elegance coral

[wayneg]

hi i have a prob with my elegance coral i have some little bugs in it took 3 of of them out here are the pics any help on what they are would be great thanks wayne.

[Archon]

well i was looking forward to hearing about this one. I hope someone posts.

[crvz]

I don't know what they are, but here's a bump for attention. I know we have some savvy LPS folks on this site, hopefully they'll get some more data.

[Elegance Coral]

They are female gall crabs. Pretty common in elegance corals. They are hideous looking critters. I'll be willing to bet that if you unfold them you will see eggs on the underside of their abdomen. There hasn't been any reported cases of them reproducing in captivity, so I wouldn't worry about that. Getting them out of their hole is the hard part. They dig in pretty good. I see 4 spots that look like gal crab holes. Did you get them all out? If so, you may want to think about an iodine dip, like lugol's solution, to keep down the possibility of infection.

On a different subject. I believe you purchased an Indonesian elegance coral. IF it survives, it will have a very long road to recovery. Cool temps, below 80, and no exposure to intense lighting will help its recovery. If it does succumb to its injuries, and you want another elegance, look for Australian elegance corals. You will have much better luck with an Aussie.

Good luck, and I hope that helped.
Darrell

[BEELZEBOB]

gall crabs, aren those the ones where the female imbeds herself in the coral, and the lil males come find her?

[Archon]

wow interesting

[yvr]

When you notice a LPS starting to die off like that, you can try and use airline tubing to siphon off the dead/necrotic tissue. Then try a giving the coral a bath of iodine solution like TM Pro Coral Cure or similar product. In this application the iodine will act as an antiseptic and hopefully kill prevent the spread of the tissue necrosis.