Problem with Heliopora coerulea (blue ridge coral)

[esmithiii]

I have noticed some sloughing of the tissue on two seperate specimines. Is this normal? None of my other corals seem to be affected.

E

 

[WWiley]

They sometimes shed a thin clear layer just like a leather coral. They are a soft coral. When I killed most of mine it turned pale and felt powerly to the touch. WW

 

[esmithiii]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

They are a soft coral

Technically it is in the subclass Octocorallia, which is commonly refered to as the soft corals, but it is hermatypic, and has a hard skeleton like SPS. The sloughing I am experiencing exposes a white skeleton under the tissue.

Anyone else experience this?

E

 

[Hammer]

Are your white areas on prominent points? Growth on these corals can sometimes be mistaken for decay.
And what are the current params of the tank, anything change to effect this coral?
These corals prefer much higher temperatures then most other corals, so lower temperatures seem to slow their growth. Not sure on the decay part of that though.

 

[Sue Truett]

My colony of heliopora from time to time sloughs the layer like WWiley mentioned. If your colony sloughs more than this layer to the point of seeing blue skeleton something else is going on. I have tried several spots in my 180 to place this coral and high flow is a must. Mine is now growing to the tank wall and you can see the blue skeleton underneath. Mine also has lighter areas that are new growth points. If it is extending polyps and seems to be growing I'd watch it as these corals IME are pretty tough.

my 180 ecosystem sps tank:
http://berlinmethod.com/suet/
my 120 ecosystem sps/clam tank:
http://suetruett.homestead.com/home.html
www.marshreef.org/members

 

[esmithiii]

No, the tan areas of high growth are distinct from the white areas. I sprayed some water on it using a turkey baster and could see the tissue come loose from the skeleton.

My tank parameters are normal, but the alk is a bit low.

Salinity 35 ppt
pH 8.5
Alk 2.0 meq/l
Ca 450 ppm
Mg 1140 ppm

Ammonia, nitrite both zero, nitrate under 10 ppm.

temp 79-83 F I am trying to lessen the swing now.

I will try to post a picture.

Ernie


Ernie

 

[Hammer]

Did you get any pictures of this yet?
I would say that something might have got on the coral to irritate it enough to do something bad. Say if the blue ridge was covered in it's own slime, and some slime from another coral gets stuck to it and does a little chemical damage (like from a yellow leather, or some other softy). It could damage the coral to slough the skin. Had this happen in a couple small patches before. I have also had the growth patches show this extra sloughing where it looked like decay before. Never did understand the cause of that one. But I kept cleaning it off, and it got better. It now grows enough I am considering taking a couple frags from it.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Like SueT stated,it's normal for this coral to shed when healthy.Porites and Millepora also do this as well...Gary