plate coral

[gogirl]

I have a plate coral that is dying out turning white. It has done well for approx 6 mo and now is not. My tank got a little warm (only up to 80) last week but it was already starting to dye out before then. Any ideas. Also I was looking at a annemonie carpet any one know how hardy they are?

 

[the claw]

I hate to give you the whole avoid the anenome speech, but they are not the easiest things in the world to keep, and they sometimes cause lots of problems. See the post anenome gone bad. (somewhere on this board from today.)
Plate corals do that, I hate to say. Do you hand feed it? When they are on there last breath they ditch their zooanth....and they turn white. Bleaching event. This can happen with your temp, but only if your temp was in the low 70's then went 80. The average reef is around 78-82. Only a big change would cause it at 80. If you have patience, you have the possibility of having Anthocauli form. Do a search on this and you might come up with the thread of mine last week with photos. Your tank must be able to handle the dieing coral though. No ammonia, etc. A well established tank that is function correctly with the apprpriate clean up crew and protein skimmer can handle it. If not, you'll want to take it out when it finishes dieing. Plate corals don't recover the best IME, so good luck.

 

[gogirl]

The plate coral I have is dying out bleached white only only the ends and part of one side but it does not open up as it used to. I put in phytoplankton for feeding but I have not hand fed it. Should I? and what? What is an anthocauli? Thank you

 

[marvida]

Plates can be fed via baster with any meaty type foods. Frozen brine shrimp, chopped silversides, krill, etc.

 

[gogirl]

How often do you need to feed a plate coral? should they on the bottom or top tank? Can you place them on rock? What is an anthoculi?

 

[the claw]

I usually feed about once per week, sometimes twice if the mood strikes. They are usually placed on the bottom of the tank. An anthocauli is/are the daughter colonies of a coral. Sometimes when a platecoral dies, daughter colonies form. This is a way to reproduce.

 

[the claw]

Heres a picture

 

[timo]

Nice pic, Claw.

 

[spsfreak100]

Originally posted by gogirl
I put in phytoplankton for feeding but I have not hand fed it.
Plates are not herbavours, they will not consume phytoplankton. They should be fed meaty foods, such as krill, squid, diced squid, small peices of fish, silversides, lancefish, etc.
Once the plate starts to show the skeleton, there's almost no hope of recovery, esspecially if you do not change your system. Obviously it's not liking your tank (lack of lighting, bad water conditions, lack of food, etc.) and it's dying off. Keeping it in the tank would only make things worse.
By the way- if a plate couldn't survive in your system, most likely an anemone wouldn't either. They can be extremely difficult to keep.
Take Care,
Graham

 

[gogirl]

Should I remove it then since it is dying out? Can you keep the skeleton in the tank?I think the reason it is dying was I never did feed it I thought the phytoplankton was enough? I have a 75 show tank with VHO 225watts and 110watss of compact lighting is this enough lighting to have a plate coral? Thanks.

 

[zibnata]

I believe there is no hope for my plate now. Should I keep it in the tank in hopes that Anthocauli forms ? How long will that take ?
Thanks

 

[melissa v.]

I am sorry your plate is dying i got very emotional when mine died (stupid , i know, but i was attatched to it)
Melissa V.

 

[terminus est]

I had problems with my plate as well, fortunately I have a friend who took it in and revived it(my halides went out on me). I would think you have enough light. Just do a water change and feed it meaty things. I dont know if it holds true for plates but it does for sure in my yellow polyps, they love frozen copods squirted on them from a turky baster, you might try something similar.

 

[zibnata]

did a water change and tried to feed it last night.I thought it was awesome,but I dont think I will get another.From what I am reading,they dont last long.I am thinking about a Torch Coral.LFS has one about 8" for $80.I dont know if thats too much $ but its really a great looking coral.