Rescue Corals [Archive] - Reef Central Online Community

MechEng99

10/11/2010, 06:37 PM

Since I started this hobby, I found a soft spot for near-death corals and unwanted corals. These are some of my best examples. Please share if you have also saved corals from near-death (not brown corals that colored up...but truly nearly dead corals).

I've set aside part of my QT tank for rescuing corals - when they recover I either resell them so I can buy more near-death corals or they go into my display. It's a very rewarding side project of the hobby, and I hope other people will do the same.

Scolymia before ($12):
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_7872.jpg

Now:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/57.jpg

Lobo Before (don't remember how much I paid):
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_7886.jpg

Now:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_9636.jpg

Moon Coral ($5):
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_4550.jpg

Now:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_6842.jpg

Favia (my favorite rescue) ($5):
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_6917-1.jpg

Now this...such a reward!!!
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_0170.jpg

mscarpena

10/11/2010, 07:05 PM

I too love doing this. I do not have before and afters, but here are mine. I always look for these deals. Most of the time it pays off for me, but you need to know how to select them.

Lobo all retracted in and skeleton showing. Now beautiful and tripled in size. Paid $15.00
http://s588.photobucket.com/albums/ss323/mscarpena/?action=view&current=picsjune09049.jpg&newest=1

Same here except paid $40.00
http://s588.photobucket.com/albums/ss323/mscarpena/?action=view&current=macroshotsofaquarium005.jpg&newest=1

Indo elegance would have died in LFS half open and gall crab eating it paid $30.00
http://s588.photobucket.com/albums/ss323/mscarpena/?action=view&current=macroshotsofaquarium005.jpg&newest=1

I also have a new trachaphylia that is marbled red and green half dead and bleached LFS owner fragged the dead part off it and paid $30 for it. Had it about 3 months now and is coloring up and doubled in size. Looking good, but no pic yet and lights are off.

Gangous

10/11/2010, 07:10 PM

Cool rescues

MechEng99

10/11/2010, 07:10 PM

Nice rescues! (Your bottom two links are the same though...you're missing the elegance link).

gemini aquarius(t)

10/11/2010, 07:41 PM

Congrats! I have always loved bringing corals back from the verge of death! very rewarding, plus they are cheap! :)

Bragging rights for you two though

stagcrazy

10/11/2010, 09:06 PM

[QUOTE=MechEng99;17771281]Since I started this hobby, I found a soft spot for near-death corals and unwanted corals. These are some of my best examples. Please share if you have also saved corals from near-death (not brown corals that colored up...but truly nearly dead corals).

I've set aside part of my QT tank for rescuing corals - when they recover I either resell them so I can buy more near-death corals or they go into my display. It's a very rewarding side project of the hobby, and I hope other people will do the same.

Scolymia before ($12):
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_7872.jpg

Now:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/57.jpg

Lobo Before (don't remember how much I paid):
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_7886.jpg

Now:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_9636.jpg

Moon Coral ($5):
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_4550.jpg

Now:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_6842.jpg

Favia (my favorite rescue) ($5):
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_6917-1.jpg

Now this...such a reward!!!
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_0170.jpg[/

can u share with us how u brought these gems back 2 life.

The Escaped Ape

10/12/2010, 05:17 AM

I'd love to hear advice on how you went about this as well. The only LPS I've bought so far with obvious damage (a Blasto, with not excessive damage, just one receded area) didn't make it, despite careful placement and some feeding. But this would be a good way to get bargains and to give a dying coral another chance, so I'd be all in favor of trying again with some good pointers.

dan10342

10/12/2010, 10:26 AM

WOW! Every scoly I've seen that is on the verge of death ends up dying. PLEASE tell us what you did!

MechEng99

10/12/2010, 04:25 PM

WOW! Every scoly I've seen that is on the verge of death ends up dying. PLEASE tell us what you did!

Really? Glad it worked out for me then!

Ok, I don't claim to be an expert, but I think I've had plenty of success over the last 4 years to at least give some advice.

First thing - selecting the coral:

My LFS know that I rescue corals, and usually keep me in mind when they get a damaged shipment. This includes boxes that got overheated during shipping, damaged corals during shipping, and sometimes "freebies" that wholesalers throw in since they know they can't sell them. Some other LFS purposely order "damaged" shipments. Get to know your LFS and keep an eye out!

For the actual coral itself, look for corals that have at least the majority of one mouth. I haven't had any luck rescuing corals with less than 3/4 of a mouth (unless they are my own frags). Usually rescue corals with less than 3/4 of a mouth have just gone through so much stress they won't survive. (If it's a freebie though, it's worth trying!!) Avoid corals with jelly-like substances on them. I also try to avoid obvious pest-damaged corals unless I know exactly how to treat it and have the medication on hand. Nothing worse than coming home to a pest you don't know how to treat and don't have the medication for!

Tank itself:

Of course, you want stable parameters, but this is really really important with rescue corals!! I actually acclimate the rescue corals less than healthy corals (float for ~15 min) since they are probably just getting their bag water really nasty.

Next - dip in Lugol's. I have other dips on hand, but I find this one is the best for rescue corals. During the dip I inspect for pests (and treat as needed).

Here's where I think is the MOST IMPORTANT!!! Use bone cutters to remove excess dead skeleton. New tissue growth seems to have more trouble covering old skeleton than it does making new skeleton. After that, superglue wherever tissue is torn/missing. This will help the flow in your tank from literally ripping the tissue off.

Keep hermit crabs away from the rescue coral for about a month. They will often go after dead tissue to the point of ripping away good tissue...which will ultimately kill the coral.

Food:

For about the first month I'll feed my corals as if they were non-photosynthetic (about 3 times per week). I use my own homemade blend of raw oysters, clams, shrimp, whatever other raw shellfish I can find, seaweed (red, green, brown), sugar, and garlic. Initially, this can be very difficult. If the coral refuses to extend tentacles, I'll turn off all flow and drop sinking fish pellets right onto each mouth. It'll take a while, but the coral will eventually open its mouth. If you still have trouble, placing the coral into a container full of food will work as well (see all the non-photosynthetic tutorials).

Lighting & Flow:

Keep the coral in a pretty low light/low flow area. After the coral starts to heal and recover, you should be able to move it slowly to a higher light/higher flow area.

One last note:

Just be patient - know that you're doing a good thing to help save corals that would otherwise probably die. You'll still have some losses...but learn from those. The rewards will be worth it.

This rescue didn't make it - why? Hermit crabs literally ripped it to shreds.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_7665.jpg

slattery

10/12/2010, 04:34 PM

amazing corals

ritter6788

10/12/2010, 05:12 PM

Great job on the corals. Here are two I'm working on.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1876230

Sheol

10/12/2010, 05:14 PM

I'd have taken the risk with that Scoly too, if I had seen one with that color at the price you paid. Sure, it probably would die, but with some time & TLC...
Well, we see your results! Lovely corals, that Favia is amazing.

Matthew

mscarpena

10/12/2010, 06:24 PM

I just find that finding better tank conditions and great placement is the key to reviving corals. I feed them and keep them in a protected area with low/moderate lighting and low to moderate flow. I also do some feeding if I feel it is required. You need to pick and choose what you try to save and not save. Something can be and some can not be. I only invest in things I feel I can save though a few here and there do not make it.

The Escaped Ape

10/13/2010, 04:59 AM

MechEng99, thank you for sharing your experience. One thing I don't know about here in Japan is what treatments available over here work. Might have to put another order in to the States at some point soon and include some Lugols and ReVive maybe...

MechEng99

10/13/2010, 04:28 PM

I'll try to get some other pictures of my rescues up. They aren't nearly impressive as the ones I've already posted, but each is different.

Anyone else have any other rescues?

cjones1344

10/14/2010, 02:56 PM

I've only tried to rescue one coral... an insane colored acan with 8 heads that I got for 20 bucks. He rotted to nothing within two weeks...... Next time I try to get a deal on a sick coral I'm gonna follow the instructions you gave.

reefinmike

10/16/2010, 03:42 PM

man, you got a heck of a deal on that scoly for how little tissue recession it had. I got this one for free from my old work. When I got it, it was just the center section with a tiny rim around it. When its real fat and happy, it can puff out to the edge of the skeleton.
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j55/reefinmike/DSC01024.jpg

MechEng99

10/16/2010, 06:43 PM

Beautiful!!! I love the green & orange ones!

Here are a few more (not nearly as thrilling):

Before:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_6927-1.jpg

Now:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_0615.jpg

Before:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/100_6919-1.jpg

Now:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_0616.jpg

New today (was told Acanthastrea bowerbanki):
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_0593.jpg

My worst case rescue...got him today...and I'm actually almost out of hope on it. It was a freebie, but most of the tissue is separating from the skeleton. Its mouth is pretty torn up, and it was covered in brown slimey damaged tissue...cross your fingers.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_0588.jpg

CHSreefer

10/16/2010, 08:22 PM

great idea and nice work!

MechEng99

10/16/2010, 09:06 PM

mscarpena

10/17/2010, 07:20 AM

Yes some type of scoly on the last pic.

whatcaneyedo

10/17/2010, 10:29 AM

I wish I had an earlier shot of this one when I bought it for $5. It had only a small amount of tissue left that had receded back into the center of the skeleton. I must have taken the first picture after the coral was in my tank for at least a month.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/whatcaneyedo/pic016-1.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/whatcaneyedo/Picture357.jpg

I actually re-sold this favia two years ago but when I bought it there was only 7 polyps left... sorry I lost that old picture. But here is one of it under actinics. I still have a small frag of it that I kept.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/whatcaneyedo/101.jpg

This is my project coral right now. When I bought it it was a decent size colony with half of the tissue gone and replaced by rampantly growing hair algae which was smothering it. I cut off all of the dead areas which left me with several small frags. This is one of them.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/whatcaneyedo/Picture697.jpg

MechEng99

10/17/2010, 11:43 AM

Whatcaneyedo - That's great!!! Very very nice rescues!! Do you have any tips? Any other advice?

reefinmike

10/17/2010, 11:54 AM

Thanks! Anyone know what type of coral the last picture I posted is? The LFS thought some type of Scolymia, but I don't konw. It looks like it, but not a color pattern I'm familiar with (granted, it's about dead, but still).

It looks to be a Scolymia Vitiensis... They are usually reddish brown or purple but you can get oranges and greens. I got these two little beauties for $30ea (not rescues though). And the weird color pattern on the green one is actually there, not just the picture.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j55/reefinmike/DSC00921-1.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j55/reefinmike/DSC00920-2.jpg

whatcaneyedo

10/17/2010, 01:04 PM

Whatcaneyedo - That's great!!! Very very nice rescues!! Do you have any tips? Any other advice?

I don't have anything new to add that hasn't been said already. The guide above is excellent. All of the coral that I've rescued have come from the same tank in the same store. Their system simply has many things wrong with it and is unable to sustain most types of coral for very long. When I see something in poor shape that has potential I occasionally buy it and put it into my healthy system. Unfortunately a lot gets left behind and slowly dies... I don't like encouraging them by buying coral there but some specimens I just cant leave to waste away.

MechEng99

10/17/2010, 01:05 PM

Well, that scoly is really going fast (no surprise really). Anyone ever tried a Furan 2 dip on them? I think I might try that and some Vitamin C. Not sure what else I can do at this point.

mrfish55

10/17/2010, 04:00 PM

Great job on those rescues, I am cautiously optimistic I may have saved an elegance from the dreaded elegance coral syndrome, it was given to me as it was retracted and all puffy and pale with very short stubby tentacles, I placed it in my quarantine and did 75% water changes 3 times a day for a week, it did nothing for the first three days but it is now (2 weeks later) looking almost normal, the swelling has gone down and it is starting to have normal appearance,even got it's glow back under the actinics, I will try and get pics up to show progression as soon as my new computor shows up.

