Green Bubble Coral

[smaier6]

Hi,
I was hoping to find if anyone has experience the same result as I with a Green Bubble Coral. Last night I noticed that there were multiple bristle worms on my Green Bubble in cluding the fire bristle. So I decided to freshwater dip it for a couple of minutes to get the worms to die. Ever since I did the RO freshwater dip my Green Bubble has not puffed or blown back up. I think its still alive b/c it has it nice color green still. Did I do the right thin in dipping this coral to get rid of the parasites? Is the coral just in shock or is it dieing?

[Hormigaquatica]

The worms werent likely hurting the bubble. If they really were eating the coral, it was likely already damaged (those worms are like 95% scavengers). At any rate, a freshwater dip is likely to damage your coral before it will damage a bristleworm. Bubbles in particular are pretty sensitive to changes in water chemistry and conditions- the freshwater dip would seriously shock it, especially if it was already damaged.

There isnt a whole lot you can do at this point. Watch your tank parameters and make sure everything in the tank is at normal levels, and hope that it starts to puff up again in a couple days. It may, and it may not.

Just for a future guideline, most fleshy stony corals dont handle freshwater dips very well- I almost never suggest them. If you do one, you need to be sure that the dip water matches the pH and temperature of your display, so as to reduce the stress on the coral. In particular, you should probably avoid dipping Any member of family Euphyllidae; that includes Euphyllia, Nemenzophyllia, Plerogyra, Physogyra, and Catalaphyllia. Good luck!