What's wrong with my fungia plate coral?

[STiTCH87]

Anybody ever seem this happen to their plate before? Ideas of causes and treatments? I had this happen slightly once before to this plate but nowhere near this bad and figured it was stress from over feeding so I haven't target fed it since and it's just catching free floating food sometimes. But, I have a jaw fish that's been a HUGE PITA lately and spewing sand everywhere and even though I did not see any sand on this plate, I'm thinking it's from irritation once again.

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[STiTCH87]

Looked like this yesterday:

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[STiTCH87]

Would you guys say it looks slightly better today?

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[Moe_K]

Cool coral. I hope it works out, but I don't have any idea.

 

[Platehead]

They don't like having sand thrown on them and don't like too much flow and high light. Try putting up a little bit off the sand bed.

 

[STiTCH87]

It's always been low-medium flow and low-medium light and super happy so I've got the location down, but this sand issue is tough. I hate that jaw fish, wish I got my midas blenny instead.

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[RichardinMA]

To me, it looks like something burned the tissue, like either salt mix or getting stung by another coral. If neither of these are possible then could the jawfish have bitten it? I am doubting sand would do this as I have plates that have had sand get on them and not react this way. Also, it would not make much sense for an animal that lives on the sand bed to experience tissue necrosis from having sand fall onto it. I know I have a couple blennies that can be real PIAs with the occasional nip to corals. I cannot have a clam within a couple inches of my bicolor's hole or it will never be allowed to open.

 

[STiTCH87]

Nothing to sting it and I mix salt overnight. But yeah I'd say the jawfish may have nipped it. Hermits maybe? I have a cucumber that sometimes comes out front but I've never seen it touch the plate. Idk I'm trying to think cuz for it to be black it seems like a chemical reaction to me also whether from additive or coral sting but neither makes sense to me.

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[higorc]

I never seen properly freshly mixed salt do any damage to anything. I always mix my salt and add it to the tank the same day.

I have to disagree that things that are normally kept on the sand can't get infections or irritated by the substrate. I have lost corals that way.

I have learned to raise corals normally kept on the bottom just enough so sand doesn't get blown on it and detritus doesn't accumulate on it.

If you haven't done any changes to the water chemistry or moved it recently, I agree that something has to be nipping or picking on it...maybe some member of the cuc is stealing food from it and/or hurting it...

Higor
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[STiTCH87]

I think I may set up a red LED and a video camera overnight and monitor the tank. Though nothing else looks bothered and the plate is starting to slowly but surely heal. Weirdest thing, it has continued shedding, but did so in a slow circular pattern counter clockwise then stopped where it started. It's up to something. I'm keeping a very very close eye on it.

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[saltwaterB]

If anything, I would go with the Jawfish stressing it out by dumping sand on it...and yes While it lives on the sandbed in nature, millions of them die all the time in nature due to sand covering them up...to be honest many of them are collected in areas of rubble rather than fine sand...but I would not recommend putting a plate up on the rockwork...

 

[STiTCH87]

It's still alive and has stopped discoloration & shedding for the past 2 days. Slowly coming back around. More tentacle extension everyday.

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[Ryan17]

glad to hear, its a beautiful animal.

 

[STiTCH87]

Little by little:

It still is discolored a bit, but hasn't gotten worse, and it's in the flesh not the tentacles. Hoping it continues to make a full recovery. Never did show any skeleton so I'm very hopeful. Surprised with it being so stressed that it didn't shoot out offspring.

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[dz6t]

Looking good, those things are very hardy.

 

[STiTCH87]

That's what I've been told. Still never figured out why my other one died months ago. It never made offspring either. Still sitting in the back of my tank all skeletoned out.

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[jarrodsanborn]

Phos levels? Mine seem fine in higher phos levels, but once they cross a certain threshold they go down quicker than other corals.

In the wild fungia can survive extended periods covered in sand or flipped over. IF everything else is fine and the coral wasnt stressed to begin with, it can handle whatever a jawfish goby or blenny could throw at it.

 

[STiTCH87]

All my parameters are in check except a slightly low pH (7.8 ) and a slightly low dkH (6-7) but both go within check (8 & 8 ) with the weekly waterchange. I don't have a PO4 test kit though but I'll check that over the weekend. Considering the size of my chaeto ball and my weekly 25% waterchange id imagine it can't be too bad.

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[STiTCH87]

Continuing to show more and more tentacles daily as well as started extending it's outer circumference in one spot today by quite a bit. At this stage I'm comfortable saying it has and will survive.

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[Moe_K]

It's great that it recovered.

Do you have any idea what stressed the coral?