Re: Plate coral not listed in FAQ     2/7/14
Thank you for your fast response.  I read all the Fungiid diseases and came up with tissue recession.
<Okay; so what are you going to do?>
  Would you say this much is severe?  Would dipping the coral in coral rx help bring him back or hurt more than help.
<I'd just use iodide-ate>
 On you website a response to a orange plate similar to mine y'all said it was tissue recessing, but didn't give any advice on how to help him out other than removing a peppermint in that situation and I do not own a peppermint shrimp.  Thank you, and I appreciate your specific id on my coral.  Your website is awesome.
<Agreed. BobF>

Cycloseris algae removal -- 03/03/09 hey gang, I recently bought an orange Cycloseris online, when it came in I opened the box and to my dismay it had two spots covered in algae. <It's about dead if not there already... Write, call, ask for credit, replacement> A little slice of dead tissue for lack of better wording was covered in algae and a spot by the corals mouth was also covered in algae...looks like a hair algae to me but im no expert. After searching through your great site looking for ways to remove algae on the corals dead tissue I found no answers so I used my great man instinct...and didn't ask for help. I took a toothbrush and cut down a lot of the bristles so it would be more course. <Mmm, no... not a valid course of action here...> I scrubbed the spots plagued with the green nuisance and did the best I could while doing my best not to harm this little creature. I got most of it off but today I looked at it and it appears as if most of it grew back. It is feeding (frozen Mysis shrimp) and its tentacles are present all day, by the looks of it I would say that it is doing alright. My only questions are is there a better way to remove it? <Not really a useful question...> and if so how? any other suggestions as always are greatly appreciated!! thanks, -Alex <If anything Alex, I'd fragment this Fungiid... see WWM re... outside the system... and toss the algae-present pieces... they're shot. Bob Fenner>

Fungia recovering? 2/5/09 Dear Crew, <Carolyn> Sorry to pester you twice in one week! I rehomed a green Fungia coral last August which lived in the tank seemingly happily until December when I noticed that it wasn't expanding its polyps. It went from being quite a fleshy, mobile animal one week to what looked like a coral skeleton that you sometimes see on sale, although it retained its green colouration. Sad at its apparent loss, I couldn't bring myself to remove it from the tank so there it stayed... last night I was feeding the tank as normal and noticed that the Fungia had opened its mouth and appeared to be feeding on the lobster eggs I'd just added. Sure enough, when I checked again later the mouth had closed again. Either I'm seeing things or my coral has exhibited behaviour that I wasn't aware was possible?! <Is very possible that some life remains, Fungiids can look "about all gone" and make comebacks> The water parameters are: ammonia/nitrite/nitrate 0 phosphate 0 calcium 420ppm magnesium 1320ppm pH 8-8.2 dKH 14 salinity 1.025 temperature 25 Celsius (77F) I'm concerned that the dKH is high and wondered if that might have affected the Fungia? <Mmm, maybe a factor> I dose with iodine daily <I would only do this weekly...> and use Salifert all in one additive weekly as required. Many many thanks for once again reading my ramblings, Carolyn
<Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>

Disintegrating Helio 12/19/07 Hi guys, another problem has occurred. I have a Helio Fungia that has been doing very well for over 12 months. <Unusual for this genus/species... a poor survivor in captivity> 3 or 4 days ago I moved a powerhead (Tunze) to change the flow around a little. I noticed yesterday that my Helio was losing flesh and that parts of the skeleton were showing. I thought maybe that the flow had been too forceful and had torn the poor guy. I have 4 questions: 1. Would the force of the water be enough to do this? (the Helio was on the opposite side of a 95 gallon tank to the Tunze and it was "directly blasting it"). <Not likely... it would move if so> 2. If this was the cause will the Helio recover? <Not the cause likely, nor recovery likely> 3. Is there anything else I can do for it ( I have already moved it to a quieter part of the tank) and 4th. <Possibly... Perhaps iodine/ide/ate administration... I don't proscribe fragmentation of Heliofungia> If it is not going to make it, does it pose health risks for other inhabitants? <In this size/volume, with good filtration, circulation, not likely> I am quickly trying to put a hospital tank together to move it to. Thanks once again (in advance) for your wealth of knowledge. Olly <Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/fungiiddisfaqs.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Fungiid emergency surgery   8/30/07 Hi, At my LFS today I saw this beautiful tongue coral with some issues (mainly brown jelly disease). So the guy there gives me the coral for FREE. I was really excited! free coral!! He looked at me like I was crazy for wanting it. He doesn't think I can save it. Ha! Brown jelly is no match for a Dremel saw! ;-) So check this out, I took some pre-op and post-op photos. What do you think? Oh, and I was able to ID it to the species Polyphyllia talpina using the dead piece of skeleton I cut out. Best, Sara <Well done all the way around. BobF>

