Chili Coral Shedding?!

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mollybabes

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Jan 3, 2003
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I noticed a few days ago, that when my coral is "awake" that it had a clump of dark red stuff stuck to one of it's branches. Today, while it was "sleeping", I noticed that it was kinda coming off, so I took it off and out of the water. It came off very easily. Underneath, the coral was rather slimy feeling, smooth and orange, rather than light red. The stuff that came off crumbled to bits, and is shaped like tiny, red grass seeds.

What is this?

Is my coral sick?

Thanks for any input!
 
Chili corals seldom do well in reef tanks. They are actually deepwater corals, and need to hang upside down in a well shaded cave, with much cooler temps than most tanks, to even survive. It sounds like your is in a very bad way, and unlikely to recover--sorry.

Instead of chili corals, you might want to consider colt corals. The colors tend to be more subdued, but they are much hardier and appropriate for a tropical reef tank.
 
I agree with OG. Chilis have a very poor record. Yours is falling apart. The little "seeds" are the sclerites that act as an internal skeleton.

Although the chances are poor in any case, you will need to remove the decomposing parts with a razor blade or scalpel before the rot spreads through the whole colony.
 
They need in addition to the colder water that o.g. mentions a LOT of food. They don't have any zoolanthe "sp" and so they have to get all their nutrients out of the water. You also have to keep your water quality very good. So right there we sort of have a contradiction in terms in the reef tank.
Hey good luck
p.s. you might try taking it out of your main tank and putting it in like a 10 gal if you feed it enough and are very religious about your h2o changes it might make it but don't hold your breath.
Sorry
 
And I thought he was doing so well. He (as we call it) Has been opening up earlier in the day, even before we turn off the lights! And he has been staying up longer in the morning, too. He was doing poorly for a little while, going to bed early, and waking up late, but I did a major water change, and he immediately perked right up! But you say he is dying?
So how do I go about this surgery? I have already removed the sclerites, but do I still need to cut off the slimy part that was underneath?

Does he really need to be upside down? He is already in a very shaded area, with a lot of water flowing directly on him (he seems to like that). How do I stick him upside down?

I have heard about using superglue, but exactly how safe is it for the tank if it can make you high by breathing it? Does it work when it is wet, or do you have to take everything to be glued out of the tank? Sorry if I seem a little blond, but everyone mentions stuff, but doesn't really go into depth about methods.

Thanks
 
The increased activity probably indicates that it's not getting enough food--so is pushing it's boundaries to feed more often. Not really a good thing.

You will want to remove the slimy area as well--it is decaying, and likely to damage additional flesh that it is in contact with.

My understanding is that they do better if they are upside down--it's easier for them to expand and feed. Superglue is one option, but if it is attached to a rock, wedging the rock into the top of the cae, or securing it with a zip strip is likely going to be easier.
 
As OG said, cut off all the slimy parts. leaving only the firm flesh. Otherwise, the rot will spread and kill the whole colony.

Another approach to securing the coral is to run it through with a plastic toothpick, and then use a rubber band around the rosk to secure the toothpick at both ends. For the moment, I personally would wait to move it until the colony has healed a bit.
 
So I cut off the dead branch, and part of another that looked a little sick.

Now what? Should I do anything to cauterize the wound? Should I feed him more to promote healing? Is there anything I should be doing right now to help him?
 
For the moment, just make sure there's circulation to keep it clean. With a photosynthetic coral, I'd say just keep an eye on it, but I have no idea about a food-dependent coral. Certainly feed it, but more than usual? I dunno.

Is this in the same tank as the pipe organ? The dying parts of the chili may have released something irritating as they decomposed.
 
So I noticed that when I cut off the infected branches, some other stuff came out. Is this poisonous, 'cuz now my LTA is all scrunched up and there was a big glob of goopy stuff on him. Is that his sympiotic algae? Please say no!

Thanks
 
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