Bubble coral... can it make it?

farnorth

farnorth

Member
I was at my LFS today and I saw a bubble coral in the live rock stand alone tank. It has some "flesh" still on parts of the 10 head skeleton, but one head looks descent and another head has about half left. The LFS gave it to me with some calurpa I bought.
Has anyone seen these come back? I will take a pic tomorrow. I placed it in mid light with low flow. I am planning on spot feeding it every other day. Can I give it DT's? I have halides and actinics, but placed it in mid light to acclimate it.
Thanks in advance, it is a pearl and the little bit that is left is a beautiful pink.
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
yeah they can slowly recover given proper care and conditions....
if it was free at least u can give it a go and see what happens
 
farnorth

farnorth

Member
Yeah that is what I was thinking... why not

Any help as to feeding it, care, etc though would be great. I have been wanting one of these badly and really am up for babying it as a project. I am excited to take before and .... hopefullly after pictures. :jumping:
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
what kind of lighting do u have??
they like lighting and i hope ur water conditions are pretty good and stable??
as far as feeding it depends on how healthy it is and how big it is right now u can try feeding it little pieces of shrimp once in a while but light and good water is usually the key with spot feedings every so often....
man ur in alaska huh? didnt know they had reef tanks out there
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
Bubble corals won't eat DT's, they aren't filter feeders. They need meaty foods. You mentioned you have metal halides. Bubble corals need low lighting, so place it on the sand in indirect lighting. You did well in placing it in an area of low flow.
That being said, bubble corals in my experience have a poor chance at recovering from ill health. Best of luck to you though. :joy:
 
puffer32

puffer32

Active Member
Here are pics of my bubble. It had 4 heads when i got it, only one of the heads was showing any bubbles at all, first pick was 3 months after i got it, it grew head number 2.

2nd pic is how it looks now (size of grapefruit) minus the other 3 heads that i sold.
 
farnorth

farnorth

Member
I have actinics and halides (and moons) a 48" fixture with a total of 492W. After reading more I did place it on the sand in very low flow.
I have actually been watching at my LFS for about a month. It had a little bit of "flesh" left on it a month ago and I asked the guy at the lFS if it was going to make it and he said no. Yeterday it looked like it had trippled in the amount of flesh on the skeleton, which is why I asked about it. He said the same thing, but he also said "oh that thing is still alive."
I am an optimist though
.... so we will see, if nothing else I got a free chunk to frag stuff onto.

I am going to take some pics of it later today when the lights come on.
 
L

lbaskball

Guest
Ive seen a bubble coral that had died and after 2 or 3 months began to recover with small bubbles and feeder tentacles..it was crazyyyyy.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by mudplayerx
Thst looks like you have a complete head intact. I'd say it has a good chance at recovery.

I agree.
 
dragonboy

dragonboy

Active Member
My bubble looks like that too but it usually creates more babies with it receeding like that I have more heads now on my bubble.
 
L

lbaskball

Guest
that bubble coral can recover fully given the right conditions.Make sure algae doesnt grow on the skeleton though.
 
farnorth

farnorth

Member
I have a lot of algae eating hermits and snails that have already given it a good once over. Think I will be ok with algae.
I definetely have good enough lighting. How long do this take to grow (or grow back) am I looking at days, weeks, months, etc?
Thanks for all of the feedback, I am REALLY excited that it sounds like it will make it and it was FREE !!!! LOL!!! :jumping:
:jumping:
 
psusocr1

psusocr1

Active Member
IMO iw ould cut the good parts away fromt he dead skeleton since it looks like a disease is killing it iw ouldnt want it to spread
also
mudplayerx Bubble corals won't eat DT's, they aren't filter feeders. They need meaty foods. You mentioned you have metal halides. Bubble corals need low lighting, so place it on the sand in indirect lighting. You did well in placing it in an area of low flow.
i have my bubble for over a year and it loves lighting! its right under my halide about 8 inches away, it also eats frozen rotifers and looves them,, low flow is good but too low is bad i have mine in a decent ebb and flow area of my tank
 
ukcats

ukcats

Member
My bubble has been in my tank for about 2 years. I have had more success with it than anything but the zoos or star polyps. I have MH and a higher flow tank. It has doubled in size and my GSM clowns love it. They feed it and everything. I didn't know they sprout other heads though??? Hmmm...
 
farnorth

farnorth

Member
psusocr... thanks for the info and suggestion. Maybe I will move it up from the sand and closer to the lights. It seems to already be opening up more and more whenever I turn on my halides.
I am afraid to cut it apart though because it has bubble growth all around it now and looks like the whole thing is slowly coming back.
I will keep everyone posted!!! Dont worry me and Mr. bubble are going to pull through!
 
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