and syndromes section, you can see some of the corals I’ve brought back to full health that might’ve had bacterial-related bleaching. Whenever I see corals that have this blotchy, uneven bleaching, I begin to suspect it is bacteria-related. As I’ve mentioned, a lot of the problems we face in this hobby are multifactorial, so sometimes just moving the coral to a new environment may help. With Vibrio, in particular, there are quite a few studies that suggest it becomes more of a problem with high nutrients and higher temperatures. So, what could help these types of corals in the hobby? We need ways at the hobbyist level to confirm the cause and be able to treat – with responsible antibiotic use, if necessary.
Slide 40
Similarly, Brown Jelly is potentially multifactorial. I’ve personally dealt with it dozens of times, and it anecdotally seems to appear more often with higher temperatures and nutrient levels. And, each time, there are large masses of ciliates. Add in bacteria with some sort of relationship to the other factors, and this brown gelatinous mass appears, quickly leaving behind a bare, white coral skeleton. As far as I’m aware, Cipro is one of the most widely used antibiotics for this syndrome; however, I am concerned with the hobby creating antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. We need more options and a better understanding of the cause.
Slide 41
While I’ve successfully dealt with brown jelly and bleached corals, my success rate falls dramatically over the next few slides. I frequently encounter this pink skeletal staining in dying corals, and more often than not, I am unable to save the coral. This staining is not coralline; it appears to be caused by the coral itself, possibly as part of a defense mechanism. The causality and treatments are major gaps for me.
Slide 42
Although I’ve covered bleaching, I personally consider Trachyphyllia bleaching to be something else. Compared to the previous bleached examples, typically I see Trachyphyllia retain their fluorescent pigments longer. I’ve never managed to save one of these, so I would like to understand the causality. I do wonder if the corals are executing a type of programmed cell death in response to a stressor, which just runs out of control and results in the entire coral’s death. Again, I would love to see more information on this.
Slide 43
“Elegance Coral Syndrome” might be a bit more familiar, as it has been known in the hobby for decades. While I’ve saved a few Elegance corals, I was unable to save this one despite a variety of attempted treatments.
Slide 44
This is a problem I frequently encounter, and yet I have found no information on what could be occurring or what to do. Certain bleached corals regain coloration in my care, but they turn a dull grayish blue. Then, they slowly die. I even saw something similar out in the Florida Keys while diving; the coral had bleached, recovered to a bluish gray hue, and then was starting to recede. My only guess is that the zooxanthellae to repopulate the coral were unsuitable for sustaining the corals needs, so the corals eventually starved. I still have this bottom coral, and it has lasted longer than most with regular feedings.
Slide 45
So, in conclusion, we can all make a difference with whatever backgrounds we have. We all bring unique perspectives and experience to better our hobby.
Slide 46
Since death is a process, a systems engineering approach is uniquely situated to handle interventions through root cause identification, correlation of signs to usable diagnoses, and development of a systems-view of health and well-being. As each hobbyist can contribute to the overall knowledge, systems engineering can help crowd-source that information and utilize tools to pull it all together. With this sort of effort, we can develop better protocols for treating unhealthy corals and help transfer that information to efforts on the reefs. As hobbyists, we can reduce our losses and contribute to the broader scientific community.
Thank you all for coming and sitting through a nerdy presentation at 8am on a Saturday morning. We are short on time, so if you have in-depth questions that might lead to a longer discussion, let’s take those offline. Are there any other questions?
I was given this dying Caulastrea “Candy Cane” or “Trumpet” coral and was told it had “brown jelly disease.” Although I had seen plenty of corals with “brown jelly”-like substances, I hadn’t had the mass contagion and mortality that some reefkeepers claimed at the time (although since then, I certainly have). I viewed this coral as a good challenge for rehabilitation. Although, without having a microscope back then, I knew I was taking a huge risk.
Note the damage and “brown jelly” on the four polyps. Image dated 14 March 2012.
First, I assessed the dying Caulastrea coral’s overall health, which was quite obvious. Of course, there was nothing I could do for the polyps on the right, so they were fragged off. The other four polyps looked awful. I dipped them in both Coral Rx and Lugols (separate dips) to check/treat for anything. I also used a pipette to gently blow off all “brown jelly” I could, without damaging the rest of the coral. Essentially, I just followed my standard inspection, dip, and quarantine protocols.
The coral would not take any food for several weeks. Instead, I resorted to just removing the “brown jelly” and maintaining water conditions, which worked in this case.
By 20 May 2012, the four remaining polyps had fully recovered. Once it started eating, the road to recovery was very quick.
I can’t say for sure that this was the typical “Brown Jelly Syndrome (BJS),” but it was still nasty. It left the coral quite ill for some time; it took another seven months to create another polyp. I do recommend extreme caution in cases like this, as BJS can cause massive die-off in the aquariums.
14 March 2012 to 20 May 2012, Caulastrea “Candy Cane” Coral
To see more amazing rehabilitations of previously dying corals, click here!
This Dipsastraea coral (previously classified as a Favia sp.) was not my first rescue coral, but it is by far one of my favorites. I picked it up in ~2008 from a local fish store’s discount $5 bin. I had no idea how to save it at the time, so it was mostly luck. I kept it in low light and medium flow. I also fed my homemade frozen food at least weekly. The colors really pop under very low light, actinic conditions.
The coral has moved with us to four different states over 14 years, so I have fragged it many times (so it is much smaller than it would have been otherwise).
1 November 200828 November 20085 April 20091 January 20107 October 201231 March 201325 May 202028 August 2021
