Help with ID on Coral

[reb]

Below is a picture(as good as I could get) of a coral a friend gave to me. It was dying in his tank, so I am going to try and save it. The problem is I don't know what it is, how much water flow it needs, or how high to put it in the tank. It looks like iradecent mushrooms growing out of some kind of hard skeleton. Looks like there use to be about 10, but now there is one full open one and four partial ones. I have it in moderate flow and middle to upper tank with 260 watts of pc and 2 florescent tubes. I have been target feeding it three times a week. Please help me with ideas to save the coral. Sorry for the not so good picture.

 

[bdhough]

foxcoral...

 

[spsfreak100]

Originally posted by SquishyFish
I would feed Dt's...spot feed w/ pumps off till its healthy.
Phytoplankton wouldn't do anything for the coral (directly). Large polyped scleractinians, such as this foxcoral, will not feed on phytoplankton- it's simply too small. These corals are carnivorous, and would be best fed meaty foods such as krill, small peices of squid, and possibly small peices of silversides and lancefish. It's important to feed the coral at night, when the feeding tentacles out. If under good lighting and excellent water conditions, it should recover in no time
Graham

 

[007]

I have to agree on the ID of this being a fox coral, however contrary to the others opinions posted, I dont think that it will make it. I used to have a fox coral, it never ate anything that was offered, nor did I ever see any feeder tentacles. Fox corals are notorious for being very sensitive to tissue recession. Pretty much, once it starts, its a slow process until its a goner. I hate to say it, but enjoy it while it lasts, and I dont think that I would invest too much effort into reviving it. Its pretty far gone.

 

[nm reef]

Definitely looks like a fox coral....and I agree that they don't do well once tissue recession has set in. That issue has always been a problem with fox corals. I've got a very nice one but I searched for several months before I found a healthy speciman with no signs of tissue recession. Mine has never responed to direct feedings and I've never seen any sign of feeder tentacles of any kind...but I do notice a response to the liquid from direct feedings...my thinking is they tend to feed on much smaller sized foods than my bubble/torch/frogspawn...below is a pic of mine...

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[reb]

After seeing other pictures it is definately a fox coral. How do I feed it larger food such as meaty items? Do I just drop them on top of the coral. I've never seen any feeder tentacles.

 

[reb]

Sorry for being dumb, but what are dt's?

 

[wrassecal]

Dt's phytoplankton. You can get it at the lfs and have to keep it cold. I too think your fox will not make it. Sorry, but enjoy it while you can. Mine has a little tissue recession and it hasn't gotten any worse in 10 months but, it hasn't gotten any better either. Good luck with yours.

 

[reb]

Thanks for all the help.