Sick Fungia Plate Bob, I have a Fungia Plate Coral in my tank that appears to be on the decline. I have had it for a couple of weeks and until a few days ago was doing well. Now the membrane is recessed and pulling away from the skeleton. Where it is pulling away, the skeleton is turning white. Is there anything I can do for this guy? <Yes... do you know that your water has sufficient calcium, alkalinity? Do you utilize iodide supplementation?> I bought a hammer at the same time and it appears to have a bacterial infection. I am preparing a malachite dip for it to see if I can heal it. Could this infection have spread to the plate coral as well?  <Doubtful> I also have an open brain, elegant, mushroom, and some polyps that are all doing very well. Is it possible to use the malachite dip on the plate coral too?  <Yes> Or should this be avoided. My calcium levels appear to be acceptable (but just to be safe I added some more). Thanks for your help. Chad <How much Calcium? What do/did you add? Bob Fenner>
Re: Sick Fungia Plate Parameters are as follows: PH = 8.2 Alkalinity = 3.5 mEq/L Nitrate = 5 mg/l Calcium = +- 500 mg/l I do utilize Kent Tech-I as my iodine supplement.  <And do you test for same?> I am currently using Coralife Invertebrate Calcium Supplement for calcium addition, though I will probably start using Kent Liquid Calcium instead when the Coralife is gone. <Good idea> One thing that I suspect may be the culprit is that he was placed in a high flow area in the tank initially. I have moved him to a position higher in the tank and out of direct flow of the power head. For now I will wait and see if this helps unless you think the malachite dip or something else might be better at this point. <Hmm, and know that these corals do ambulate... that is, they are capable of moving... if in good health... to conditions they more favor. Bob Fenner> Thanks.
Re: Sick Fungia Plate I currently do not test for Iodine. I use the recommended dosage and make sure that it doesn't stress the coral. The slow drip method seems to help with this. <Yes... much more valuable than a colorimetric assay> I do know that these corals can move on their own. Which makes me wonder if this guy didn't get acclimated as well as the others or he would have moved somewhere else. We shall see. <Agreed. Good point of view. Bob Fenner> Thanks.
Re: Sick Fungia Plate (dip procedure) The malachite dip I prepared killed the Fungia. As soon as I put it back in the tank it started completely disintegrating. The skin floated away from it's skeleton in the current. I am aghast. I followed the instructions in your faq as follows: 1 gallon of fresh (RO) water <A NOTE: I mis-read this: Please re-contact me here/WWM... this is NOT freshwater? But freshly made up and spg adjusted synthetic seawater? Please tell me the latter...> 1 teaspoon of baking soda 4 drops of Nox-Ich which is (1% malachite green and sodium chloride) <Very strange... this amount of malachite, the prepared water should not have "caused" the observed result... I suspect the animal was dead, decomposing (to an extent) ahead of the protocol> 10 minutes in this solution and then back to the tank. What I am afraid of here is that this same process will hurt the hammer in the same way as the Fungia. I hate to think that my efforts to save them have ended up making matters worse and killing them. <I share your concern, but will assure you that I have used the same procedure on thousands of specimens and know of companies that do the same. Bob Fenner>
FAQ correction Bob--a question about one of the FAQs today. (I see mine made it up there--lessons to be learned there. . .) On the last question, regarding the Heliofungia sp. coral dip. I thought the proper procedure for a malachite green dip for a coral called for lowered SG (1.018) for the dip (not freshwater). At least that's what I remember reading, but I can't remember if I read it in CMA or WWM or both. Am I remembering incorrectly here? <Curse my lazy mind James! I "casually" read the message as "freshly made-up seawater" with RO... You're absolutely correct.... Hope I can find the original sender's e-address or he writes back after viewing your input here... Yes to using dilute seawater, not freshwater...> I went home with the Magnum at lunch, and the water had already cleared up significantly from where it was this morning on its own. I hung the filter on the sump. (What did I ever do before I had a sump. . . LOL) Once it's cleared a little more and I can see what I'm doing in there, I'll do a water change to vacuum all the "snow" off the LR to get as much of it as I can out of the tank. <You might try hooking up your gravel vacuum to the Magnum... sure to need a few cleanings, but a very handy way to more quickly remove the "dust"> Hopefully no more crises this week! Chat soon. --jd <Indeed. Bob Fenner> James A. Deets