Stung Colt

[m8298]

Today I got home from work and saw that something stung my Colt. It has been in the same place for quite a while. It is a few inches away from a Frogspawn, and the are some Zoas growing closer. The only thing that has happened differently lately is that I picked out a bunch of Caulerpa that was growing around the Zoas and Colt. Take a look. I'm guessing it's the Zoas, maybe I stressed them too much when I was removingthe Caulerpa.

http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/gallery/files/6/8/7/DSC07495.JPG
Close-up


http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/gallery/files/6/8/7/DSC07496.JPG
Placement

[Boz]

John,

My bet would be the frogspawn. I believe that they can produce some sweeper tentacles that pack a pretty good punch. My guess is that the Caulerpa was in between the two and blocked prior sweepers from reaching the colt coral. You basically took down the fence that made good neighbors.

[JustDavidP]

I agree with the Boz-ster.... You'd NEVER imagine how long those sweepers can get when the "reefers become sleepers" :) I can almost predict the path of the sting by looking at the colt, the frogspawn and the halimeda in the background. The growth of those specimens clearly show the water flow in that area of the tank. The spawn drops sweepers, they come up from lower right to upper left and brush the softie on the way.

I also agree with the new opportunity to sweep and sting the colt without the great wall of macro.

Dave

[doctorthompson]

I don't own one but I recently spent an hour watching a couple of frogspawns and hammer corals in our LFS' farm tank, and I would have to agree with Boz and Dave -- it could easily sting the colt from that distance.

Have you spent any time watching them after lights out?

[Rob]

John, i agree with the above, frogspawns like most Euphyllia have long sweeper tentacles that do pack a nasty punch, i would recommend moving one of them a bit farther away from the other

[m8298]

Wow, I appreciate all the input. The weird thing is that they have been side by side for quite a while, and never bothered each other. I knew the Frogspawn has long sweepers, but it never bothered the Colt before. The Caulerpa I pulled out, wasn't long enough to stick up from the rock yet. Although, I have noticed a lot of growth in the Frogspawn lately. I have about three heads getting ready to split right now. I think I'll move the Colt further down in the tank. Thanks guys.

[JustDavidP]

The caulerpa may have just been bothersome enough for the coral to avoid. It could have been a physical block like the "fence" that others called it. It could have been such that the coral sweepers were "offended" by the chemical presence of the macro. In any case, too many variables point to the spawn and the removal of the macro for me, anyways, to think it was anything else.

D

[m8298]

Yesterday, I moved the Colt to the bottom of the tank, away from the Frogspawn. The Colt looked worse then the day before. Is there anything else I can do to help it heal? It almost looks like that half of it is affected.

[doctorthompson]

They can be a bit finicky after being handled/moved, make sure there's adequate water flow around it (but not directly at it!).

[m8298]

Look: I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but it's about half the Colt. Should I be trying to remove any of the tissue, so it doesn't get worse?

http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/gallery/files/6/8/7/DSC07500.JPG
Two days later