leather finger coral (went mushy)

[cmay]

Any advice would be great, thanks..

I recently purchased a leather finger coral (Sinularia) for the first few days the polyps were out and was looking great.

After 3 days I noticed the tips looked as if they were being eaten/picked off, however I did not see anything attacking the coral during the day or lights off.

Within the next two days I noticed a brown mark appearing, Still looked OK but slightly tattered, by the time I got home the next evening the coral had flopped.

As I removed the coral it fell apart in the tank, and once out it smelt intense, the middle was deep brown and gooey.

I've managed to cut a small good piece away from the main coral and attached to a rock (kept in a small plastic container/even this piece smells bad)


I cant believe how quick the coral deteriorated

My water parameters are:

PH 8.6 - .7
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0
Calcium 450 - 460


My other leather/soft coral is looking fantastic. (Sarcophyton galucum)

I'm gutted as I feel due to my own lack of experience/Knowledge I've caused this to happen, so im trying to find out where I went wrong, any pointer/help would be great.

Other related info:

After the 2nd day of positioning the leather finger I re-positioned him again, this was taking me longer than a expected and I knew I was not doing my tank any favours, the following day 5 fish quickly got what I can only describe as white spot, which looked very bad the next day, the day my leather flopped.

Within 2 days after removing the leather my fish were back to normal without any trace of spots.

Thanks for any advice

[CarmieJo]

Chris, I've never run into anything like this so I don't have any advice except to do a water change. If any toxins were released this will help dilute them. Do you have the frag in your tank?

[cmay]

Originally Posted by CarmieJo

Chris, I've never run into anything like this so I don't have any advice except to do a water change. If any toxins were released this will help dilute them. Do you have the frag in your tank?

No I took it out as I was so concerned about my other corals and fish, I've tried looking on the net for similar situations and I cant find anything quite like it.

I was really concerned, when I took the whole coral out and placed in a container I added partial fresh mix and the coral just seemed to flake away as if I had added acid.

My frag smells and also seems to be flaking away.

[CarmieJo]

Good, I think that is the right thing to do.

[cmay]

Can anyone else shed any light.....

Thanks

[cmay]

Originally Posted by cmay

Can anyone else shed any light.....

Thanks

I just found a sundial snail which I've removed, but I'm not sure if he could of caused such a big problem.

I've also found a teddy bear crab, I believe he's reef safe ??

[wwest]

How did the coral look at the store and how long was it there?

Also how long did you acclimate the coral?

Have you measured your Nitrate's and ammonia after the coral started turning brown?

I would recommend taking the coral into its own environments which it sounds like you did. Once you have it out i would try and cut everything off that still looks good and try to feed the new frags. Phytoplankton and vitamins work well for me at the store. I have always heard that under feeding or major stress can lead to tissue loss. I have saved a few corals by cutting the brown off, however i have lost a few as well.

Also it might not hurt to call the store or the person you got it from and see if they are having any other problems with corals. You might get a straighter answer if you go into the store. If you can, not sure where you bought it from.

I work at a local fish store and we buy corals all the time and a few leathers and other soft corals do the same thing. Mostly brown body flaking off gradually consuming the whole coral. I have not noticed anything with fish as you did. Not sure if its related or not. Someone else can shed light on this more than i can but as of right now i have never heard of a certain type of parasite that attacks corals and fish. I would like to learn more about this if anyone has any info.

Wish i could help you more and good catch with the sundial

[CarmieJo]

Chris,

Sundial snails Reefreaders - Sundial Snail are zoa eaters. If you haven't already, check your zoas for his friends.

[cmay]

The store had the coral for about 2 weeks
I acclimatised over 12 hours; I have a drip set up.

Looking back at my actions I took to long trying to re-position him, I’m sure this was stressful (the coral looked fine before I did this)

I’ve tried to save a few frags but unfortunately they continue to flake away and smell bad.

I needed to go back to the LFS to pick up a sun coral so I did mentioned what had happened, they were unsure and felt I may had moved him around to much

I’m surprised as everything I read about this type of coral tells me they are quite hardy.

I always check my parameters before adding live stock and my reading were the same when the coral and fish became ill.

PH 8.6 - .7
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0
Calcium 450 – 460

I have not checked my Ion levels I will do this when I get home from work.

As far as I can make out my tank seems healthy my other corals are fine including my little mushrooms (I’ve found in the past they are the first ones to indicate something is not quite right)

Maybe he was infected to start with…

Carmie: Thanks I will check for his pals.