Caulastrea Question

[LadyReefNeck]

Ok, here's the scoop....

Had this Caulastrea Furcata since May (acquired it along with the tank). It looks like Candy Cane coral but has much larger heads.



In June, the 1 head stretched out and it got this small area at the very bottom that I thought might pinch itself off and become a new coral as it has a small area of skeleton material on the back of it. However it never has done anything more other than just hang there. It seems healthy enough, but no changes.

Then yesterday I take a look at the coral after lights on and see another head that almost looks like it's melting! It's looking the same way again today. Anyone with any suggestions what might cause it to do this?

[sb1227]

Looks to me like a massive case of polyp extrusion, which is a form of asexual reproduction. Often it's caused by some sort of stress. It's kind of interesting, really. Mine has done it, only once. Nothing ever came of it, the tissue seemed to hang, then calcify at the end, then drop off.

It could be bothered by (what looks like) the Palythoa next to it, or issues with water quality. There are quite a few things that can cause it. I would move it to a place where it has good (but not too strong) water flow and space to grow, away from other corals (it will get big).

[LadyReefNeck]

Thanks for the suggestions SB. I'm going to trim away the palys that have grown closest to it as I can't really move the coral without chiselling it off .. it's firmly attached to the rock and probably has been for approx. 4 yrs. It may also be the flow as you suggested, as I did notice today that 1 of the PH's has shifted slightly and is probably putting more flow in that area than it had previously.

I don't think water quality is the issue, unless it doesn't like better quality (the past few weeks) compared to what it was use too. LOL (I've been skimming wetter and have added a filter sock to the overflow hose to remove some of the extra debris.)

[sb1227]

Well, at least yours is firmly attached, once they get real big, they tend to get "top heavy". Mine is just about 5 years old and the size of a half-basketball, no way to attach it to anything! I just wedge it between two rocks to secure it. Here's a pic at about 4.5 years.

The only time mine did that I had some problems with my tank, the only thing I came up with was possible leaching from the sand bed. All water parameters were good. I don't think I'll ever really know what happened exactly, maybe some sort of "old tank syndrome". But I had to assume the reaction was definately a stress reaction of sorts.

[110galreef]

Lokks good to me.....may eventually split!

[110galreef]

Originally Posted by sb1227

Well, at least yours is firmly attached, once they get real big, they tend to get "top heavy". Mine is just about 5 years old and the size of a half-basketball, no way to attach it to anything! I just wedge it between two rocks to secure it. Here's a pic at about 4.5 years.

The only time mine did that I had some problems with my tank, the only thing I came up with was possible leaching from the sand bed. All water parameters were good. I don't think I'll ever really know what happened exactly, maybe some sort of "old tank syndrome". But I had to assume the reaction was definately a stress reaction of sorts.

That guy is huge...I usually frag them way before that!

Awesome!