Would clowns tear up a patch of Anthelia polyps?

[erasmu]

I have had a small patch of Anthelia polyps (about 12 stalks) for two weeks. It has looked great and been open wide. There were no fish in the tank, although there were several micro-hermits, snails, and a brittle star. Nothing bothered it during those weeks. Today at lunch I added a mated pair of True Percula clowns (1-1/2 and 1-3/4 long) and one Hippo Tang (1-1/2 long). When I got home from work, the Anthelia did not look good. Upon closer inspection, most of the polyps have been torn loose at the base. I suspect the clowns, but I thought the clowns were very safe with all corals. Is this unusual? Should I discard the individual loose Anthelia stalks, or is there hope they can survive? Can the end of the fleshy stalk be glued to a rock? There was a small mat base that all of the stalks had been attached to previously. How disappointing.

 

[XXX]

I would be shocked if the clowns would be the problem. Stranger things have happened but I would suspect a crab to be the culprit. You should be able to glue the loose stalks with super glue gel. Be careful of letting the loose stalks settle anywhere that they want to as anthelia can be a coral nuisance when it gets out of control on your main rock structure.


Steve

 

[pscheel]

Sometimes clowns will take the anthelias as a host but IME, they never did any harm to them. Anthelias can sometimes crash for no apparent reason and detach themselves. Have you changed the flow of the water any? IME, they like a lot of water flow. Try attaching them to a rock yourself or they will settle and might be weedlike. Here's a pic of what happens when they took over my tank.

 

[erasmu]

:?
Thanks for the response. I have kept the same four powerheads running in the tank. Except for short periods during water changes, I run them all the time. Two are the Zoo Med type with the rotating heads. There is always a lot of movement of the Anthelia heads, but I never saw them close or show any distress.

I am quite sure there are no large crabs, only the micro-hermits because I dipped my live rock in freshwater for 30 seconds before adding it to the tank. There have been no signs of other critters during any of the feeding times. It looks today like some of the polyps will be able to recover at the original location. I will keep my eye open for those that were blowing around loose and either remove them or attach them in a chosen location. Thanks again.

 

[fishfarmer]

Be careful of letting the loose stalks settle anywhere that they want to as anthelia can be a coral nuisance when it gets out of control on your main rock structure.

Chuck it now while you have the chance :lol: Anthelia is tough as nails, I've shredded polyps from rocks only to have the torn bases regrow within days!

 

[Anemone]

Well, IMO, it could be the clowns or the hippo!

My pair of GSM clowns can be very industrious removing "waving" distrations. I have watched them vigorously attack (and rip up/carry away) ancora, heliofungia, caulerpa. They've even moved some fairly large pieces of live rock containing 3" acropora branches....couldn't rip up the branches, so just move the rock. Your clowns are supposed to be nicer, but........

As far as hippos go, the vast majority are well behaved, but like all tangs, they can "get a taste" for a specific coral and go after it with a vengence. I didn't have this problem with mine, but others have reported this problem, and hippos do enjoy a more "meaty" diet than other tangs.

Kevin