Need some quick help : /

[Gdbyrd]

My dad picked up a little piece of coral for me today from a shop in San Antonio. I've been having it acclimate for the past hour or so. But after looking at it, one side of it is brown and just nasty. It smells like feces....

I have no idea what kind of coral it is, and the LFS said it was some form of LPS..if I had to guess I would say it's some form of brain coral.

Can I put it in the tank? Is there anything I can clean that side off with? I'll get a picture up in a minute.

I only spent 30 bucks on it, so if it's not worth putting in there I'll just take the loss.

 

[bjohanson1234]

You can try doing an Iodine dip. I have never done one

If your tank is healthy, place it in a low light low flow area. LPS can be very resilient

 

[Gdbyrd]

OK, here are the pictures. 1st pic is the affected side. It's brown and slimy. Hell, I'm half tempted to take a toothbrush to it. It's 10 o'clock here, so there's no chance for me to get stuff to do an iodine dip tonight : /

The other two pictures are just from different angles so you can see the whole thing.

 

[parrotchute]

It'll probably be fine, but can you get the coral off of the smelly part?
edit: just saw the pic. personally, i'd toss it in!

 

[Gdbyrd]

The smelly brown part used to be coral I think. There's a skeleton matching the rest of the piece under it.

 

[Bifferwine]

Looks like brown jelly disease, which is near impossible to treat, and contagous to other LPS corals. You can try to break off the infected area, and do an iodine dip, but it can spread to your other LPS corals if left untreated.

Usually by the time you catch it, it is impossible to save the infected colony unless you completely remove the infected area.

 

[Gdbyrd]

Oh crap..I already added it to the tank..

So what do I do? get a hammer and break that chunk off or do I toss the whole thing away?

 

[Bifferwine]

It's up to you. Do you think you can break it off? If so, there's a good chance the rest of the tissue will be okay (the edges will probably die off).

 

[Gdbyrd]

Yeah, there are like 3 lobes on the rock with coral. Do you think that would be better than tossing it or leavign it alone to see what it'll do?

The side with the brown crap is the best looking though :*(

 

[Gdbyrd]

OK, just got done cutting off that piece. I checked over all the other pieces and there is nothing at all slimy on it, rest of the rock smells OK. I'm going to add it back into the tank, what do I need to do now? Just keep an eye on it and toss it if there are any changes?

I'm mixing up some water now to do a water change tomorrow. Is there anything else I can or should do?

 

[Bifferwine]

Just keep an eye on it. An iodine dip will probably help around the edges that you cut.

 

[Gdbyrd]

Here's the coral now.

The part of the coral that was affected was not touching the leftover. I was able to remove it without cutting anything but rock.

 

[Bifferwine]

That's not a brain -- that's an alveopora. Very nice coral, one of the nicest looking, IMO! But very tough to keep. Good luck with it, they are one of the more difficult corals to keep in this hobby.

 

[Gdbyrd]

That's not a brain -- that's an alveopora. Very nice coral, one of the nicest looking, IMO! But very tough to keep. Good luck with it, they are one of the more difficult corals to keep in this hobby.

/grumble..

So not only is it sick, but it's also difficult to keep....great. I'm going to pick up some iodine tomorrow and do a dip. At least do it for a few days. Like I said, I'm OK with this coral dying, but I would be really upset if it took out my other LPS. Fallen in love with my little torch.

When will I have a good idea if this coral is going to make it or if my other corals are gonna be affected?

 

[yote]

Is it an alveopora or a Gonipora?I cant tell from the pick,But its sure not what I thought it was from the first pic:D
Alveopora is the easier of the 2.You may have a great luck with it.

 

[dcantucson]

I posted on your other thread too. The alveopora is beautiful. I didn't know that that coral was the one from yesterday. Glad you were able to cut the infected part off. If it dies on you it could take months. In my experience I have found that they can linger when dying. I have a purple one that I have had for several months that seems to be doing fine. (So far) Good luck with yours.

 

[Gdbyrd]

Is it an alveopora or a Gonipora?I cant tell from the pick,But its sure not what I thought it was from the first pic:D
Alveopora is the easier of the 2.You may have a great luck with it.

That just saved me some money. I was going to buy a big piece of coral locally this next week(wife's out of town so checkbook is coming out to fill the void, lol). They have it listed as something else with really easy care requirements, but it is most certainly a goniopora.

You guys are so good you give advice on accident :P

Still trying to find a way to differentiate between the two.

 

[dcantucson]

I think it has to do with the little 'flower petals' One has more than the other. I'll try to find the link.

 

[dcantucson]

Here it is. This explains them:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/dec2002/invert.htm

 

[yote]

Look at the polyps.Alveopora have 12 tentacle tips where Goniopora has 24.