ReefRescue

10/17/2010, 04:09 PM

Nice job on the rescues. Every single coral in my tank is rescued.

I came across this on a batch I got last week.....What do you think?

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=17796860#post17796860

MechEng99

10/17/2010, 06:26 PM

I wish I could say every coral in my tank was a rescue - either the corals are dead by the time they get here or they're fine (we only get a few sorry-off corals). Your rescue looks like a pretty safe rescue...I'd get rid of that polyclad worm though. :)

MechEng99

10/18/2010, 04:32 PM

Sad to say, but my latest Scoly rescue passed away today. I knew it wouldn't last, but I had to try. Ugh, I don't think I've ever smelled anything so bad...except maybe dying Xenia.

ReefRescue

10/18/2010, 06:10 PM

do you do vitamin C dosing in your tank?

MechEng99

10/18/2010, 07:04 PM

I have off and on...nothing too crazy. I've tried just about every "new awesome" thing for reefkeeping over the past 4 years, and some of it helps with certain things...some of it is just a joke. Unless I know there's an issue, I just do regular water changes and dose mag/alk/ca. Vitamin C dosing does seem to help corals that are getting pretty bad, but usually by the time I notice a problem, it's a bit late to start dosing (especially since Vitamin C needs to be ramped up). I also use amino acids...it helps getting rescue corals to open up and feed.

ReefRescue

10/18/2010, 07:16 PM

I find that in my rescue tank the corals respond well to vitamin C during rehab period. I did however notice that a few zoas that was on the base of a torch coral really seem to like the High C dosage. but I have never dosed my main tank with Vitamin C since I am not sure how is everything else going to respond to the dosing?

ReefRescue

10/18/2010, 07:17 PM

What kind of amino acids do you dose....and what about B-complex dosing?

MechEng99

10/18/2010, 07:44 PM

I agree - rescue corals respond better, and zoanthids definitely respond well to it. I've tried dosing my display tank (mostly SPS, some LPS, no softies), but I didn't notice a difference. I haven't tried vodka dosing, since...well...vodka belongs in my belly, not my tank. :)

I use the Zeovit amino acids (only Zeovit product I use). I use it an hour before the lights shut off, and once the lights go out, I feed. The food I use is the "pappone" minus the HGH for the Blu Coral Method. Back when I had more fish, I followed the full procedure (minus the HGH), and I had amazing coloration and growth (more of the deep rich colors vs the light pastel colors of some of the vodka dosing, etc). Anyway, don't want to open the can of worms about which is better...I avoid all that. I just use the amino acids since it really helps open up the polyps and seems to encourage corals to feed.

Anyway, I hope no one takes this as a "what is better than whatever else" spin-off. I only know what has worked for me...and I'm definitely not a biologist. :)

singold

10/18/2010, 11:12 PM

Great thread! Very cool that you were able to bring these corals back to their full glory.

ReefRescue

10/19/2010, 12:09 AM

yeah... I wish more people would educate themselves about this hobby so there is less loss of nature as a result of some "ignorance" just to have a pretty tank...... I hear and see it to often....

stephenrsaiz

10/19/2010, 12:18 AM

Very nice rescues, everyone. You're all a credit to the hobby!

jc-reef

10/19/2010, 03:36 PM

This is one of my rescue corals that was given to me from my LFS that about gave up on and said for me to try it in my tank. Sorry for the not so great pics...they were taken from my phone.

Original Rescue - 'Red/Green Favia' - March 2010 (brink of death - only a couple partial eyes alive on a broken up piece of skeleton)
http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz254/jc-reef/salt%20water%20100710/faviaold.jpg

Rescue Now - 'Red/Green Favia' - October 2010 (Doing well and grown to about 20+ eyes)
http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz254/jc-reef/salt%20water%20100710/favianew.jpg

And this one was given to me as a 'freebee' at a recent local frag swap. I will post back in a few months to see how it does. (Some kind of Favia? [I think:hmm4:] mounted on the round disk that is sitting on the rectangular marble).
http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz254/jc-reef/salt%20water%20100710/100_1603.jpg

I too get a rewarding feeling when I can nurse a sure gonner back to health..:spin3:

Rumplestilsken

10/19/2010, 04:58 PM

Bubble coral freebie from the LFS. Sorry for the not great pics.

Then
http://i891.photobucket.com/albums/ac115/townskm/bubbleori.jpg

And now
http://i891.photobucket.com/albums/ac115/townskm/BubbleNo.jpg

When I first got it there were no bubbles. Good feedings and light and it is making its way back.

MechEng99

10/19/2010, 05:24 PM

reefinmike

10/20/2010, 01:09 AM

picked up a few scratch n dents today, would have certainly died if in the lfs another 2 weeks.

The lobo did have 3 heads but I chopped off the third, dead head.
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j55/reefinmike/DSC01045.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j55/reefinmike/DSC01043.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j55/reefinmike/DSC01042.jpg

ClownCrazie

10/20/2010, 01:19 AM

Very nice guys, they look awesome now!

MechEng99

10/20/2010, 04:28 PM

ReefinMike - that lobo is going to be a real showstopper! Looks like it'll recover pretty quickly too. Your other finds are great.

Keep 'em coming!!

kingfisher62

10/20/2010, 05:56 PM

Cool thread, the regenerating ability of corals are truely amazing with the right conditions. All they need is a little TLC.
Love the before and after shots. I wish I had the foresight to do that.

jc-reef

10/20/2010, 06:09 PM

Cool thread, the regenerating ability of corals are truely amazing with the right conditions. All they need is a little TLC.
Love the before and after shots. I wish I had the foresight to do that.

Its never too late to start...:beer:

MechEng99

10/20/2010, 06:23 PM

I try to take photos of all my corals each month (it's a daunting task really!) This allows me to notice problems in growth, color, etc when I can compare so easily. With "tagging" abilities in a lot of photo software, it's easy to organize too. Type in "blah blah acan"...and they all show up. Plus, every now and then you'll get that *perfect* shot.

I'll try to get a new photo of that new acan I got. After less than a week, it's already looking amazing!

kingfisher62

10/20/2010, 06:51 PM

Its never too late to start...:beer:

You are right !
I am more than willing to take a dieing coral home if the price is right.:rolleyes:

reefinmike

10/20/2010, 07:32 PM

ReefinMike - that lobo is going to be a real showstopper! Looks like it'll recover pretty quickly too. Your other finds are great.

Keep 'em coming!!

Thanks, Im hoping for full recovery of all. I got each of those pieces for $20. A lfs near me is a good source of scratch n dent corals :/

ReefRescue

10/20/2010, 08:32 PM

JC-reef I agree its never too late to start.....

MechEng99 I think this is gonna be a nice thread.... Good going man

jc-reef

10/21/2010, 07:44 AM

JC- beautiful favia!!! Your new freebie looks like it'll be a real winner!
Rumple - I absolutely love bubble corals...especially feeding them. Great save!

Keep 'em coming! Let's give hope to those corals that normally get thrown away and decrease the demand on the ocean!!

Thanks! I was very suprised that the green/red favia came back like that. Yeah, I too am excited to see what the 'freebee' turns into....so far there are nice shades of oranges (centers) that rainbows to shades of greens (edges). It will be interesting to see what color morphs come out moving forward.

Thrashie

10/21/2010, 02:51 PM

I had 2 little 1/2 dead branches of a hammer given to me from the bottom of a LFS live rock tank.

here 3 years later, it's now about 35-40 heads, bright nuclear green, and growing in 2 seperate colonies! gotta love it!

pix L8r

ritter6788

10/21/2010, 03:22 PM

I've been inspired to try some more. I picked up a very light pink open brain from petco a little while ago. The tissue is all in good shape so it shouldn't be too hard to recover. Today a picked up a maze brain about 4 inches from petco for $20 instead of $54.99. It still has some nice green around the edges but looks totally gone in the middle. I'll get some pics of it up tommorrow after I get it in the tank and get time to take pics.

ritter6788

10/22/2010, 05:21 PM

They had this piece on the bottom of the tank with a chunk of liverock sitting on top of it. I had to give it a shot.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee283/ritter6788/IMG_0305.jpg

MechEng99

10/24/2010, 06:07 PM

CyclistMT

10/24/2010, 08:27 PM

Mine wasn't so much a rescue as a prayer. I got this bubble coral through mail order and I thought it was DOA. I put it in the tank anyway and it became one of my favorite pieces. By the time I had moved, it was 3 times the size in this picture.

Before:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/CyclistMT/NewTankShots020.jpg

After:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/CyclistMT/P3070229.jpg

ritter6788

10/25/2010, 09:01 AM

ritter - nice rescue! I've found if you can remove some of that dead skeleton from the middle (just smooth it down a bit) the corals will regrow over it faster. But, you might not want to risk it this soon...no point in stressing it more. Good luck on it! Are you planning to feed it?

That's a good idea. I'll give it a little time to see what will come back on it's own or not and give your suggestion a try. I'm going to be feeding it once it adjusts to the tank and starts to show some signs of life. I feed all my lps at least once a week so I'll feed it will all the others soon. The other corals I posted in the earlier link are making great recoveries. Hopefully I'll have some full recovery shots of those soon.

MammothReefer

10/25/2010, 12:52 PM

Don't have the best of pics, but..

In this first photo is a practically dead bubble coral. (bottom right)
http://www.pbase.com/brahm/image/39693992.jpg

Here it is healed up.
http://www.pbase.com/brahm/image/77038646.jpg

and if you kinda look to the right corner of the tank in the reflection.. it got to be at least 1' across before I sold that system

http://www.pbase.com/brahm/image/99898721.jpg

MechEng99

10/25/2010, 08:05 PM

cyclist and mammoth - great bubble rescues!

nenna

10/27/2010, 10:24 PM

[QUOTE=CyclistMT;17829836]Mine wasn't so much a rescue as a prayer. I got this bubble coral through mail order and I thought it was DOA. I put it in the tank anyway and it became one of my favorite pieces. By the time I had moved, it was 3 times the size in this picture.

That's impressive! Good work

MechEng99

11/09/2010, 06:01 PM

Here's my latest! Any idea what it is? The left side is a brilliant gold that I can't get to pick up in the photo (just looks like a washed-out green). Anyway, I hope it keeps the gold! I'll smooth down the skeleton in a few more days...he's just starting to look a bit better.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_0717.jpg

ritter6788

11/09/2010, 06:18 PM

Looks like a trachy to me. That one needs a LOT of love. Good Luck!

kingfisher62

11/09/2010, 07:01 PM

Looking back into my archives I guess I do have some before and after shots of a rescue coral. Whe I first got this piece it was the size of a nickle now close to 5 inches on a good day.

<a href="http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r174/Kingfish62/?action=view&current=PICT0172.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r174/Kingfish62/PICT0172.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r174/Kingfish62/?action=view&current=DSCF2399.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r174/Kingfish62/DSCF2399.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

MechEng99

11/09/2010, 08:06 PM

Nice! Very healthy looking now!

