Coral Regrowth?

[Reefaddict]

Is it possible for part of a LPS coral to die off, leaving a portion of the skeleton, yet remain alive, and then regrow back over the skeleton part that had died off?
I had a small section of my ancor coral die. About an inch and a half, of a 7 inch skeleton. The coral seems to be fine and the die off seems to have stopped.
Is my ancor doomed, or can it grow back, or can it stay alive as is?

Thanks for any help!

 

[loganj]

Is my ancor doomed,

Probably not if it looks like the die off has stopped.

or can it grow back,

Yes, it can. Some corals...fungia for example...can die off completely and grow back from what appears to be a dead skeleton.

or can it stay alive as is?

Yes, it can do that too although I suspect that it will recolonize the empty skeleton in time. I can only guess what might have caused the die off...an injury of some sort maybe? If you start to see any more regression of coral tissue, take the coral out and, using a small (new) paint brush, brush some Kent Tech D on the affected area. Leave it for about 5 minutes and rinse in clean SW. Return to the tank. Another option would be an iodine dip with Lugols...check with reefrunner for the dosage...I can't seem to remember it. Watch for signs of stress if you do this and pull it out if it looks like it's under severe stress. Another thing you'll want to watch for is microalgae on the dead part of the skeleton. This is a prime place for it to try and get a foothold. It's very hard to remove from a coral skeleton and will smother the coral if allowed to grow unchecked.

 

[Reefaddict]

Thanks for that info loganj!! Im happy to hear that it can grow back! I think it is possible that the coral tissue is still regressing slowly. Today it looked like a little more had dissappeared. Theres all these little bugs crawling all over the dead part of the skeleton too. Are they killing off the healthy part of the coral also? and i've noticed some micro algae already starting to grow on the very edge of the dead part, so i took a toothbrush to it, and that seemed to take care of it for now.

I really want to keep this coral alive so i think im going to try the "Kent tech d" although I looked on marinedepot.com and they have some stuff called Kent Marine Tectra D Coral Dip & Conditioner. Is this the stuff you are talking about? If so, Im not sure about your instructions. when you say "take the coral out" and "leave it for 5 minutes " you mean leave it out of the water the whole time? Are you sure I can do that with this coral. IT is a LPS, Euphyllia Ancora, wont that kill it? Also you say to "brush the stuff on the affected area" but it says it is a dip. Why brush it on? Also you say "rinse in clean SW" so I would just put it in some fresh SW, without acclimating it to the fresh stuff??? Wont that be harmfull to the coral. Sorry about all the stupid questions, i've just never done this before, so I need some schooling!! Ya Heard? Word!

Thanks very much for all the input!