Cold Shipping Water -- 1/8/10
Yesterday I received a package of 4 frags. They were as follows: Acropora valida, Montipora capricornis, Seriatopora stellata, and Acropora tenuis. When the package came in, the water was very cold. I would say somewhere along the lines of grabbing a glass of ice water. I do not know the exact temperature of the water as my thermometer only reads to 66 but I do know that it was less than that and if I had to guess I would say the temp. was in the 40's. Would this low of a temp. kill these corals overnight?
<It certainly can, it is extremely stressful to them.>
It seems to me that this would obviously kill them but I need a second opinion. The Montipora is in bad shape, the center of it has about a nickle sized circle that was mucus and bleached out overnight. The has flesh just peeling of it about half way up. However, The looks perfect, nice and pink and the polyps were even opened up today. The jury is still out on the , it hasn't lost any of its flesh but it is brown and no polyp
extension yet. Thanks in advance, Terrence.
<I would take photos to document progression if you can, check the guarantee policy from the place they were ordered and contact them ASAP. A reputable shipper will pack these insulated, even with heat packs depending
on where they are going this time of year. It has been a fairly cold week nationwide, these should have been packed accordingly. Welcome, best of luck here, Scott V.>

Soft Coral handling...   6/5/07 Hi, I was wondering about how to handle soft corals in the tank when moving rocks and coral to new location within the tank. <Mmmm> I have a Flower Pot 5" and at neon green start Polyp. when moving the star fell and hasn't come back out fully. Could I have Killed it or dose it just take time to recover from a fall? Thanks a lot!!!! Morgan <... well, neither of these is a Soft Coral... But what you seek is likely posted... Please peruse here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/index.htm The groups you're interested in... Stoloniferans/Clavulariids, Poritids/Goniopora... Systems, Compatibility, Health... Bob Fenner>

Bubble Mushroom: new, sick and needed Quarantine 1/11/05 Excellent site... tons of information. <thanks kindly> I'm a beginner at looking after mushrooms and am concerned about  the status of my mushroom 24 hours after being introduced to my 55 Gallon fish tank.  I have about 50lbs of Live Rock, 4 fish (Tang, Angelfish, Damselfish and Percula Clown) ph 8.2 - 8.4, Salinity of 1.024, low ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates. I purchased a small rock that had about 7 Bubble Mushrooms.  Once introduced into the tank they were shriveled and assumed they were stressed and would adjust in time.  After 8 hours all of the Mushrooms looked great. the next day 4 of the seven started to shrivel and one actually has a milky substance covering the entire Mushroom. I also noticed that another looks like it's falling off. I'm really concerned about this milky substance. <indeed a symptom of stress> Can you provide me some tips for the care and feeding of this mushroom? <hard to say why its doing it... perhaps shipping stress (recent import to the LFS?), or shock of acclimation (slow at home on entry or not?). You best bet regardless is to not move it (too stressful!) and give it very strong water flow. Small daily iodine additions (reef supplement as from SeaChem) may be helpful too> Patiently awaiting your response. Bruce Pearson. <please understand that your biggest mistake here my friend was adding this animal/coral with quarantine it in an isolation tank first (4 weeks for all types of livestock without exception). The risk of bringing a pest, predator, or disease into the tank by adding fishes, corals, plants, etc without QT is very high over time. It literally is taking a chance with their lives. Please (!) read and understand this imperative need... we have many FAQs and articles on the subject if you will take the time to do a Google search from our home page or navigate the site links to find more. A QT tank is such a small investment... rather insurance for the value of your main display system. Best of luck, Anthony>