It's a Christmas miracle

[Karen00]

Hello fellow saltines,

Ok, so I'm the first to admit my first foray into corals did not go well. My first additions were a Corky Finger gorg and a Purple Plume gorg. A crappy stock light and pump resulted in a quick demise of these poor creatures. It's coral murder. So sad! Fast forward a couple weeks after that and I purchased a powerhead and better lights and bought a second Purple Plume that was nice and fluffy in the store. It stayed that way for a day and then closed up entirely. I tried moving it around for light and flow but nothing worked. Now it's three weeks later and I thought it was a goner even though there was no tissue necrosis like the last two and last night there was a waxy film coming off of it which I read is normal so I removed it. Then this morning I woke to all the polyps out. It's not quite as fluffy as when it was in the store but I think more of it has polyp extension than when I brought it home. It's a Christmas miracle and gives me hope I can actually keep corals.

 

[KrisReef]

Merry Christmas.
I presume that animal is photosynthetic, but active sweeping mouths indicate that your coral would like a morsel. I persume that you have fish and I would encourage you to feed them an extra Christmas meal today to ensure that the coral is getting a mouthful of fishet now and again.
As you have indicated your coral seems to be getting acclimated to its new place your tank. These sessile animals do best if they don't get moved around by snails or frequent relocations so I would encourage you to "leave it alone" or glue it in place so that it can remain on site and continue growing without disturbance.
I don't know why I am going on and on here? I'm hopeless sometimes.

I expect that you will update this thread monthly in 2022 so that we can keep an eye on your progress and success.

Happy new year!

 

[Karen00]

Merry Christmas.
I presume that animal is photosynthetic, but active sweeping mouths indicate that your coral would like a morsel. I persume that you have fish and I would encourage you to feed them an extra Christmas meal today to ensure that the coral is getting a mouthful of fishet now and again.
As you have indicated your coral seems to be getting acclimated to its new place your tank. These sessile animals do best if they don't get moved around by snails or frequent relocations so I would encourage you to "leave it alone" or glue it in place so that it can remain on site and continue growing without disturbance.
I don't know why I am going on and on here? I'm hopeless sometimes.

I expect that you will update this thread monthly in 2022 so that we can keep an eye on your progress and success.

Happy new year!

Thank you so much for this! I appreciate any and all feedback so thank-you for your suggestions! It is photosynthetic and I have been feeding it daily (krill, phyto and other stuff). The food was probably going to waste because there was no polyp extension at all. I feed twice a day so he/she will get more tonight. I'm sure you're right and moving it around didn't help but I will be gluing it down tomorrow in the spot it's in now. My next benchmark will be actual growth.

Merry Christmas and thank you for your words. I need a lot of help. LOL

 

[attiland]

Hello fellow saltines,

Ok, so I'm the first to admit my first foray into corals did not go well. My first additions were a Corky Finger gorg and a Purple Plume gorg. A crappy stock light and pump resulted in a quick demise of these poor creatures. It's coral murder. So sad! Fast forward a couple weeks after that and I purchased a powerhead and better lights and bought a second Purple Plume that was nice and fluffy in the store. It stayed that way for a day and then closed up entirely. I tried moving it around for light and flow but nothing worked. Now it's three weeks later and I thought it was a goner even though there was no tissue necrosis like the last two and last night there was a waxy film coming off of it which I read is normal so I removed it. Then this morning I woke to all the polyps out. It's not quite as fluffy as when it was in the store but I think more of it has polyp extension than when I brought it home. It's a Christmas miracle and gives me hope I can actually keep corals.

View attachment 2475879

I guess you have bribed Santa

 

[Karen00]

I guess you have bribed Santa

And it seems to have worked! LOL

 

[ProxyAquarist]

It's a Christmas miracle and gives me hope I can actually keep corals.

You and those corals must have been on the "Nice List !"

I'd make sure and put out an extra large plate of cookies next year.

Working on being on the "Nice List" in 2022,
Jim

 

[Karen00]

You and those corals must have been on the "Nice List !"

I'd make sure and put out an extra large plate of cookies next year.

Working on being on the "Nice List" in 2022,
Jim

Yes an extra big plate of cookies. Haha. I'm so happy and it's even fluffier today. I want to try a Corky Finger again. I love those. I also purchased a supposedly growing xenia type (Cespitularia) at the same time as the Purple Plume and it was doing really well then I think my sexy shrimp were looking for a new home so they trampled all over it. Then, before I had a chance to glue it down, my pistol shrimp tried to use it as a door for his burrow. Needless to say the xenia was not happy. I think he's recovering... Hopefully another belated Christmas miracle will happen with that one.