MechEng99

12/07/2010, 07:14 AM

~1 month progress:

11/9/2010
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_0717.jpg

12/4/2010
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_1035.jpg

I can't get the color to pick up at all right in the photo, but this one has turned absolutely amazing. It's looking like it'll be a rainbow - orange, green, purple, etc. I couldn't smooth out the dead skeleton on it as it was too brittle and was causing tissue damage.

ritter6788

12/07/2010, 02:06 PM

Nice progress with that brain! I lost a red brain that I got. I thought that would be the easiest of the rescues but it croaked for some reason. My favia is looking really nice but I'm holding off on pics until it completely healed. I havn't seen much going on with the maze brain but this acan has made a full recovery if you ask me.
Before:
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee283/ritter6788/IMG_0149.jpg

After:
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee283/ritter6788/IMG_0335.jpg

MechEng99

12/07/2010, 06:54 PM

Sorry you lost your red brain - as someone previously mentioned, "sometimes it's not meant to be". Very nice recovery on that acan! I wouldn't have recognized it!

mc-cro

12/07/2010, 08:55 PM

when you say smooth out the skeleton, what exactly are you doing?

i envision a dremel with either a cutting disk or a grinding stone and just knocking all the ridges down to a smooth surface?

at what time is this appropriate? I have a brain that receded quite a bit from neglect and red slime. It is now extended feeding tentacles and eating well, and often. It has several areas that are about .25" wide, x 1" long around its rim. I am not sure I should bother the skeleton, as it is clearly recovering, although having a hard time regrowing over the dead skeleton that now has algea growing on it

mc-cro

12/07/2010, 08:56 PM

double post

MechEng99

12/07/2010, 09:18 PM

I don't use a dremel as I've never had good success with them - too much heat. Instead, I just take some bone cutters and cut down the sharp points and excess dead skeleton. It doesn't have to be totally smooth, but just enough that the coral tissue doesn't get ripped on a sharp point. I only remove some of the dead skeleton once the coral is on the recovery, not when I first get it unless the skeleton has algae, etc on it. I'd say 2 weeks is about ideal for many of the corals I've taken in.

My recommendation is that if you had the coral before it started receeding, and it's now healing, I wouldn't worry about the skeleton. Corals that had some trouble in your system and are doing better now have a MUCH better chance of recovering fully than ones from another system. If you're only talking 1/4" as well, I don't think that's enough to worry about either.

The scoly on the first page is a prime example to me of when to smooth down some of the skeleton. Acan's & Favia's usually don't need too much work done to the excess skeleton since their skeleton doesn't have giant spikes - it's really only important with Scoly's, Trachy's, etc.

Just my $0.02

jenny1979

12/09/2010, 01:03 PM

I have rescued one coral up to now. It looked like that, when it came:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b198/blchfrd/IMG_4421.jpg

Now it looks like this
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b198/blchfrd/IMG_5152.jpg

MechEng99

12/09/2010, 06:06 PM

Wow Jenny, that's fantastic! Any advice on rescuing blastos? They can be tricky enough sometimes even when fully healthy, so nice save!

jenny1979

12/10/2010, 03:25 AM

Thanks :-)
Actually I didn't do a lot. Placed it in middle light to start with with moderate water flow.
I do weekly water changes so water quality is ver good, I add amino acids, strontium, iron and iodine daily. Twice a week calcium, magnesium and trace elements. I feed every night just after lights out (Liquid Life Plancton by Terra Nova Pro) and every morning (Pico Liquid Food by Aqua Connect). When it started to grow I started giving it higher places with more water flow until it is at the top of the tank now in quite strong water flow. It has a Periclimenes holthuis living in it (don't ask me where THAT came from. It was just there one day).

MechEng99

12/10/2010, 06:46 AM

How long between those two pictures?

jenny1979

12/10/2010, 07:18 AM

About 4 months

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

jenny1979

12/10/2010, 10:36 AM

I have just come home from my lfs where I picked up some stuff. The owner found a nearly dead bubble coral buried under some rocks in his coral tank. He wanted to throw it away so I asked him, to put it in my bag. Do you think this bubble has ANY chance of recovering?? Sorry for the bad pics. We are just on our way out and so I only took some quick mobile photos---

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b198/blchfrd/IMAG0159.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b198/blchfrd/IMAG0158.jpg

kduen

12/10/2010, 05:31 PM

Hard to say for sure but there is plenty of tissue left and given the proper enviornment it should recover nicely.

jenny1979

12/11/2010, 05:06 AM

Well... I'll give it a try. Placed it at the bottom of the tank to start with with only light flow. I feed it several times a day with various stuff. At the moment it keeps acting like a girl. One minute it pumps up its left over bubbles, the next it looks alls dead. Well, it has to settle in first I guess.

MechEng99

01/02/2011, 03:00 PM

Just an update with the new year. I need to make a LFS run for more rescues...getting a bit bored. :)

11/9/2010:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_0717.jpg

~2 months progress (Today):
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_1203.jpg

11/9/2010:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_0593.jpg

~2 months (today)...he isn't healing quite as quickly, but oh well:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_1243.jpg

I also rescued a Purple Tang with HLLE over the past few months (in the Fish Disease forum)...very nearly recovered! LOL - I need to start my own little aquarium hospital. :)

mc-cro

01/02/2011, 03:43 PM

nice work!

capt85

01/02/2011, 06:07 PM

I gotta say this thread inspired me to try my first rescue corals.

Back on 12/10 I bought a very sick elegance coral and brain (trach). The elgance didn't last more than 2 days before disintegrating in my tank. After reading on here I didn't know that the elegance was hard to keep happy even when healthy. But I learned at least.

Here is a picture of the brain a couple days in. Once there is some recovery I will post updated pics.

It has been much poofier since I have gotten it and I believe it has some more color.

Any tips would be appreciated.

http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h389/wvessels/2010-12-19_12-53-02_631.jpg

http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h389/wvessels/2010-12-18_18-06-20_363.jpg

MechEng99

01/02/2011, 06:43 PM

Capt - that's an awesome rescue piece! Sorry to hear about your elegance. I've never tried to rescue one of those.

Since that trach seems pretty healed, I'd cut off most of that dead skeleton...or at least trim it down some. IME that helps it grow to a more natural shape, and the new tissue won't get damaged on the old skeleton spikes. Very beautiful piece - keep us updated!

mc-cro

01/03/2011, 02:26 PM

Okay, so I walked into my favorite LFS today, and I saw several Lobo's that were not doing well at all, and I thought about this thread. I talked with the manager and told him I would like to work a deal on the price to see if I could rescue it. We worked out a price I could live with, I knew it wasn't going to go for free, none of them were that far gone.

So here it is fresh out of the bag, covered in sponges, bubble algae, and about about a dozen good size bristleworms. 3-4 were atleast 3" long. I pulled them and threw them in the sump as I didn't want the CoralRevive dip to kill them.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t95/micahmc/sickLobo005.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t95/micahmc/sickLobo003.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t95/micahmc/sickLobo001.jpg

I took a toothbrush and my pick and cleaned all the algea and tube worms and stuff off the skeleton that was close the flesh. Then I took some cutters and cut down all the sharp pieces of the skeleton like mecheng said to do.

Here it is after surgery and a dip, ready to go into the tank. I have never kept a lobo before, so I am unsure of where exactly to put it. I put this one in a lower light, low flow area of my tank. I hope it colors up nice.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t95/micahmc/sickLobo008.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t95/micahmc/sickLobo007.jpg

capt85

01/03/2011, 03:08 PM

With my lobos low flow is more important than low light.

Just make sure the skin is not being blown against the skeleton.

MechEng99

01/03/2011, 08:23 PM

Woooo hooo! We have another convert! Glad to hear this thread is making a tiny bit of difference...one sad coral at a time.

Mc-cro: nice find! Keep an eye on that orange/red sponge. Some sponges like that are invasive and can cause some damage to the coral...or the sponge could decay due to the treatment and release some toxins (so monitor ammonia). I think you'll be fine, but that's about the only other advice I can give. Definitely keep it in lower flow - the coral should be able to expand fully without the flow pushing the tissue against the skeleton. Lower light until the coral starts to heal up...then you can move it up a bit.

Ludwigia73

01/04/2011, 05:15 PM

The main thing I hate is when a coral is on its way out, and the LFS still wants close to full price. I have an LFS that routinely has corals not looking so good, and I nurse them back to health quite often. I have a huge chalice, with bright orange eyes and a lime flourescent green growth ring that is just gorgeous. I also just picked up a pretty acan lord that has pale purple rings and green centers. Just starting to color up, and the polyps are just starting to fully inflate. Wish I'd taken pics!

MechEng99

01/04/2011, 07:53 PM

Yeah, I know. Some LFS would rather sell a dying coral to a newbie and get their full profit. Had a similar situation here - a LFS had a coral fall onto a scolymia...the scolymia was mostly gone (and I doubt I could've saved it). I offered to purchase it, and the owner offered me only 10% off. Riiiight.

Check out the "Similar Thread" below by drew1 of "does anyone try to rescue corals". It's a rather depressing thread that suggests by purchasing nearly dead corals we're encouraging LFS to keep dying coral. I will argue against that til I'm blue in the face. Now, if we're paying full price, then yes, it's like paying a puppy mill full price to save a puppy. Ugh, I'll get off my soapbox.

andrewk529

01/04/2011, 09:44 PM

Yeah, I know. Some LFS would rather sell a dying coral to a newbie and get their full profit. Had a similar situation here - a LFS had a coral fall onto a scolymia...the scolymia was mostly gone (and I doubt I could've saved it). I offered to purchase it, and the owner offered me only 10% off. Riiiight.

I had a large chalice colony fall onto my prized bleeding apple scolymia while on vacation. Needless to say, upon my arrival a week later there wasn't much left. About 85% of the coral was gone. I have been nursing it back to health the past 5 months. It has almost completely recovered.

MechEng99

01/05/2011, 06:00 AM

We definitely need pics of that!

GXPKY

01/05/2011, 10:01 PM

Was on it's way out when I got it, was an ugly no color plate coral 3 weeks ago with about 15 pct of it's skeleton showing, now you can barely see the skeleton along the bottom edge of the picture you can barely tell it even had the issue... The LFS guy hadn't even noticed it on the LR, when I told him I'd take the rock and see if I could rescue the fungia he was surprised when he saw it... The rock had been in their DT for months with it sitting on top. Picked up the piece of LR it's attached to for 30 bucks, had the zoanthids, and about 3 clams attached to it, thought it was a great deal. Can't wait to see what it'll color up into! Mouth is coloring up red with pink and green stripes with green tenticles.

Earlier picture...after it had covered about half of the exposed skeleton.
http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/zz319/gxpky/Aquarium%20setup/DSC00305.jpg

Picture from tonight.
http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/zz319/gxpky/Aquarium%20setup/DSCN2273.jpg

GXPKY

01/05/2011, 10:33 PM

Took a different picture under the same conditions of the other picture, you can still tell where the die off was, but it's been doing great, improved that much in only about 2-3 weeks, and has colored up a ton. (Picture 1, and 3 are both flash only, tank lights off)

http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/zz319/gxpky/Aquarium%20setup/DSCN2285.jpg

Scoober68

01/07/2011, 12:25 AM

Great thread.

Two questions:

1. Torch coral, previously very healthy, about to split, spent a bad day with a migrating condylactis anemone, and now is very sick.

The body and tentacles are deflated and limp, and it looks as though its flesh can't tolerate much flow before ripping against the skeleton. Your thread helps me know it will probably recover, but what can I do to best assist? Low flow area and target feeding? Maybe move it to the fuge? Any dips that can help?

2. GBTA, bleached when I rescued it in February, and it has slowly been eating itself. No tentacle extension whatsoever...it looks like a small marshmallow cookie. I suppose I can use some of your methods, especially feeding? Since an anemone is like a variety of coral.

For a while, target feeding seemed to help, where I actually was placing food in the mouth like you mentioned. That was difficult however and the guidance out there says not to do that. I think if I could get it back to reasonable health on target feeding, it might eventually reacquire zooanxthellae.

MechEng99

01/08/2011, 07:19 AM

GXPKY - cool find on the fungia!

Scoober - Eh, I have zero experience with anemones. I mean, if it was bleached, then I highly suggest target feeding regularly since it doesn't contain the zooxanthallae to provide it with energy. If people say to not place food in anemone's mouths, don't do it...like I said, I have no experience with anemones. I would think that putting food near the mouth of the anemone would help it initiate a feeding response, but definitely don't force the food in.

