Is my Coral sick?

C

chigggger

Registered Member
Nov 10, 2004
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:( Hi

I have a question about my toadstool leather coral (forgive me if this isn't the right name for it). Recently put it in my tank and it seems to have taken a turn for the worse. I have before and after pictures of how it's been for the last four days. When i got it on Sunday I drip aclimated it for two hours and then placed it on the bottom of the tank and understood that it may take some time for the spores to show up again and maybe it's the lighting or flow. That's not my concern, it's reltated to the thin film that formed and I read up and thought that this was due to the shedding but then that was blown away with a turkey baster and now it's leaning quite awkwardly and has for two days.

Today there were what looked like lil wisps of smoke or clouds flowing from it and it stopped but i was wondering if this is normal or if there's something wrong with my new lil buddy? The params of my tank are as follows: 60 gallon deep or high tank with 75 pounds of LR, 72 degrees, NO3 is 0, NO2 is 0, ammonia is between 0 and 0.25, salinity is 29 and specific gravity is 1.021 with 196 watts power compacts running on a timer for 8 hours a day with a small clown, two BTAs, a small yellow tang, a damsel and a scooter blenny.

Any help would really be appreciated!

Thanks!

before.JPG after.JPG
 
Welcome to Aquaria Central!

I would raise the specific gravity over a few days up to 1.026 and raise the temperature up to a more tropical 80ºF or thereabouts. Keep him under good water flow- not a direct blast, but good turnover. Other than that all you can do is wait and see.

I'm wondering why you have an ammonia reading? Corals do not give you any room for error with your water parameters- they demand a fully cycled tank and excellent conditions. Perhaps a water change would help?
I use the following page as my guide to water parameters:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

Toadstools can be finicky. I have read anecdotal evidence that they like a higher alkalinity (in the 9-10 dkH range), and keep mine up there, but really don't know if it is true. If he keeps leaning, shrinking, and smoking over the remainder of the week, I would worry.
 
The wisps of stuff may be rotting tissue. If you feel the coral, does it have soft spots where stuff is coming off? If so, it is a bad sign. The decomposition will spread and kill the whole colony. If there is rot, the dead spots will have to be cut out. My experience with toadstools has been somewhat different from Toni's, in that they can be pouty, but are usually difficult to kill outright.

It's possible that the ammonia reading is spurious. A lot of test kits will register around 0.25 when there is really none. What brand is it?
 
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