LPS, LTP Gurus please (pic)

[sumphead]

Hello and thanks in advance. I have a long tentacle plate coral that was givin to me by a friend. A few days ago I noticed something. It would normally expland itself quite regularly to HUGE proportions (12") and retract through the day or overnight periods. It was moving itself little by little to get situated I imagine. Well what I noticed was that when uninflated I could se a slit in him all the way to his skeleton. Almost parallel with the oral cavity there is a thin slit all the way down. Do LPSs split to procreate or is he ill? If he is ill is there anything I can do? Please forgive the rush job on the picture. I had my waterflow turned off to get a better view.

 

[reefrunner69]

Looks like the flesh is torn down the skelatal ridges of the plate. You need to be careful to keep excellent water quality. The chances of infection are great and Heliofungia actiniformis is a single polyp coral, the entire coral is one polyp, if it gets infected, the chances of saving it are VERY slim. FWIW, this is an easy coral to care for, but they are prone to infection from injury and that maes them have a very poor track record.

 

[sumphead]

Thanks RR, I'l throw a gab o'carbon in the sump and keep my fingers crossed. It was (is) a beautiful plate. The only thing I can figure is while trying to move it scraped itself next to a rock. Are there any signs to look for with infection? It just seems to be separated down to the ridges. What sign will it display? Whitening, excessive slime? Anything like that? Right now it seems fairly happy. *shrugs and prays*

R-