Whats Going On With My Sun Coral???

[primetizzle]

ok my sun coral seems its been blooming bigger and bigger every night .

...but a couple days ago I noticed like a dead spot (like a salt burn),but I just let it go...Well now it seems its dying all around the edges, but its still blooming and eating so whats going on?....is it to close to the lights? my tank is about 24" tall and its mounted on a rock about half way up, in like a half lit half shaded spot.....WHATS GOING ON

 

[mr_x]

they live in shaded areas, not in the light. they are not photosynthetic. they have no zooanthellae, so i'm not sure if the light is actually doing the damage though.
i'd move it for starters. put it under an overhang or somewhere mostly/completely shaded.

 

[rldavisou]

Light doesn't hurt them, but they are very sensitive to encroaching algae, which is why they're ususally shaded. Have you tried dipping it? The first thing I do with a trouble coral is dip it. Try Tropic Marin's Pro Coral Cure or Revive Coral Conditioner. These will kill any bugs muching on the coral, which could be the problem.
Also, these guys like a tremendous amount of flow. To give you an idea of the flow that they can handle, the only thing left standing after the nuclear tests in the South Pacific were bare sun coral skeletons. While radiation and heat did kill them, that gives you an idea of the flow they will handle.

 

[rldavisou]

Edit to the above:
If it stays bad, my last resort to save a nice colony is to frag it. If all else fails, frag off a piece with no death on it.
But try dipping it first, that should help.

 

[alix2.0]

dont let any sand, algae, or detritus accumulate on it or between the polyps. gently clean it with a soft tooth brush if you start to notice build up.
and actually, too much light can negatively affect them. this is from a thread i started a while back.
Originally Posted by peef
http:///forum/post/2464084
It is better to have suncoral in indirect lighting. If they are in direct light for long periods of time it can hurt them. Think of it as sunburn for us. And eventually can cause bleaching (the color not the zooxanthelia) and death.

 

[rldavisou]

Dappled shade, 12" below the light source? I'm not saying it's not the light, but I would be very surprised. I have mine 16" below a 250w halide and it loves it.

 

[urbanhellfire]

Originally Posted by rldavisou
http:///forum/post/2664026
Dappled shade, 12" below the light source? I'm not saying it's not the light, but I would be very surprised. I have mine 16" below a 250w halide and it loves it.
And mine looked REALLY bad until I moved it to a lower spot in my tank, under a rock shelf and it has now taken off.
It just depends on the sun coral and how it was raised and what it got used to for lighting I guess.

 

[primetizzle]

hmm ok well I guess I'll try the dip and a new location...sounds like im gonna have to move everything once again. I moved a bunch of stuff around when my elegance started acting up...I have one of those odd shaped 54gal corner tanks with a bowed front so its really hard to get the rocks and everything in a happy place and still look good, so when I move one thing I have to move everything...another prob is this sun coral is a pretty good size so it dosnt really fit in any of the caves i already have