As far as the torch goes, a picture would help determine the best course of action. If you don't think the anemone will "attack" again, you could leave it in the same spot since the torch was happy there before. At most, move to a lower-flow area and target feed. Corals that were damaged in home tanks seem to have a higher recovery rate naturally. They haven't been through shipping, dipping, new system acclimation, etc., so a bit of damage isn't as deadly as for a coral sitting in a LFS.

stuifbol

01/08/2011, 11:40 AM

I will try to save this one i got for free from my local supplier....it still has a little pink flesh on the top...de rest is almost completely bleached but still a bit fleshy

orgtizz

01/08/2011, 09:09 PM

How do you do this? It's amazing...

orgtizz

01/08/2011, 09:23 PM

Any tips on how to bring a fallen head back to the land of the living? I have a branching hammer that lost two heads, that look healthy but are on the sand at the moment. What can I do?

MechEng99

01/08/2011, 09:58 PM

stuifbol - wow, I think that's one of the worst ones I've seen. :-/ It'll mostly likely need daily feeding - there's pretty much no zooxanthallae on that one. Keep us posted...your coral is in a pretty bad spot...but not impossible!!! Best of luck!

Orgtizz - I'm assuming you mean the hammer popped two polyps out that don't have a skeleton? Unfortunately, I haven't had any success saving those (I only had an acan pop one polyp out...and it got blown around and I lost track of it.) Maybe someone else in here can chime in. If I were you (and this is me with very little experience doing this), but I'd take a piece of PVC pipe (maybe 1" tall, whatever diameter you want), and glue it to a piece of marble/granite/stone/rubble on the bottom. Put the coral head in the middle of the PVC, then cover the PVC with some bridal veil/bird netting, etc...whatever will hold the polyp in. That will prevent the coral polyp from floating around your tank, but will still allow flow/light/food to reach it. Just an idea.

Well, I got two new rescues today - a pink lobo and a purple lobo of some description. They're both in pretty good shape; something stung the other sides, so what I kept was in excellent health. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow. I'm also thinking about going on a drive tomorrow to a not-so-local fish store that is known for having a ton of "rescues".

Everyone - this is awesome! I'm really enjoying seeing so many people try to save corals that would otherwise be thrown out. Keep the stories & photos coming...and encourage others to do the same! If we can figure out how to save corals that are literally on the brink of death, then we can figure out how to keep corals healthy & thriving in home aquariums.

salt0727

01/09/2011, 05:46 PM

any tips on rescuing a fox coral? It is pretty much gone but has some tissue left.

MechEng99

01/09/2011, 06:35 PM

Salt - could you post a picture? Knowing exactly how much tissue & where it's left would help in giving you advice. What was the damage caused by?

breakdanc3

01/09/2011, 06:39 PM

its a recovery of a duncan coral from my own poor reef keeping practices (overfeeding,using tap water, poor skimmer, hardly any water changes) .. improvement like this encouraged me keep it up.

<a href="http://s442.photobucket.com/albums/qq141/breakdanc3/?action=view&current=duncanRecover.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq141/breakdanc3/duncanRecover.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

MechEng99

01/09/2011, 08:39 PM

Nice job breakdanc3! (I especially love the smiley face!)

GXPKY

01/09/2011, 10:31 PM

Anyone have any ideas how that fungia I posted on page 4 will color up? not to derail the thread....looooove this thread btw.

MechEng99

01/10/2011, 05:35 AM

Anyone have any ideas how that fungia I posted on page 4 will color up? not to derail the thread....looooove this thread btw.

My guess is a tealish-green. A lot of the hitchhiker ones end up that color (and yours is looking that way.)

breakdanc3

01/10/2011, 11:38 AM

This is my torch which was almost lost..
<a href="http://s442.photobucket.com/albums/qq141/breakdanc3/?action=view&current=photoshpP1090352py.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq141/breakdanc3/photoshpP1090352py.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

GXPKY

01/11/2011, 08:31 AM

Gotta love a corals ability to regenerate even with 90 pct tissue loss its possible to come back. They take a huge beating in the wild and thrive for the most part.

MechEng99

01/11/2011, 08:01 PM

Ok, here are the two new ones (the one on the left in the first pic isn't new). They were each part of a much larger lobo that was stung nearly to death. The damage was cut off, and I think each of these looks pretty great now. The pink/purple one isn't eating yet, but hopefully it will soon. The dark purple/green one is acting like it's almost healed. Ok, these seem to be easy ones.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_1317.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_1324.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_1321.jpg

breakdanc3

01/13/2011, 12:31 AM

i was real close to buying a sickly looking open brain this last weekend.. bout the size a computer mouse. it was red pink with a yellow/green mouth.. it was listed for $69 and it was becoming transparent, and showing skeleton that didn't have purple algae on it meaning its tissue is receding quickly.. i've never owned one i wanna go back and buy it ...

i would pay good money for a coral if it looks amazing..
but if i can tell its dieing im not gunna buy it unless dirt cheap..
I gotta think of a haggling plan and go back there..

MechEng99

01/13/2011, 05:51 AM

I don't blame you - if I'm going to pay full price for something it'd better be in good condition!

orgtizz

01/13/2011, 10:32 PM

breakdanc3

01/16/2011, 11:22 AM

Well... that coral was in a 55g tank in my basement. my tank then was probably the worst example of a saltwater tank u can imagine.. i was excited about it at first till i realized all the problems i had in my setup. I learned the hardway. all i had was a seaclone hang on the back skimmer(not all that great). No RO filtered water. No reliable lighting schedule(cuz i didn't use a timer). anyways...

I remember buying a lawnmower blenny and it dissapeared behind a rock and i never saw it again and thats when my tank went sour. Over feeding, dead fish, and tap-water brought in all the undesirable chemicals that caused every coral in my tank to shrink/hide/melt/disappear. I was lazy on the maintenance.

i decided to step it down and get a tank half the size of my 55. i believed it would be easier to manage. i got a jbj nano cube 28g with compact fluorecents. I got a warner marine hang on the back skimmer rated for 55g. Most importantly i got a reverse osmosis water filter. If your doing salt water tanks off of tap water its like your setting yourself up for future failure. The water evaporates, nitrates/phosphates/otherchemicals stay in and each freshwater evaporation replacement adds more of those chemicals. Also i placed the tank in a place i would see it everyday; in the living room. That was probably the best decision.

My practices for that tank included ...
12-9 light schedule on timer,
feed nickel sized chunk of frzn mysis to my3fish(clown, yellow wrasse, blue damsel) once a day.
Clean skimmer cup every day or two with toothbrush/empty cup out.
Bi-weekly 1/3rd volume waterchange with RO filtered water. And i would add Iodine, Coral Vite, and Alkalinity buffer a cap full of each after the water change and once a week and Purple Up at night just whenever i felt like it .. like a capfull everyother night.

in the picture above where it says "old tank" thats actually my 28g biocube it was in there for a year. Just recently i moved it into a 29g rectangle aquarium with 10g sump and DIY LED lighting. those biocubes are hard to work with and clean being that they have no sump and u have to special order the fluorescent bulb every 8 months or the intensity and color begins to die..

andrewk529

01/17/2011, 05:45 PM

I had a large chalice colony fall onto my prized bleeding apple scolymia while on vacation. Needless to say, upon my arrival a week later there wasn't much left. About 85% of the coral was gone. I have been nursing it back to health the past 5 months. It has almost completely recovered.

We definitely need pics of that!

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o91/mak529/006-10.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o91/mak529/007-7.jpg

Johnny C

01/20/2011, 01:34 PM

Awesome thread! :)

ReefRescue

01/21/2011, 01:55 PM

Allright gang just picked up 44 pieces yesterday will be posting pics soon. Yeah had a moment of elapse for a few mins.... would be interested to part with some L.A. socal area pm me if interested

breakdanc3

01/21/2011, 05:22 PM

So .. . this is actually my first sickly coral buy .. i also bought that green montipora to the left there ... i've always wanted to own a colorful red lobophyllia.. so im going to take extra special care of this one..

15 bux !!
<a href="http://s442.photobucket.com/albums/qq141/breakdanc3/?action=view&current=P1210417p.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq141/breakdanc3/P1210417p.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

and after acclimation under my led lights. a little more poofy ..
<a href="http://s442.photobucket.com/albums/qq141/breakdanc3/?action=view&current=P1210418p.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq141/breakdanc3/P1210418p.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s442.photobucket.com/albums/qq141/breakdanc3/?action=view&current=P1210420p.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq141/breakdanc3/P1210420p.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

it still looks pretty good .. i think it will make a great comeback.

jc-reef

01/21/2011, 05:32 PM

I have another rescue coral.

[09/2010] This is a 'tiny chip' of a frogsporn that a friend of mine got back in September 2010 that was accidently broken off the main frag. It was really tiny and had a little piece of skeleton on it (barely)...so I gave it a shot and glued to to a piece of marble to see if it would survive. The piece of marble you see here in photo is only 1"x1" and the 'chip' of frogsporn was no bigger than my pinky nail!!!!

http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz254/jc-reef/rescue%20corals/09-2010.jpg

[01/2011] And now you can see this thing did indeed survive and has really grown!!! It has also turned out to be a very colorful piece with neon green body with bright purple tips!!! Looks superb under actinics!! The pic here is under FULL LIGHTING and you can see even still, the green looks like it is 'glowing'....

http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz254/jc-reef/rescue%20corals/01-2011.jpg

:rollface::rollface:

breakdanc3

01/21/2011, 06:26 PM

I want one of those frogspawns .. looks amazing

flipit13

01/21/2011, 10:24 PM

absolutely awesome thread. i have to take a pic of a tyree war coral that i am saving. i sold it to a friend and went by his house and only one head left i sold him almost a 3" piece. after about 2 weeks i now have 5 heads and the feeders are extending. no more corals for him.

stackrat

01/23/2011, 08:29 AM

Fantastic thread. You have really inspired me to try and save a tiny Candy Cane and a small 3 head Duncan.
Keep the pics and stories coming.

MechEng99

01/23/2011, 03:54 PM

Andrew - beautiful beautiful beautiful! I'd love to save one of those!

breakdanc3 - nice find! It looks like it'll come back quickly with some good lovin'! The green monti looks to be doing well too (just check it well for Montipora-eating nudibranchs...those are the devil!)

Ashkan - 44 pieces?!?! Yeeeeesh! If I were out in LA I'd definitely split some of that with you. Best of luck!!!

jc - love how the frogspawn turned out!

Everyone - As, stackrat said, keep the pics & stories coming! If anyone has any advice, we'd love to hear it!

MechEng99

01/23/2011, 09:35 PM

Thought of some more advice:

In my experience, LPS seem to prefer Formula Two fish pellets over Spectrum fish pellets. Not sure why. Corals that won't give a feeding response with Spectrum will with Formula Two.

If the coral refuses to eat...even after dropping fish pellets into the mouths, add the recommended amounts of amino acids to the water and then turn off all flow and the lights. I don't leave the water flow off longer than an hour (you might not want to do it even that long.)

Johnny C

02/01/2011, 12:09 PM

This thread has been nominated for February 2011 Thread of the Month! You may vote here (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1969688)... Good luck! :)

inigomontoya

02/21/2011, 11:55 AM

Mech- great to see the recovery on these, I found this thread because I am attempting the same thing with a newly acquired scoly. I had a question about how much to trim on the skeleton (will post a pic later, know that will help). The scoly outer rim was entirely covered in hair algae which had caused significant detoriation, exposing the enire outer rim of skeleton.

