Plate Coral Problems 02/15/09
Hello to all.
I haven't had to write you for quite a while as all has been going well in my system.
Parameters: 125 gallon mixed sps and LPSs, SG= 1.023, DKH= 10, Nitrate = 1 ppm, Phosphate = 0, Ammonia = 0, Temp = 74 degrees F
Water change = 30 - 40 gallons bi weekly, Filtering = 2 Eheim wet dry filters + 4 oscillating power heads
No skimming and no UV
<74F, SG of 1.023... wet/dry filtration and no skimming?! ...man, you're killing me! >
plenum under 4" sand bed 150 lbs live rock covered in coralline algae and sponge
Many little critters and corals along with main stock of LPS (Even visible copepods in the sand bed)
I have had this short tentacled plate coral for over a year. Recently my blood shrimp pair set up house in reach of the plate and lo and behold, the instant the plate coral catches some food, the shrimp dive on him and steel it. I created a cage so that I could feed it in peace but, I have noticed damage to the tissue around its "mouth". My assumption is that the shrimp are still stealing even after the coral has actually consumed the food.
This is supported by me catching one with its pincer half way down the feeding orifice. The question is this, what can I do about the tissue damage? There is already algae growth on the exposed skeleton. The coral is still feeding and otherwise appears happy but I am concerned about the tissue damage since it does not appear to be regenerating and is not likely to grow over the algae. I actually read an article about fragging these corals and was wondering if I should try it as a last ditch effort to save it. If I can successfully frag it, I can move the pieces to the other side of the tank away from the shrimp.
<Well, when a Fungia loses its mouth, it's a challenge to get it to recover, but it's certainly not impossible. It just needs a lot of TLC... in the long term though, sounds like you might have to move those shrimp.
Cheers,
Sara M.>

Re: Plate Coral Problems 02/16/09
I thought I would send on some pictures of the plate I want to save. I also include a picture of a "rescue" brain that although the main portion of the animal failed, appears to be doing something similar to the Fungia described in your articles by producing a "daughter" coral.
<I think you're referring to when Fungia produce anthocauli. What's going on with your rescue Mussid might look similar, but it's not the same deal.
What happens sometimes with the open brain corals... when they die off, but there's a glob or lump of healthy tissue left... they can regrow. But they don't regrow into the dead skeleton. They just start growing a whole new skeleton. So it's not so much a true "anthocauli" because the "offspring" is not really an offspring at all, but the parent colony regenerating the small bit of it that was left after most of it died. With the Fungia and anthocauli, the whole parent colony dies off, but springs these offspring.
There are some reports though, that Fungia might produce anthocauli even when they're not dying. In any case, it's a different scenario than when, rather, you just have a regenerating bit of coral. Do you understand what I'm saying/describing?>
I have decided to leave that one alone and see what happens. The picture of the plate shows where the algae has begun growing on the original damage by the mouth. This whole process is now months old. Just wondering if I should
continue to leave it alone.
<I would just leave it alone... unless you can very easily pull the algae off. I've had this happen to me with Fungia at least twice before. They can come back if you just be careful with them (keep your water quality high... good feeding, lighting, water movement, etc.).
Cheers,
Sara M.>