Fungia care?

[Bill B]

I got this giant plate coral from Tavio a few weeks back and it was looking great for a while - brite green flesh over pretty much all of it. Recently I noticed just a few 'gills' starting to have some exposed skeleton and now, just a few days later it is really taking a turn for the worst. Also just realized it's tentacles are not extending. I'm not sure if I can read anything into it, but it has moved about 2 inches 'towards the water flow' but that's the only way it could go if it wants to move. I'm looking for suggestions of what I'm doing wrong with it, or might try differently. It's at the bottom of a 75 under a 150 watt MH about 8 or 9 hrs/day. Water is a little dirty with nitrates and probably some phosphates but I have some acros that it seems clean enough for. I have a K4 on my back wall that hits the front glass and passes to the other end where this is at. I'm gonna call it low/medium flow. Still enough to make a hammer fairly near wave but not flail. Pretty sure the hammer is far enough away there is no stinging going on. Temp is steady 77. I feed my fish mysis about 3 times a week and I always make sure it gets some during those times though it typically is maybe 2 or 3 whole and several broken mysis. I have a bunch of asternia stars. So far the only one I have noticed on it, was one that was a little smaller than a dime and looked like it was lunch. Also a few hermits but again haven't seen them messin with it. Any suggestions?

Update: Well, maybe I shoulda put this in the emergency section. I just tried to spot feed and it should very little signs of life. No tentacles still, mouth not trying to open

Thanks

Bill

[Laura]

Sorry to see this Bill, but I have had a few do this and I tried everything imaginable to save it, but in my experience, once they start to RTN, I couldn't get them back....I hope you can share a different experience!! Keep me posted...

[Gonzobob]

One thing to keep in mind even if things go pear shape. Can't remember which at the moment but either Calfo or Fenner said never ever give up on fungia. Whichever one it was said they'd had some that had been 'dead' for months which suddenly came back or started throwing buds.

[Laura]

One thing to keep in mind even if things go pear shape. Can't remember which at the moment but either Calfo or Fenner said never ever give up on fungia. Whichever one it was said they'd had some that had been 'dead' for months which suddenly came back or started throwing buds.

You're right Russell...when I listened to Calfo lecture last year, he and Borenman actually took a fungia to a tile saw and cut it into pieces to propagate...I happened to have won a piece in the raffle, but it did expire on me and it was a healthy specimen...we were told also that they may come back, but I just didn't have the room or patience to wait...and mine were pretty stinky at the end...but there is hope!!

[FarmerTy]

Those short tentacle variety of fungia plates are almost bullet proof. Most are actually found in nature upside down, and they are still prolific. The only one I have ever had go south was because of a shrimp picking at its fleshy polyps. Do you have any shrimps in your tank? Those could be the culprit. Just my guess.

[JamesL]

I have had a bi-color blenny nip at a short tentacle plate before... ended up being it's demise

[Bill B]

hmmm - I do have a skunk cleaner shrimp, but unless he is gettin at it at nite, he rarely comes too far out of his 'cave'. I have a Foxface and a Coral Beauty, both whom I've seen pickin at it a little, but I'm pretty sure they are just going after the flesh that is discoloring and sloughing off. For starters, I guess I will just move it to a little more flow. My kH and Ca are both a little low but as I mentioned I have everything from shrooms, zoas, LPS to Acros. I did have an AOG melt on me recently, but otherwise everything is growing well.

Any more ideas, let me know please.

Thanks

Bill

[Starsprinkle Rainbowsmile]

Make sure water params are good. Water flow is moderate to low. In my experience, they need to be on the sand bed, and not on rock. Try feeding it mysis shrimp or marine snow. I had pretty good luck with my plate coral, but I had a hermit crab that would walk all over it and steal food from it, so perhaps one of your livestock might be causing it stress.

[Bill B]

What I was trying to feed it was Mysis. Once a week I would also feed the tank Cyclops or Rotifers so it may have gotten a little of that as well. This may be a first for my water fauna care but I may have just been underfeeding it. I talked to Tavio today and he said he was feeding it pretty good amounts like 4x/week AND standing guard over it so tankmates didn't come steal from it. Actually he said that he sold it because it got tired of all the effort he was going to, to get it fat and happy. Again, my water parameters are off a little bit, just about universally but I haven't heard anyone or anywhere say they are a whole lot more sensitive the the wide variety of other stuff I have. I will admit this may be my wake up call to try to improve my water quality, but my sense is that is not the heart of the problem. You can't tell from the pic, but the pity of it may be, it was looking much fleshier than many of the plate corals I have seen. I'm not giving up, just concerned.

Bill