Red spots on Frogspawn foot... Normal or hitch hiker?

aurora · Mar 31, 2023

This is one of my first Frogspawn so idk if this is normal or not... This coral cam like this, with red spiky spots. They don't move. I can scrape them off but I wonder what it is and if it is part of the Frogspawn? I have not found anything on this on internet.. Help please

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LiLinka · Mar 31, 2023

Hard to tell. Could be a sponge or pest. I would dip it in revive or coral rx and see if that helps at all.

ISpeakForTheSeas · Apr 1, 2023

Probably sponges from what I can tell, so they're most likely harmless.

That said, while I've only barely started researching corals, that coral looks extremely unhealthy to me; you may want to get some opinions on how you can try and help it/save it. Also, if the coral came to you in that state, you may want to consider buying your corals from a different source - harmless hitchhikers are one thing, but corals on death's door are another.

aurora · Apr 1, 2023

Thank you all for your advice

I agree with you @ISpeakForTheSeas , the coral looked unhealthy. I removed all the dots manually, they were easy to scrape off. It didn't look right so in doubt I'd rather clean up the coral. I didn't use dip to avoid stressing him out more than necessary, as I am not a pro at dipping yet... I have some Rx and lugo's iodine, but if the corals look healthy i don't dip them, just rince them off with a fresh batch of SW after acclimating them. I observe them very carefully with a microscope before adding them to the tank.

Here's what the coral looks like in the tank now. It's the one in the middle. It looks a little better but there is a darker "crown" surrounding the base of the polyps at the juncture with the bone. Maybe it's an infection I am not sure..

The green Frogspawn to the right is from Tidal Gardens, and it looks much healthier than the one that had the red dots (from AquaSD). I will do more research on Euphylias to see how to manage. Those are my first so even though I have watch tons of videos nothing replaces first hand experience! Hope I can figure this out and help this little guy getting better