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Hopeful Reefer
01/14/2007, 08:32 AM
Hello all...

I bought a piece of live rock for my nano when I set it up at the end of last year...it was a decent size chunk for a nano, about 2-3 pounds...on the top, it has 2 corals that have long since passed...well, that is what I figured anyway...

Regardless, I oriented the rock with the corals facing up...I have a 10g nano with a 96w PC Quad Light (2-10k tubes/2-Actinic tubes) giving me basically 10w per gallon of light...

Over the last few weeks, one of the corals has been developing color...it is a green color, almost a cross between aquamarine and neon green...very pretty shade I might add...I've been watching it daily and the green color seems to be spreading throughout the old coral...the coral itself I believe to be some sort of brain...it is about the size of a nickel and about 1/4" to 1/2" tall at the center...I think it is a brain because it looks almost identical to this picture from LiveAquaria.com...

http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20041217155024/www.liveaquaria.com/images/products/bigimage/lg_80457.jpg

At first I thought the green color might be a new kind of algae spreading through my tank...but, after very careful observation the only place I see it is on the old coral skeleton...is it possible that there was still some sort of life left in this coral deep down inside somewhere and it is now starting to come back?

I attempted to take a picture, but unfortunately my camera doesn't take very good macro shots...I have a tripod, so I'm going to try to give the front glass an extra special cleaning and attempt to take a macro shot this way to minimize movement in the camera and blur...we'll see what happens...

Any ideas anyone? :confused:

ReefDoctorMicromussas
01/14/2007, 08:54 AM
Firstly, Yes it can happen... BUT from what you are describing it does sound more like algea on the rock... The times that I have seen this occur the rock began developing defined polyps.. not just hints of color... a pic would go a long wayyyyy

Hopeful Reefer
01/14/2007, 08:56 AM
Thanks doc...

Also, forgot to mention...not sure if it is important or not...

The color started on just one side...it has started spreading around the base, now it is starting to spread upwards towards the top...so, color around the base almost the whole way around but the top still looks dead...

No defined pollups yet...will try to get a halfway decent pic for you guys if I can...

Hopeful Reefer
01/14/2007, 09:02 PM
Here is the best picture I can get of it...

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p290/Hopeful_Reefer/10g%20Nano%20Reef/Corals/DeadCoral.jpg

Any opinions/ideas?

ReefDoctorMicromussas
01/14/2007, 09:14 PM
Dead coral Absolutely... Thats the algea that grows before coralline starts

Hopeful Reefer
01/14/2007, 10:25 PM
Cool...at least under intense lighting I now have coralline starting to grow back... :) figured there was no way it was coming back...thanks for the help.

Chad Vossen
01/14/2007, 11:22 PM
yep, i would agree that its dead. if you had a coral such as a plate coral die on you, its always best to just leave it there and wait. often the coral will recover from just a few cells that survive.