The mouth and about a half inch diameter (still circular) is fine and there are patches of color in the exposed skeleton. I removed all the hair alage and have dipped in Coral RX. I also did some light trimming of the outer skeleton and tried to take just the tips off from the top where there is some tissue underneath the exposed portion.

How aggressive do you get in trimming the skeleton back? I am wondering about letting it be for a while, or whether to cut the entire outer portion back only leaving the truly intact "inner" ring around the mouth.
The statement about the skeleton impeding growth made me wonder if it was better to remove entirely versus hoping small patches of live tissue within that exposed skeleton would recover.
thanks for any advice.

MedRed

02/21/2011, 07:37 PM

Not as dramatic, but picked up a fully bleached acan colony for $15. You can see it at the top right...

http://i25.*******.com/2uj1axf.jpg

1 month later, it was looking pretty snazzy...
http://i27.*******.com/2ezic03.jpg

GXPKY

02/21/2011, 08:43 PM

Another I'm working on right now

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_mQZox0pY32M/TVhvAL41vZI/AAAAAAAAAyc/abPKaEiN_sQ/s800/DSCN2409.JPG

schriss

02/25/2011, 02:27 PM

sjwitt

02/26/2011, 08:49 AM

Any advice on rescuing this:
140114
It's like this for about 4 days. No idea what happened but I suspect Clownfish as it tried to host.
I noticed that the flesh was more loose before and closer to the edge, freely floating, while now it somehow positioned itself in the center of the skeleton.

That coral looks terribly bleached, is it a torch coral? With mine, the heads that retract don't make it.

What lighting do you have? Being that bleached, it can't process light for food anyway so I would target feed it ... phytoplankton or mushed up fish food. I actually saved a very bleached brain coral by soaking pellets, smashing them into a 'broth' and using a medicine dropper to gently target feed directly into the mouth. Took a couple of weeks but now it's healthy again.

schriss

02/26/2011, 11:12 AM

That coral looks terribly bleached, is it a torch coral? With mine, the heads that retract don't make it.

What lighting do you have? Being that bleached, it can't process light for food anyway so I would target feed it ... phytoplankton or mushed up fish food. I actually saved a very bleached brain coral by soaking pellets, smashing them into a 'broth' and using a medicine dropper to gently target feed directly into the mouth. Took a couple of weeks but now it's healthy again.

I have bought 3 test kits today, to test for Iron and Potassium and Iodine.
I was dosing some Iodine once a week and it is in lower range.
But Iron comes out as none. I've read Iron is needed for green colors?
Re lights, my tank is quite small, that coral is 30cm below my lights. Lights are 2 x TMC Aquabeam 1000 HD.

sjwitt

02/26/2011, 05:19 PM

schriss

02/26/2011, 05:34 PM

Iodine definitely helps. I'm sure you have read that it shouldn't be over .06 ... that said, mine often reads .09 but the corals look better so I attribute that to deviation in the test kits. Best thing is to look at the appearance, if they look good then you're probably ok. I am NOT recommending overdosing, just sharing my experience. I don't test for iron so i can't comment on that. As far as lighting goes, it looks like you have a hammer right next to this coral that has good color so you are probably ok... admittedly not an expert on lighting. It may also be that there is a little 'warfare' going on between the two so maybe separate them a little more. Again, i would definitely target feed because bleaching means no zooxanthellae, which means it's not getting any nutrient from the light anyway.

My Iodine test usually reads 0.04, I will test tomorrow out of curiosity. If it's still 0.04, I will make a bigger than maintenance dose to bring it up to 0.06.
I had to put the hammer there as to hide it from my Clown which tried to swim into it. I remember the torch was looking exactly the same when Hammer was in the other part of the tank.
That Hammer still has tissue loss, don't think it's getting worse, but doesn't look nice. Should I carefully remove the skeleton part which is not covered by flesh? I'm afraid to do it as to not hurt it more.

The "bleached" looking torch - I noticed today and 2 days ago it was doing something like brown strings coming out of its mouth. Not sure if that's good or bad. I think It happened soon after I target fed it. Ive seen this happening 2 times in last 3 days.
So yes, I target feed it my mixture of dead stuff: Brightwell ReefSnow/Phyto/Zoo. I also broadcast feed Julian Sprung MarineSnow, which some say doesn't do anything and is placebo. I still have half of the bottle left, so I dose it.

sjwitt

02/27/2011, 07:51 AM

Well, I see brown 'purging' from my corals too. It's them expelling waste. If it's periodic and not constant then I'd guess that it's purging waste, especially since you're target feeding. I've never seen them do it that often so maybe you're over feeding. I didn't remove the dead skeleton from my hammer either but if there's 'funky' flesh on the dying part then, yes, remove it. I think your best bet is to work on the iodine... but slowly. Have you ever used Prodibio BIOKIT REEF? I started using it a few months ago and see marked improvement in my corals. It has a vial for iodine, strontium, and other stuff. You might want to try it too.

Also, just a thought, have you tried a coral dip on these to see if there's some nasty bugger bothering them? At this point I don't think you have anything to loose.

schriss

02/27/2011, 08:33 AM

I have Brightwell Iodion and Strontion, and dose as directed, but I will increase Iodine level to 0.06 then continue maintenance dose.
I have also noticed I was not dosin my trace elements as directed but 2-3 times less, so thats changed since yesterday (talking about Brightwell Koralle-VM and Replenish, the second one half the dose as directed when using both). I also dose KoralAmino. All these every day small doses rather than weekly.
I will try to turn the Torch and take better picture of the dead part.

schriss

02/27/2011, 11:54 AM

Here is the side shot of the Hammer:
140365
I have no idea if this is dead bits or if its regrowing there. Im afraid to touch it, maybe leave it as is and observe?

sjwitt

02/27/2011, 12:29 PM

basser1

02/27/2011, 01:04 PM

Just wanted to say what a great thread this is. After reading, it seems like LPS corals have a remarkable way of regenerating themselves under the right conditions.

I also have a rescue story. I had a bluespot jawfish and whenever I needed to get some live rock rubble for him, my LFS was always nice enough to let me bag up some pieces for him. This rubble would also include various dead coral skeletons. One time I brought home a baggie of rubble and started to smash the larger pieces in to smaller sizes. But I noticed a coral skeleton that looked like it still had some flesh on it. So I pout it in my tank and put some mysis on one of the fleshy areas. To my surprise, it ate it! As time went by, it started to get puffier and actually grew more heads. It eventually grew in to a baseball size candy cane colony!

Here's a pic of it in the top, left hand side.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/9093/014zi.jpg

schriss

02/27/2011, 04:23 PM

What happens if you gently blow it with a turkey baster? Is there slimy stuff that comes off? From what I can see, what's there looks healthy. In other posts on this thread, it's recommended to knock off the sharp edges of the exposed skeleton. I did that with a bubble coral that got over heated and it looks to be doing MUCH better. I used a wooden sculpting tool ... kept the coral under wanter and just gently knocked off the sharp parts. Suggest you try that and maybe remove the coral for a dip in CoralRx (mixed with tank water) ... return it to the tank and see what happens. I'd definitely put as much distance between it and the torch and give both some decent circulation ... not directly on them but swirling around them so that they wave gently. Your other corals appear to be doing well and have good color. I'm with you... don't like to cut on them especially when they're already distressed. While you have it out of the water, smell it. If it's rancid I'd get rid of it.

I have moved it to a quieter spot. Here is video of it, two questions:
1. Is the flow ok? Wave is created by 2xVortech MP10W.
2. You will notice that Tang is beating it with its tail, I only noticed this happen once so far. No idea what/why was he doing?
Im not sure about new spot, there is a lot of fish activity there...

Don't mind the colors, it's filmed on the phone, I have manually lowered exposure a bit. It appears more green to the eye.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70mj0EomiDE

schriss

02/28/2011, 08:41 AM

Another question: The rock the Hammer stands next to hosts big worm, I just noticed it few days ago at night, it's dark green, round, snake-like worm with short tentacles on the head, it is about 6mm thick! Can't take picture because it hides in the rock on any light put on it.
So I think I will move Torch, again. Just so it's clear from the monster.
Torch still doesn't show any signs of brown jelly or any slime, sickness, the healthy part inflates.
So maybe it was actually eaten, not damaged by the fishes or Clownfish looking for host :confused:

Sfork

04/20/2011, 05:25 PM

Here is the Australomussa rescue I got today. LFS gave it to me because I was also buying a healthy one.

Rescue:
http://sfork.net/bar/REDSCF1791.JPG
Alot of the white parts towards the back are not skeleton but bleached tissue.

Jarred1

04/20/2011, 07:31 PM

Here is a open brain I picked up about 2 months ago:

Before:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q304/jayrome06/DSCF8141.jpg

Now:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q304/jayrome06/DSCF8886.jpg

Bonvivant

04/26/2011, 09:48 AM

I picked up a little pink rescue trachy last week. It is a little bleached and there is a little tissue loss. I have him at the bottom of my tank where there is lower light. He had not expanded in all the time I have had him. The only thing that opens and closes is its one mouth. I have been wanting to feed him but I never see any feeder tentacles since he never inflates. Should I attempt to feed him? If so, how? any advice is appreciated!

polyps222

04/26/2011, 09:50 PM

here is mine i got it for $15 and seems to be doing really well ive been feeding it 3 times a week

steevareno2002

05/06/2011, 08:25 PM

Great job everyone!

hpfunk

05/06/2011, 11:07 PM

I rescued this frogspawn from my self.
I had a tank seam split while I wasn't home I lost all most all corals in the tank including all but one head of my huge 120+head frogspawn colony.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=147912&stc=1&d=1304743691
This coral was put in a vat of brand new salt water (because I lost all mine on the floor) with 150lbs of dyeing live rock and corals. Some how this head survived and I found it amongst the skeleton graveyard. That picture was taken two months after the crash.

Now one year latter this coral has thrived and I now have close to 15 heads.
You can check out this corals life story as well as my tank's at http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1995666

Open and happy in Feb
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=147913&stc=1&d=1304744201
I know this is a pretty common coral, but it is one of my favorites.

stlblufan

05/11/2011, 03:48 PM

Any ideas on this scoly? It's got a strange "pipe" sticking through its flesh (upper left side), and it has receded even more since I took this picture two days ago. The front edge, in particular, is showing a good bit of skeleton. It still puts out feeding tentacles at night, but I haven't fed it anything. It is not in an area of direct or heavy flow.

Any suggestions on saving it would be much appreciated.

alanbates12

05/11/2011, 04:20 PM

Really cool stuff. I'm new and just trying to keep my new corals healthy. So far so good.

MechEng99

05/11/2011, 07:52 PM

Wow, first off, an apology is in order. We're getting ready to move across the country, and moving a fish room & display tank is no small feat. So, I got busy and haven't been online much. Let's catch up!!

Thank you all so much for nominating this thread for thread of the month for Feb!! It makes me very excited to know people care this much about saving their corals & the reefs!!

@Inigmo - I try not to aggressively trim the skeleton at first - best to let the coral heal some on its own. Once the coral gets healthier, I'll trim some more. As long as the coral is growing back over the old skeleton well, there's no reason to trim.

@MedRed - absolutely beautiful rescue...especially for $15!!

@GXPKY - AHH!!! That's is sick (in a good way!!) Any updates?!

@schriss - Oooooh, that polyp in the forefront worries me. I would move it to a very low flow area, and a lower light area. What sort of lighting is it in? Although...by now I'm sure it's either gone or fully recovered...any updates? As sjwitt said, target feeding is your best bet if the mouth is still intact. Ummm...if your torch sits right in front of a 6mm thick worm that comes out, you may want to double check that it's not a Eunicid worm. They can get pretty nasty and do some major damage to corals. Chances are it's a harmless peanut worm, but just double check.

@Basser1 - wow...all that ended up growing from a piece out of a rubble bag...amazing! :)

@Sfork - how's that Astralomussa doing? Nice bright green!

