Euphillia retracting

[dhellin]

We have a euphillia that has been in brilliant health for ~ 4months. In the past 2 weeks, we noticed that its polyps have been retracting and looking thinner than in the past. At this time, we checked all water quality parameters. Alk was way high (16 dKH) and Ca was low (225 ppm) and Mg was low (800 ppm). We shut down the calcium reactor, did a 25% water change, and have been dosing Ca and Mg and things are much better although Alk is still a bit high (12dKH) and Ca & Mg are a bit low (400 ppm & 1125 ppm, respectively). All other parameters are good. We're still working on getting parameters back in order (it was a rooky mistake of overdosing pH buffer that caused the problem). Also, we feed the euphillia brine/mysid ~ 3x/week and have given it more over the past 2 weeks.

Today we came home and one of the euphillia polyps was emitting a small, string of brown mucus and that polyp has now completely retracted (in the space of 4 hrs). Other corals look good including a pleurogyra. So our question is- is euphillia's behavior due to the alk issue? Is there anything else that we should be doing? Have other people experienced a similar problem of an anorexic looking euphillia and how did you fix them problem?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Sherri]

The brown could be coral poo or it could be brown jelly. My euphyllia will retract -- I have got hammer, torch and frogspawn. They give out the stringy stuff after feeding. If it is just coming out of the mouth, then it is fine. If the brown is covering the flesh then it is probably brown jelly. I had a hammer die from brown jelly and could not save it. I have attached a picture for reference. If it is brown jelly you want to remove the coral from your tank and put it into quarantine.

 

[johntan]

my hammer has been much smaller for the past couple of days, I think they do this when they grow too? I was told this is normal and as long as they dont change color it should be fine

 

[Sherri]

My hammer has died back a little because thanks to the incorrect instructions in the Elos test my Alk was actually 4.5 not 9. I know that Elegance corals will bail out of their skeleton if Ca gets too low. Elegance are not Euphylia but are closely related. Mine did not look like brown jelly but it did die back and I do squarely blame the low Alk for that. So if your parameters have been up and down, the coral could be reacting now! Just keep an eye on it. Mine never retract when they are growing -- mine never retract during the day at all -- unless something is wrong. But maybe some corals act differently under different conditions. Honestly, I do not know why my tank has not crashed.

 

[coralcor]

the base of my hammer has like green algae growing on it. is that ok? its a frag of it.

think its ok?

 

[frank180reef]

damn lol nice piece

where is the algae?

 

[coralcor]

damn lol nice piece

where is the algae?

lol its under the hermit. ill take a better pic and send it to you. i think its just die off from when you fragged it. and its a great piece.... its actually 2 pieces. it broke in 1/2 on the ride home.

its doing fins other than that so

 

[coralcor]

heres the better pic.

 

[johntan]

mine has the same green on the parts that aren't living near the base, it hasn't given me any trouble once in awhile a snail will come through and eat it

 

[dhellin]

So we've done a bunch of water changes and parameters are all in the normal range, except alkalinity is still on the high side (200 ppm). I'm having trouble keeping my calcium up without overshooting alkalinity so Ca is 325 mg/l (although I did a test calibration of my Ca kit and it was -50 mg/l lower than certified, so my Ca could be anywhere from 275-375 mg/l). The euphillia is hanging in there and isn't retracting like it was, although the actual tendrils (polyps? hammer heads? what do you call them ?) are much thinner than previously. It's weird but I figure the water chemistry was off for a while so it will probably take a while for the euphillia to bounce back.

This is not necessarily a stressless hobby, is it?

 

[cujo6984]

if you cant keep calcium and alk stable check your mag chances are it low

 

[coralcor]

if you cant keep calcium and alk stable check your mag chances are it low

i was just gona say that.

 

[dhellin]

When I was originally having trouble with Alk and Ca, my Mg was low. But I was able to bring it up and it now sits at 1320 mg/L. So I don't think that is the problem.

One thing is that my pH does run on the low side and likes to sit at 7.9. I can't bring it up without overshooting the alkalinity. I was running a Ca reactor but shut it down weeks ago to try to get Alk, Ca, pH under control.

Water changes got the levels in normal ranges and I've dripped Kalkwasser to try to raise pH and Ca but am taking it slow.

Any other advice?

 

[dhellin]

So out water chemistry has been sorted out- Ca 350/Mg 1400/Alk 200ppm (~11.2 dkH) although I would like the Alkalinity to be a little bit lower. But still, our euphillia hasn't fully recovered. Even though it has grown- with 2 new polyp heads forming - its tentacles/hammers are very thin. Instead of being plump like the pics people posted above, its hammers are shorter and skinnier than they should be.

Any ideas about what is going on? Will it just take time?

 

[Sherri]

That's a very small frag that you have. It does take time. I lost my whole hammer thanks to Elos and it was much bigger than yours. My water parameters were off for a long time. I don't seem to have luck with hammers -- everyone else is okay. Just hang in there with it and try to keep the water stable like you have been. It's hard to get it all back in balance when it has been out of whack. Unfortunately, the old saying that bad things happen quickly and good things happen slowly is the slogan we have to live by.