bubble coral

[isistius]

does any one know if you can nurse a coral back to health? i took my sister-in-law's green bubble coral that was once maybe 7-8 inches across, and is now barely the skeleton with a few polyps left. any one have any ideas? her tank had maby 65 or 95w pc's . mine had dual 150w mh's with dual 130w dual actinic's.

 

[nate0729]

I've read that bubble coral can be ok under less light, that the "bubbles" will actually expand more under less light to be able to collect more of it. I could have been her water quality that's doing it. If it still has some polyps on it, it might make it. Worth a try anyways. Does it even open or is it always closed?

 

[isistius]

here's a pic of the coral open after about 25 minutes in my tank

 

[natureboy]

I have bubble coral under pc's and it does great. That one looks like it will come back nicely because it still has that little bit of membrane covering the ridges. Once the ridges are fully exposed is when you are really in trouble. Most likely a problem with the temp or water quality in her tank.

 

[puffer32]

Watch you don't give it to much light, might do worse. I had ne under 260 watts of PC towards top of tank, ended up moving to the bottom, bubbles do better in less light.

 

[isistius]

thanks. i'll watch it and move it if necessary.

 

[sharkbait9]

What are you feeding it? I give my B/C whole krill and silver sides three x a week and once in a while I’ll reach in to my sump and pull out some live ghost shrimp and give it to them. Since I would slowly move it under direct light and feed it.
Two of my B/C were adopted since the owner had no clue and could not afford proper lighting for them. They were just skeletons and some flesh and now have made a great come back.
You can see in the bottom pic where some skeleton was still protruding thru but now he’s a full plump coral that loves to eat any time of the day

 

[milomlo]

Well I actually dropped a rock on mine and popped alot of the bubbles. I bought a breeder net and I have hung it on the side of the tank. This has brought it up closer to the light (mine is only 130 watts PC) and has taken it out of the flow of the tank.
I feed it cycopeeze everytime I feed the tank. It is doing MUCH better. I was really about to give up on it until I got this breeder net. It has actually been a life saver for me.
Here are some pictures of before the rock and after the rock. Good luck and just spot feed it w/ cyclopeeze and it should come back.
The last picture is the worst that it looked. It is now looking more like the middle picture again.

 

[isistius]

i got it yesterday afternoon. you can see from the pics what it looks like. i fed it cyclopeze last night. i really hope it comes back. she said i deserve to keep it if i can nurse it back to health

 

[theappe]

how do u spot feed it with cyclopeeze and with krill? ive been meaning to feed my b/c but really dont know how and when.

 

[sharkbait9]

Find a plastic soda bottle that the coral will fit. Cut the bottle in half and use the end with the cap.
place it over the coral piece with the cap off so air can escape. Then place/insert "X" food inside and cap it for an hour, then remove.
Once the coral is stronger and healthy containing the coral with food may not have to be done any more and placing “X” food on or near it should be fine.

 

[fishieness]

so you recently switched it form PCs to halides? it cpould be burning. LPS seem to do that more than most of ther corals. have you aclcimated it to the light at all?
sorry if you already went over this, i read the first few and tried skimming the rest of the posts but im just tyring to help out

 

[theappe]

Originally Posted by sharkbait9
Find a plastic soda bottle that the coral will fit. Cut the bottle in half and use the end with the cap.
place it over the coral piece with the cap off so air can escape. Then place/insert "X" food inside and cap it for an hour, then remove.
Once the coral is stronger and healthy containing the coral with food may not have to be done any more and placing “X” food on or near it should be fine.

call me stupid but i really didnt understand that. you mean like a funnel?

 

[fishieness]

Originally Posted by theappe
call me stupid but i really didnt understand that. you mean like a funnel?
yeah, very much like a funnel, only it will allow light to enter it because it is clear so the coral wont close up as much. and also, it is plastic so you know nothing bad will be put in your tank. That way, when you put something like cyclose eeze into it, it doesnt spread all over your tank, settle osmewhere, and rot and be a waste, however, if you do jsut dose your tank, then other things in your tank will eat it also like crabs, snails, shrimp, pods, and many other corals. Or you can just target feed it other things such as shrimp, silversides, squid, krill, anything raw, meaty, and saltwater.

 

[isistius]

i am spot feeding with a turkey baster. seems to work really well for my shrooms and anemone

 

[theappe]

when i dose with cyclopeeze should i do it when the lights are on or at night when the tenticles are out?

 

[fishieness]

Originally Posted by theappe
when i dose with cyclopeeze should i do it when the lights are on or at night when the tenticles are out?
it depends on the coral. i believe you are talking about a bubble? They will eat well either because of the sweeper twnticals. I personaly would during the day. but someone else may have a different opinion.

 

[sharkbait9]

When I adopted an open brain and bubble coral that had extensive flesh recession I placed them in the plastic bottle to feed Cyclop-eez and mysis shrimp to make sure plenty off food was getting to the damaged coral and to also make sure the shrimps and other co-inhabitants were not pestering the coral to steal their food.
If a turkey baster works then by all means go ahead and feed that way.