HELP!! Bristle worms eating my leather coral!

[disccollector]

I posted earlier about my leather coral being completely droopy and laying flat against the rock and turning a white-ish color.
I read on a leather coral website that water conditions can cause this but this behavior can also be caused by a bristleworm infestation!
So today I lifted the body of the leather up off of the rock and saw a bristleworm slither out of the leathers body near the base...i quickly grabbed my turkey baster and sucked him up and flushed him. But now I wonder what the chances are for survival for my leather coral.
Is it hopeless? He's been like this for weeks and I've been going crazy thinking it was my water quality...I would imagine at this point his insides are probably toast.
Anyone ever have this happen? Did you survive it? My first guess is to do a dip of iodine 40 drops to a gallon of tank water and let him soak but I don't know how well these things can repair themselves...for all I know he's rotting away in my tank...are there any signs when a leather coral is officially dead?

 

[nicky1.8t]

yea asix line wrasse is an awesome fish to have i had one and loved it he didnt eat any bristle worms that i saw . mine went carpet surfing but now i got a canopy so i might try another one

 

[hirock]

Originally posted by disccollector
I posted earlier about my leather coral being completely droopy and laying flat against the rock and turning a white-ish color.
I read on a leather coral website that water conditions can cause this but this behavior can also be caused by a bristleworm infestation!
So today I lifted the body of the leather up off of the rock and saw a bristleworm slither out of the leathers body near the base...i quickly grabbed my turkey baster and sucked him up and flushed him. But now I wonder what the chances are for survival for my leather coral.

The Bleaching of your Leather Coral might be contributed to Lighting or undesirable/unfavorable water conditions. Bleaching occurs when corals expel their symbiotic zooxanthellae from the tissues or polyps. There are a number of stresses or environmental changes that may cause bleaching including disease, excess shade, increased levels of ultraviolet radiation, sedimentation, pollution, salinity changes, and increased temperatures.
Experiments have shown that an increase in UV light causes coral bleaching. UV light experienced by corals can increase in calm waters. The amount of mycosporine-like amino acids in a coral's tissues helps to determine how much UV it can withstand without bleaching.
Corals tolerate a narrow temperature range between 80 degrees and 88 degrees depending on location. Corals bleach in response to prolonged temperature change and not due to rapidly fluctuating temperatures. Lab experiments show that corals bleach when water reaches a constant 88 degrees.
As with most softies, a good water flow is important to help the coral "sluff" or shed the mucous layer that is discharged. Waste management.
As for the bristle worm(s), they're doing what nature designed it to do, devour dead or decaying matter inside your system. I do not have a Bristle worm infestation in my system, although, I have a few, but I’ve never seen them do any harm to any live and healthy corals. BW's are part of a natural ecosystem inside your aquarium and as long as they are not the 10" variety, I'd leave them to do their janitorial duties. They are ugly and foreign but once you figure out their nitch, you'll be happy that you have some.
Like the previous poster said, (waterfaller1) I'd frag off a few, if any, healthy parts left of the leather, discard the rest, and hope for the best.
Good Luck

 

[hirock]

are there any signs when a leather coral is officially dead?
Smell is usually a very good indication if your leather has bit the dust. If it doesn't melt away when you bring it to the surface, administer a good ol' whiff test with a big sniff. If it smells rotten, foul, rank, tainted or offensive, chances are that it has demised and or close to it. If parts of it seem to be fine, fragging the healthy section and discarding the decomposing section may be they only way to save it. If you do decide to frag, just make sure to include part of the main stalk per piece fragged. This will help it recuperate/regenerate a little faster, with a little better of a percentage for success.