@Jarred - nice recovery! Has that front chip healed up now?

@Bonvivant - I would drop a couple pellets on/near the mouth every 2 days or so. You should eventually get some tentacles to come out. Don't force the food...and if the mouth doesn't open to take the food in within ~30 min, then blow it off.

@polyps - what is that? Very bright...and seems pretty fleshy. How's it doing now?

@hpfunk - Uggggh, that kills me to hear about your tank! So sorry to hear that! Glad you were at least able to save your frogspawn...and what a recovery! And...btw...I loove your scoly avatar!

@stlblufan - Oh no! Sorry to hear your scoly is having some issues (I have a soft spot for scoly's...just so beautiful!) Well, how long have you had it? It does appear to have some very mild bleaching going on, so I would try feeding it (can't really hurt). Not sure what that "pipe" is, but possibly an old vermetid snail tube with cyano growing on the top? Can you tell us more about your tank & the history of this coral?

@alan - welcome to the addiction! Even if your corals are healthy, we've all had a coral go south every now and then. Maybe a tip or two in here will help at some point. :)

Thanks again everyone! I hope to have more pics to share soon!

stlblufan

05/12/2011, 07:16 AM

@stlblufan - Oh no! Sorry to hear your scoly is having some issues (I have a soft spot for scoly's...just so beautiful!) Well, how long have you had it? It does appear to have some very mild bleaching going on, so I would try feeding it (can't really hurt). Not sure what that "pipe" is, but possibly an old vermetid snail tube with cyano growing on the top? Can you tell us more about your tank & the history of this coral?

Thanks for the reply. I've had this one for about eight months, the tank is about 18 months old and everything else (all LPS save inverts and two clowns) is doing great. This scoly actually looked really good until about two weeks ago, when it began to recede a bit. Then I noticed that "pipe". I don't think that it is a snail -- it literally appeared out of nowhere one day. About the time the scoly began declining, and prior to the "pipe" appearing, my cleaner shrimp began paying a lot of extra attention to the scoly (which it had essentially ignored up until then). No new additions have been made to the livestock in many months.

I've tested and re-tested all of my parameters since then. I have Elos test kits and Hanna checkers for phosphates, nitrite and alkalinity. The only parameter that seems slightly off is Alk, at about 6.5dkh. I believe that this is because the last time I cleaned my sump (about four weeks ago) I mistakenly left the tubes from my 2-part feeder outside of the sump (so it was feeding my floor, yes a huge mess) and didn't realize it until about a week ago (Alk and Cal are usually stable in my tank so I tend to check them on a monthly basis...d'oh).

I have been feeding it the Fauna Marin LPS food, which it seems to accept readily. I fed it again last night when its feeding tentacles appeared. The snails and cleaner shrimp (and to a lesser extent the hermits) went bonkers, but I stuck a coke bottle top over it to let it "eat" in relative peace.

Anyway...I'm at a loss, not sure what to do. Your thoughts and suggestions are much appreciated!

MechEng99

05/12/2011, 02:24 PM

stlblufan

05/12/2011, 03:17 PM

Did you dip it before you put it in your tank? Have you dipped it since? In what? If you haven't, I would dip it in CoralRx...and blow it lightly with a turkey baster/pipette. You may be able to tell what that "pipe" thing is. Can you tell us what your parameters are? As much as I hate to say it, but I hear all the time, "my parameters are great"...then they post up that their nitrates are 40 or something.

LOL ... understood. Parameters below. I have not ever dipped the scoly but will acquire some CoralRx and give it a go.

SG - 1.025
PH - 8.0 - 8.4 (intraday variance)
Alk - 6.5 (low per previous post)
Cal - 400
Temp - 77.5 - 81 (intraday variance)
NO3 - 1ppm
PO4 - .01
Mag – 1385

Live params: http://www.reeftronics.net/chuck-t/apex-status

MechEng99

05/12/2011, 03:29 PM

Ah, nice...gotta love the Apex!

It doesn't have to be CoralRx if it's not easily available. Lugol's, TMPCC, Revive, etc should work as well.

polyps222

05/12/2011, 05:09 PM

NanoLover

05/18/2011, 06:00 PM

Some time ago, everything in my tank went crazy and many coral suffered. The lobo is taking the longest to recover. I still consider it a rescue coral because I really want to save it. Any advice is welcome, especially on how to keep removing algae without damaging the tissue. I've been using a circular electric toothbrush.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5105/5734793141_93e786fdc8_b.jpg

capt85

05/18/2011, 06:40 PM

Update. If you go back to page 4 you will see what this looked lie back in December.

http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h389/wvessels/2011-05-18_19-15-04_738.jpg

And here is my new rescue. Picked it up yeterday. The picture doesn't really show it but it has a nice red around the mouths.

http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h389/wvessels/2011-05-17_15-50-22_437.jpg

MechEng99

05/19/2011, 04:40 AM

Nanolover - what tissue is left looks healthy, so that's a good start. I would turn off the flow in your aquarium and keep hermit crabs away...then drop a couple of fish food pellets onto each polyp. The mouths may or may not open, but leave them there for about 15 minutes. Keep trying every day until you get a feeding response. Waiting until the lights go out will help as well.

I would not try to remove any algae/skeleton until the coral has a bit more tissue on it.

capt85 - good job!

sullyfish

05/21/2011, 08:20 PM

I realize this isnt an LPS.....but...here is a Pink stylo I picked up a few months ago and is now one of my favorites. I am now working on an acan that is pretty far gone.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d144/sullyfish/tank/11-02-10017.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d144/sullyfish/coral%20slideshow/clam037.jpg

MechEng99

05/22/2011, 05:13 AM

Sullyfish - wow, nice recovery! Honestly, the reason why I started this thread in LPS is that a lot of people think if they buy a brown SPS and get it to color up that they rescued the coral.

sullyfish

05/23/2011, 06:08 PM

Sullyfish - wow, nice recovery! Honestly, the reason why I started this thread in LPS is that a lot of people think if they buy a brown SPS and get it to color up that they rescued the coral.

LOL... I know what you mean... BTW here is a pic of the acan ( apologize for my crappy camera )... I have been seeing a little bit of feeder tenticles at night and have started to spot feed a few times a week.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d144/sullyfish/coral2011/coral0522005.jpg

MechEng99

07/14/2011, 07:27 PM

Sully - how's that Acan doing?

Anyone else have any updated photos?

SaltwaterAdict

07/17/2011, 05:42 PM

Do lps corals need to be target fed for longterm success or can they get their food via fish waste and food floating in the water column?

540iz4

07/18/2011, 04:59 AM

Can someone advise the grape coral how to rescue?
Started by snail passing by the top portion and now spread in other mouth too.

540iz4

07/18/2011, 05:01 AM

I pick this up from local supplier, look not too bad but mouth not closing.
Any advise?

melonz

07/18/2011, 02:00 PM

great thread. all the corals you guys have saved are amazing.

this thread inspired me to save some corals i found at a lfs.

got me a scoly that was fragged too small and wasnt doing too well in their tank so i picked it up for free :D

will post some pics when i get the chance

jc-reef

07/26/2011, 01:32 PM

I posted this back winter last year and just added the most recent pic which is from a couple months ago.....

"This is one of my rescue corals that was given to me from my LFS that about gave up on and said for me to try it in my tank. Sorry for the not so great pics...they were taken from my phone."

Original Rescue - 'Red/Green Favia' - March 2010 (brink of death - only a couple partial eyes alive on a broken up piece of skeleton)
http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz254/jc-reef/salt%20water%20100710/faviaold.jpg

Rescue Now - 'Red/Green Favia' - October 2010 (Doing well and grown to about 20+ eyes)
http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz254/jc-reef/salt%20water%20100710/favianew.jpg

Rescue 1 year later - 'Red/Green Favia' - May 2011 (Doubled since Oct 2010 with 40+ eyes)
http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz254/jc-reef/Salt%20Water%20-%201%20year%20pics%20072311/DSC_0396.jpg

-------

07/28/2011, 09:32 PM

OMygosh, I've been in this hobby approx. 15 yrs., & I've never read a thread so amazing as this one!! Everyone who has posted their "rescues".... WONDERFUL job, congratulations, & all my love to all of you! I feel newly inspired....I have a recent "rescue" that I was about to give up on. Not anymore. He's gonna get my undivided attention from now on, I just hope it's not too late.
A question about a bubble coral to anyone out there....it's one that I've had for several yrs., & some time back it was getting smaller, receding... I discovered it had a few little hydroids growing underneath it & stinging it. It has since made a very nice comeback but still has a large 1/2 of the skeleton that is very bony, & the tissue is not draping over it while it's full out in the day. Should I cut those ridges down & where does one get one of these "bone cutters"? Thanks & continued best of luck to all of you!! :)

schriss

07/29/2011, 12:50 AM

I wouldnt cut skeleton but its just me. Half of my euphyllia has been eaten few months ago, but I didn't cut anything and I can confirm that it started to cover the skeleton, but its very slow process.

LightTackle

07/29/2011, 07:39 PM

jc-reef. Any pointers on how you helped your favia come back to life? I have one that has lost most of its tissue except for around the eyes.

~RuSh~

08/01/2011, 02:58 PM

Mine are not really rescues as I bought these guys expecting them to be semi-healthy. But they were looking pretty rough when I got them.

Acans:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e108/xXGrEeNxTeRrOrXx/Saltwater/DSC_0157.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e108/xXGrEeNxTeRrOrXx/Saltwater/IMAG0258.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e108/xXGrEeNxTeRrOrXx/Saltwater/DSC_0158.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e108/xXGrEeNxTeRrOrXx/Saltwater/IMAG0257.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e108/xXGrEeNxTeRrOrXx/Saltwater/DSC_0159.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e108/xXGrEeNxTeRrOrXx/Saltwater/IMAG0262.jpg

jc-reef

08/01/2011, 06:04 PM

jc-reef. Any pointers on how you helped your favia come back to life? I have one that has lost most of its tissue except for around the eyes.

To be honest...if you have stable tank parmeters and try to feed occationally (I used at the time rods food and basted them during actinic photo period when I saw the feeding tentacles out). I fed more often in the first few months, then backed off as it grew. I think most LPS corals will benefit from direct feedings from meaty foods. Also mine seemed to like lower light; even partially shaded, and moderate flow.

Good luck with yours! Hope this helps a little.

Lady R

08/02/2011, 01:26 AM

Im glad that there are wonderful people who take there time to rescue these corals .I have always saw injured corals at the stores and wondered what happens to these corals that have excessive damage.I would like to thank-you for opening my eyes.Now when I see a coral in distress i will look at it in a different light . Please continue to pass on knowledge of the rescues so many more people will follow in your foot steps. A little TLC can go a long way... Who know maybe it small step to help save or ocean's...

ReefSafari

08/02/2011, 09:59 AM

Let me just say, this is probably by far my most favorite thread here on RC and ones like it, I recently just picked up (practically given to me) a hurtin small open brain coral, and am REALLY excited to try and save this, and restore it back to its full glory, I hope I can, but seeing these before and after pics, really gives me hope. I was going to wait to post a pic, but thought I would share my recent addition, not a good picture at all:hmm2:

The tissue is pretty badley receeded, but I am hoping it starts to fill out more, and recover...I too always passed up corals that didn't look very good, but its threads like this that have made me give them a second thought, Its a great challenge and gives a whole new perspective to reef keeping that I have not even thought about, The way I look at it is at least I tried, cuase often times they will continue to not do well, and at least in my tank, they can get special attention that they might not get in a large shop, like target fed, ect. And if I can't get it to bounce back, at least I tried, but if I can get it to recover and bounce back, its not just the fact I got a nice coral for dirt cheap or free, its the satisfaction of bringing that coral back from almost death to see it transfor into a beautiful peice of coral, all healthy and vibrant compaired to what it was, thats amazing.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a357/safaridave/Photo0418.jpg

Jarred1

08/02/2011, 08:00 PM

@Jarred - nice recovery! Has that front chip healed up now?

