Coral - Is it dead?

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Steven A

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
1,195
Well my coral has still not opened how do i know if it is dead?
 
When coral become slimy and fall apart...and it smells really foul, but you can only smell it when it's removed from the water. EEk...nasty stuff.

It's not uncommon for coral to stay closed until conditions are in their favor. Is it new? How new? What species of coral? What are the water parameters? What fish are in with it? What lighting system do you have on the tank and how many gallons is the tank? What type of filters?
 
Sorry, It has been in the tank for 5 days, only other things int he tank are 1 red hermit (small) and 2 blue legged hermits that are also small. I also noticed a little purple snail :). There is also my featherduster which has gone missing since the whole 'leaving tube thing'.

Sorry but I dont know all the correct terminology yet but, the tips of all the little things are white atm, good or bad sign?

Image can be found at ... http://www.freewebs.com/stevens_fish/

Sorry I am not sure about its name.
 
I forgot to mention tank stats:

PH.8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 6
SP: 1.025
 
Still need to know the water parameters. Test ammonia, nitirte, nitrate, pH, SG, calcium, and alkalinity. These are the basic tests for reef. Please post results. Numbers please.

The coral that hasn't opened yet are a type of polyp. Most likely star polyps of some color variation. It's not dead. It's just tucked in until water conditions are right for it.

It's also important to know the lighting system. Please describe to us what you have. What type bulbs? How many watts?

That slug looking thing is the featherworm's body. The feather part is it's head. The body is no good. The head may anchor and rebuild itself. Testing water parameters will help determine if water quality is an issue.

How long has the tank been up and running with fish in it?
What kind of filter is on the tank?
 
Water parameters so far so good. If you can get the calcium and alkalinity tested, that'd be great. If you don't have test kits for them, most LFS will do it for you.

Give the polyps some time. My friend and I had kept a pond full of live rock in the winter for someone. Obviously the pond was filled with saltwater, but it was really cold and there were tons of those purple matts all over the rocks. I had placed some of them in my tank. It took a couple of months, but they did finally open and they thrived. You only had yours for five days...though not from cold water so it shouldn't take that long for them to open.

Feather dusters are sensitive to being handled. Any rips or tears in their body casings can also cause damage to the worm itself (it's body inside that casing). Take the body out and discard. Keep the head in there just in case it does anchor and grows anew.

Please answer the other questions about your tank...lighting and how long it's been up, etc.
 
Its been up for 1.5 monthes, and lighting a is just floursecent tube.
 
What filters are on the tank?

You don't seem to have enough lighting for the polyps. You want nothing less than 3 watts per gallon of lighting. How many gallons is the tank?
 
12 gals and 4.4. watts per gal.
Filters is 6-7 pound of live rock, 8 pounds of base rock, 10 pound sof live sand and a normal internal box filter mainly for movement of water but it includes a sponge and carbon.
 
I knwo this may sound stupid but when they are getting closer to liek open u, do the ends become much fullrer (fatter) and white tipped?
 
From what I observed, yes...the heads of the polyps start to get closer to the surface making the tips of the bumps appear lighter and more bulbous. You can try putting some phytoplankton once to see if there's a reaction. Then wait to feed them again when they do open. More like teasing them out.

Carbon should only be run in a reef for a week once a month with reef grade carbon. Reason being, carbon is said to absorb some of the essential trace elements from the water, so running carbon 24/7 can deplete the system and make a need for constant replenishment.

Get a skimmer or refugium. Corals can get 'choked' from proteins in the system. A skimmer mechanically removes proteins whereas refugiums biologically break proteins down. Some people like to use both. A little Prism skimmer should do fine...or a CPR backpak 2R. I have an 18 gallon with just an oversized refugium on it...Ecosystem 40. Made to filter up to a 40 gallon tank and fits perfectly on the back of any 10, 12, and 18 gallon tank. Siphon starting the tube that leads to the overflow is a pain sometimes, but the refugium unit has proved very successful.

A skimmer and/or refugium will also help control nitrates a lot better than just a regular filter alone.

You can check out photos of this 18 gallon mini reef in my gallery. Just click on the link :)
 
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