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q304/jayrome06/DSCF1218.jpg

rogersb

08/04/2011, 02:32 PM

I picked up several today from the $5 bin and one $20 scoly. The $5 ones were lobos. I've saved lobos before and am confident I can save these. This is my first scoly. The price tag has always held me back from getting one. I can afford to try to save one for $20. My camera is point and shoot and makes everything look super blue. It doesn't look like that in person. The skeleton is 3" across. What does everyone think? It ate a black worm or two before going in the tank.

MechEng99

08/09/2011, 09:21 AM

Hey all! I'm back! We just moved across the country (about 2000 miles), so I've been out of touch for a while. I moved all corals, fish, and live rock with only a few complete loses (thanks Delta for losing my boxes.) Right now a lot of my corals are back to being "rescues". Ugh. Oh well.

On the bright side, I now have a dedicated 50g system for rescuing dying/diseased corals AND fish. It's a 40g breeder with a 10g sump. I went with a breeder so I could reach everything easier...which makes me more likely to feed properly and give enough care. I didn't want to go any bigger yet since I figure a 40g tank filled with animals in need of lots of treatment may be a bit much.

I still have my QT and main display tank...but I'm just so excited to have a place where I know I can take in corals from anyone...and not have to turn them away due to space.

SaltwaterAdict - I'm sure there will be disagreements with me, but I don't believe most LPS need supplemental food for long-term success. However, I did go about a year and a half without fish, and I found the LPS did need some supplemental feeding. As long as you have a properly stocked tank with good lighting...and the LPS are healthy, they should stay healthy. If your LPS start bleaching, then start feeding ASAP.

540iz4 - I'm sure this response is too late. How's your coral looking now? A snail passing on/by a coral shouldn't cause any issues. What are your water parameters? How's that cynarina doing?

Melonz - Any photos of that scoly?

JC-Reef - Fantastic save! Gorgeous find as well. I'm sure you're extremely proud of that one.

TJ - One of my first "rescues" was a bubble coral. If there's ANY tissue on the skeleton...even if it doesn't inflate, just leave it alone. I found that the bubble corals can turn bits of tissue into full colonies similar to Fungia corals. However, if it is clear there is no tissue, and the healthy tissue is inflating over the dead skeleton, I would remove it. Bubble coral skeletons are very sharp and may cause rips in the healthy tissue if the flow is too much. You can get "bone cutters" through most reef stores/websites, but I prefer to go to Walmart and get the "in-grown toenail" cutters. They're pretty scary looking, and I can't imagine using them on my nails, but eh. They're the exact same thing that reef stores sell, but at a much cheaper cost.

SChriss - yes, you're right, corals will often regrow over dead skeleton, but I've found corals will regrow new tissue with new skeleton much faster than over dead skeleton. My theory is that old skeleton has so many ridges, that a flat smooth surface is easier to add deposits to.

~RuSh~ - very nice Acans!

LadyR - thanks for the encouragement!

ReefSafari - really hope you can save that little guy! He looks beautiful! It's hard to tell his exact condition from the photo, but with low flow and some feeding, you may have a beautiful piece! Keep us posted!

Jarred - wonderful!

rogersb - I think you have a winner there! I have a lot of hope for that one. The brown ring of algae-covered skeleton followed by an inner ring of white (freshly dead) skeleton makes me think that scoly was in a tank with poor water conditions. It looks like slow recession. The mouth still looks healthy & intact. With good water conditions, it should recover well on its own. If you can, I'd make a frozen food mixture blend of things the coral would naturally eat in the wild (like raw shrimp, scallops, clams, seaweed, etc). I've never fed black worms, so I can't say anything about them, but I do know my seafood mixture has really helped my corals recover.

IamLoki

08/09/2011, 07:54 PM

WOW! The will to live given a chance. Awesome recoveries by all of you. This is an inspirational thread.

telanni

10/02/2011, 09:16 PM

I bought a supposedly dead coral out of my lfs live rock tank but when I got it home I noticed a few mouths were still sending out tentacles. I've never had a coral before so I don't even know what kind it is :( I've frantically been looking around online to see if there's any way to save it because I hate to just sit around and watch it die.

I've attached two pics of it, one with my tank light on and one with it off. I apologize my digital camera's not working so I only have my webcam to take pics of it with and they don't turn out the best.

Jarred1

10/03/2011, 10:01 AM

I am having trouble with getting the open brain to get a bright green color in the center again. What could I do to get it to color up more? Right now it is under t5 bulbs; 3 blue plus and one aqua sun by uvl.

Sent using Tapatalk

MechEng99

10/04/2011, 09:38 PM

telanni - looks like what is commonly referred to as a "moon coral". Go back to the first page, and you'll see one of mine that looked like that to start with...and what it ended up being! Can you tell us more about your tank? We'll help you save it!!

Jarred1 - can you post an updated pic? Unfortunately some of our "rescue corals" are bleached when we get them, so they often have brighter-than-healthy colors. Typical things to lighten corals are increasing photo period (be careful not to bleach), and decrease nitrates/phosphates/organics.

Well, I just picked up another 5 rescues. Pics will be up this weekend!! I got an acanthaphyllia, a scolymia, a black sun coral, and two lobos. Very excited!! The 50g hospital system is up and running...and fully stocked on about every medication for corals/fish I can think of.

Keep the rescues coming!!!

MechEng99

10/04/2011, 09:40 PM

Jarred1

10/05/2011, 07:01 AM

Jarred - sorry, just thinking and looking back through the photos. Have you changed lighting? If you don't have any algae problems, you may want to think about dosing iron (can help with greens). If you have SPS, look at them for your colors. If they look right, then leave it all be. If your green SPS don't look too great, we can fix all your greens. :)

I have not changed anything in my tank recently. All the other green corals in the tank look just fine. There is bubble algae in the tank, so I began to run chemi pure elite. Could it be that when the coral bleached it lost the bright green color and can't get it back?

Sent using Tapatalk

MechEng99

10/05/2011, 08:23 PM

Jarred - To my knowledge, corals can't lose their color and not get it back. (Although I think there are some experiments...or should be...if all zooxanthallae is removed/killed and replaced with a different zooxanthallae...what will happen). Coral color and flourescence is pretty complicated, and I'm not even going to try to go down that road.

Maybe the "chemi-pure elite" is sucking out some of the iron in your tank, which is causing your coral to not have the coloration you desire. What are you feeding it? Sorry I don't have a good answer for you. I'll keep thinking about it.

MechEng99

10/05/2011, 09:03 PM

Here are the latest rescues!!

Acanthophyllia, purchased 1 October 2011:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0044.jpg

Scolymia, purchased 1 October 2011:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0004.jpg

Lobo...same date
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0020.jpg

Another lobo...same date
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0041.jpg

Black sun coral that actually started spawning in the treatment cup...same date:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0011.jpg

Annnnd...here's a nice before and now shot:

Before:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_0717.jpg

Now:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0035.jpg

nonstopfishies

10/05/2011, 09:18 PM

Wow, great looking Lobo all healed up! I hope the others do the same. I am pretty sure I am getting a "rescue pack" of acans from a dealer soon. So hopefully I will have some pics and be able to save some great pieces!

MechEng99

10/06/2011, 05:58 AM

Thanks!! Awesome - keep us posted! I've had some pretty bad looking acan's, but never a true full rescue on them. I'd love to see yours.

Jarred1

10/06/2011, 07:57 AM

I haven't been feeding it anything. Maybe I should start feeding it.

Sent using Tapatalk

MechEng99

10/06/2011, 02:24 PM

Jarred - I'll do some researching on it too. We'll figure something out. I know I'd want that bright green back too! :)

Bruno21447

10/06/2011, 03:43 PM

very cool you got those i hope you save them.I will have to keep a eye out for the after pics. :)

MechEng99

10/15/2011, 10:03 PM

Just an update, and this has me stumped.

The Acanthophyllia has lost half of its tissue (down to only one side now), but that side is coloring up quite nicely. Yet, it's still receding. I'm wondering if there will be a certain point where the zooxanthallae will reproduce to a point and produce enough sustainment for the coral to stop receding and start to heal...before it dies? The coral was so bleached and wouldn't eat that it's no wonder it is losing tissue. I just don't understand how it's losing tissue and coloring up at the same time. Ideas?

The other corals are doing great. The sun coral has a way to go, but that's typical with those.

Mike247

10/21/2011, 11:17 PM

this is my first rescue and one of my favorite corals. was a freebie from a local reefer. was receding pretty bad. took it a few days to eat, but after that it hasn't slowed down. it has 12+ babies now.

steevareno2002

10/22/2011, 07:30 AM

Wow nice! Did you feed it?

Mike247

10/22/2011, 09:52 AM

Wow nice! Did you feed it?

Yeah, i started feeding with H20 life coral mix, gulf shrimp and whatever fish i catch lol. my kids net the shrimp while i catch the fish. for the naysayers i do clean the fish/shrimp then rinse with r/o. all my corals like the h20 life great product.

dsmhero

01/25/2012, 07:55 PM

Instead of starting a new thread...I figure I will just add to this one

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/guitarhero14/saved1.jpg

This one I am still trying to save but it is looking better than before
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/guitarhero14/saved2.jpg

jc-reef

01/25/2012, 10:27 PM

ReefRescue

01/25/2012, 10:30 PM

Nice job on the frogspon JC-REEF....
DSMhero those are looking really good for only one month of recovery....

you guys should share what you are doing if anything to promote and speed up the recovery process....

dsmhero

01/25/2012, 10:38 PM

jc-reef: What a beautiful frogspawn, I am jealous.

ashkan: I just acclimate to my tank and dip with CoralRx, then spot feed once a week. Other than that, just good ol' fashion waiting.

ReefRescue

01/26/2012, 12:06 AM

Mike247 that's looking real good...

ReefRescue

01/26/2012, 12:07 AM

MechEng
what are you treating with for the sun coral?

ReefRescue

01/26/2012, 12:18 AM

wow I have been gone for as while these corals are looking good.....

Psirex

01/26/2012, 10:14 AM

Wow!!!

Mhayes462

01/29/2012, 01:07 PM

I bought this lobo yesterday and want to bring its health back up. I have it in the front of a biocube 29g under stock lighting and 20x1watt LEDs behind the stock bulbs. It sits under the 36watt 10000k. What should I do? Lighting, feeding or any other suggestions please. I figured this would be the best thread to post this. Thankshttp://img.tapatalk.com/63ba6f43-98fb-9d27.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/63ba6f43-9908-aaad.jpg

Mike Hayes

LeLutinBanni

01/30/2012, 11:02 AM

What kind of special treatment you give to those corals ?

Psirex

02/03/2012, 08:30 AM

I'm losing my Torch and Trumpets at wits end as to what could be causing it I have had all test verified with my LFS.... so if I move them to a QT setup what should I treat them with?

mc-cro

02/03/2012, 08:40 AM

what symptoms do they have? are they just receeding, brown jelly, no expansion?

In general, I would put them in very mild flow, moderate light, and feed them blender mush of sorts

Psirex

02/03/2012, 08:59 AM

what symptoms do they have? are they just receeding, brown jelly, no expansion?

In general, I would put them in very mild flow, moderate light, and feed them blender mush of sorts

On the Torch sections are turning to grey mush, Trumpets are receding to the point of show skeleton. I only have a my MJ1200 pro running right now. The full lights are only on for about 6hrs a day with full lights on its 20K of white is that too much?

mc-cro

02/03/2012, 10:06 AM

outlook does not look good.

you may try and frag off the dying parts and dip in revive or something. You need to verify all your parameters. I lost a large hammer to what I think was a nitrate problem. never found out for sure though

Psirex

02/03/2012, 10:52 AM

The nitrates were high but have since return to minimal levels (a 3/4 of total volumn water change over a 3 day period) after an anemone died my nitrates went through the roof! I will QT them and see how it goes... F#&K!

sjwitt

02/04/2012, 11:02 AM

So here's my rescue. What happened was we went on vacation back before I had ATO setup. When we got back, my bubble coral (near the top of the tank) looked worse than the first picture. There was nothing more than two dots of tissue left ... if that (I couldn't find a picture of that stage), evaporation had increased salinity and being near the top it was barely underwater and water temp was high. I very nearly threw it out but decided to wait a while and see.

The first picture is several months after disaster. I know it's really blurry but, the dark is the skeleton of the original coral. The small white area at a the top left is about what the two dots of tissue looked like. I decided to take a picture at this stage because the one area seemed to be coming back. That picture was taken at least 2 years ago.

The next pictures are what it looks like now. Took a long time to recover but it's now doing well and starting to grow at a faster pace.

Chrissypoo

02/04/2012, 06:53 PM

This is a very informative thread. I bookmarked it.

ritter6788

02/05/2012, 11:49 AM

They had this piece on the bottom of the tank with a chunk of liverock sitting on top of it. I had to give it a shot.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee283/ritter6788/IMG_0305.jpg

We are almost there!

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee283/ritter6788/IMG_9115.jpg

Before:
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee283/ritter6788/IMG_0149.jpg

After:
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee283/ritter6788/IMG_0335.jpg

Recent update. This may be my favorite coral in the tank. Makes it even better it was a rescue. Really glows under my leds.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee283/ritter6788/IMG_0606.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee283/ritter6788/IMG_0472-1.jpg

MechEng99

03/03/2012, 10:25 PM

Wow...sorry everyone! This thread took off again, and I had no idea!

Mike247 - Whoa...that's crazy! Absolutely awesome save!

dsmhero - Love that chalice, and that acan looked great pretty quickly!

JC - Thanks for keeping the thread updated with pics! That frogspawn has turned into quite the gem!

Ashkan - Unfortunately I lost the black sun coral in a power outage. I was feeding it my homemade seafood/algae blend. (Basically pappone with whatever else I have lying around.)

MHayes - That's a great rescue there! Overall it looks mostly healthy, and it should recover quickly with a bit of TLC. Keep it in lower lighting like it looks like you have it (sandbed is best). Since it's bleaching, it's loosing its major source of food. I would spot feed it every couple days until it recovers more.

sjwitt - Sorry to hear about your bubble disaster, but now I can't even tell.

Ritter - that first coral is amazing!! Great save!! Those acans colored up nicely as well!

Psirex - It's hard to say without tank parameters and photos. Please post up your chem levels (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, salinity, temp, alk, mag, ca, and phosphate.) I'd also post pics of the corals, pics of the tank, etc. (May be best to start a new thread if you haven't already so you have dedicated attention to your problem.)

MechEng99

03/03/2012, 10:35 PM

Sooo...I've been busy rescuing too. I had a few failures, but I also had a lot of success. Here are my latest & greatest:

1/8/2012
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0054.jpg

2/6/2012 (Ok, this looks ugly, but I promise it's purple and green in person)
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0026-3.jpg

1/8/2012
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0092.jpg

1/10/2012 (Yup...just needed cleaning up!)
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0039-1.jpg

12/28/2011
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0004-1.jpg

2/6/2012
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0047.jpg

1/8/2012
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0050.jpg

1/10/2012
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0020-1.jpg

nellecat

03/04/2012, 10:58 AM

Hey picked this brain coral up from my LFS. What should I do to keep it going? Need some help guys. I really want this one!
Thanks

greech

03/04/2012, 11:18 AM

Low light, low flow and target feed it mysis shrimp and other small meaty foods as often as it will take it. Night time may be the best time to start feeding if it doesn't show feeders during the day.

MechEng99

03/04/2012, 11:33 AM

nellecat - First off, I'd start with a good coral dip. I prefer CoralRx. The algae-covered skeleton makes me think the damage to it is rather old, so it may have stabilized. I'm concerned as I see your signature, "im a noob". Rescue corals will do best in a stable, mature aquarium. Fluctuating parameters as in new aquariums may be too much for a stressed coral. Not saying it won't work...just cautioning you. If you *really want this one*, you have a better chance...passion definitely helps!

I would place it in low light and low flow (as previously mentioned). Also, it looks slightly bleached (or the white balance may be off), so it'll need some supplemental feeding. Turn off the flow about an hour after the lights go out. Place a couple pellets of sinking fish food on its mouth (don't force it in). If it doesn't react to the food after about 30 minutes, blow the food off and turn the flow back on. Repeat daily until it is regularly extending its tentacles in anticipation.

On the first couple pages of this thread there's a decent bit of information on general "rescue coral" care. I also have a personal blog that you can find if you search for rescuing dying coral blog that details how I saved several.

nellecat

03/04/2012, 01:41 PM

Well it was a joke. I started awhile back, I have a fairly good grip on what I'm doing and everything else in my aquarium looks good. I appreciate all the help and suppport, it is in the back of the tank and low flow and light. I trimmed away most of the big parts that were dead. I dipped it in coralrx when I purchased it. I haven't seen any feeder tentacles out during the day or at night. I will try the sinking pellet idea. Any brand names or types I should go buy?

MechEng99

03/04/2012, 05:46 PM

Ah, ok...good to hear! I just saw the signature quote and a join date of Jan 2012...sorry!

In my experience, Formula Two gets the quickest feeding response, followed by Spectrum. I have not had good luck with the Fauna Marin pellet food. I'm not saying any of these are better for the corals...simply that the Formula Two seems to excite the corals more. I'd try whatever fish food you have on hand though (if you have the sinking pellets). Most will work just fine. Keep us posted how that goes!

frankiep

03/04/2012, 08:40 PM

Love this thread

Mhayes462

03/06/2012, 08:26 PM

I really need help with my lobo, fast! I posted on here when I first bought it. It was really bleached but all the flesh was still in really good shape. I feed it about 3 times a week and it eats really well. It's usually fluffed up and happy. I got home today and found this brown spot on it. There was a little dust on the sand around the spot below it. I moved it to take a better pic and that's why it's receded. The first picture is the opposite side of where the spot is and has color on that side. Could it be brown jelly disease? What should I do to prevent it from spreading? Any help would be great. I don't want to lose it!http://img.tapatalk.com/443347ba-c707-38dd.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/443347ba-c74a-0731.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/443347ba-c755-3ba2.jpg

Mike Hayes

MechEng99

03/06/2012, 08:43 PM

That doesn't look like brown jelly...the third pic looks more like some cyano on it. The "dust" on the sandbed makes me think cyano as well. Does it blow off? Can you get closer photos?

Make sure you're feeding each polyp/mouth. With its condition, I'd be feeding it 2x per day in each mouth. With that much bleaching the coral isn't going to get enough energy from its zooxanthallae most likely. If it is actively eating, I'd go to some blended seafood mixed food (like Rod's or whatever).

Mhayes462

03/06/2012, 08:55 PM

I don't have cyano anywhere else. I have 5 other lps and they are all very healthy. Would cyano actually turn the flesh brown and affect it? What should I do? As far as the bleaching, what are your suggestions? I have a nice rock overhang I could put it under if you think it needs more shade. My params are good: ammonia, nitrites, nitrates 0, phosphates >.25, calcium 430, alk 10.9 dkh, iodine .05. I have a 36w 10k pc, 36w actinic pc, and a marineland 21x1w led fixture. Thanks for the help

Mike Hayes

MechEng99

03/06/2012, 10:35 PM

Dying corals release a lot of dying matter...that eventually fuels cyano. It's very common for my hospital tank to fill up with cyano after getting a new batch of rescues. Once they heal, the cyano goes away. This could be the case with yours, or the extra food you're feeding it could be causing an issue (or even the coral itself could cause a dead spot in flow enough for cyano to start up.)

Like I asked...are you able to blow it off? It does not look like brown jelly. Your phosphates are a bit high - I try to keep mine around 0.03. It probably doesn't need more shade with your lights...just needs time. Relax. Give it some time, and don't bother it other than with feedings. As you'll see in the previous pages, most rescues take over a month to start showing signs of health again.

This is what brown jelly looks like (I know there are better photos), and last I read, "brown jelly disease" hasn't been conclusively proven to actually be a disease.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/101_0588.jpg

Mhayes462

03/07/2012, 05:09 AM

A tiny bit blew off, but it's almost as if the flesh is bruised. It's the actual flesh that is brown in that spot. It did stay intact when I blew on it though. I'm not sure on my phosphates as I need a better kit. The kit reads 0 then the next color is .25. I don't believe it is that high though. I have a fuge with chaeto, I vodka dose, and I ran gfo for a day without it going down to 0. So I think I need a new test kit. Thanks for your help.

Mike Hayes

MechEng99

03/07/2012, 06:36 AM

Gotcha. Could it be that some of the zooxanthallae is repopulating the coral in that spot? I know some of my rescues if they are severely bleached get a bit brown nasty looking in a few spots before they fully color back up.

Brown jelly will jiggle if you blow on it, and some may slide off the coral. Cyano should blow off the coral. If whatever it is stays intact, wait on it to see what it does. Within a week you should be able to tell. If it's cyano, it'll go away or get worse. If it's brown jelly, the coral will be quickly declining, and if it's zooxanthallae repopulating, you should start to see that elsewhere on the coral.

If you get desperate, have someone with an Inland bandsaw cut that polyp off and house that polyp in a QT tank.

Mhayes462

03/10/2012, 03:50 PM

Here is an updated pic. It hasn't gotten any worse, but the flesh in that spot is exposing skeleton. I think it was cyano. It would be a little stringy and I siphoned it and blew it off. Don't know why on just this one coral and spot. On the bright side, I think it is starting to color up more though. Just have to let it heal on this spot.
http://img.tapatalk.com/443347ba-ccba-f973.jpg

FroMan

03/10/2012, 05:59 PM

Nice work everyone!

MechEng99

03/11/2012, 12:12 AM

Wow, whatever you are feeding it, I'd double it. That coral needs some serious food, fast, or it won't last.

sevr

03/11/2012, 11:34 AM

虽然相机不太好。但是生物还是很漂亮的！

MechEng99

03/13/2012, 09:11 PM

虽然相机不太好。但是生物还是很漂亮的！

FYI, the above says (according to online translator), "Although the camera is not very good. But bio is very nice"

Justin74

03/17/2012, 07:22 PM

Hey Mike, if it's still alive, get it out of the light! Shouldve been shaded at least partially right from the start IMO. Light is almost always last on the list of a bleached corals priorities when being introduced to a new system. 1st, water chemistry and nutrition. Once you get its health back, then see what intensity of light it prefers.

-Justin

Mhayes462

03/17/2012, 08:49 PM

Ok thanks. I will try shading it and see what happens

Mike Hayes

gemini aquarius(t)

03/17/2012, 09:00 PM

Just got a couple of rescues. Two acans that only were showing a tiny bit of tissue, but didnt make it 24 hours unfortunately, and I got a pink LPS that was as close as I would have allowed for a chance at survival, but I have been feeding it a lot and it looks like it is doing better. I only have really crappy pics so far though.

This was right when I got her
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c368/reefgeek/c52df92c.jpg

gemini aquarius(t)

03/23/2012, 12:39 PM

Update from last night
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c368/reefgeek/d690acd3.jpg

JDT Reef

03/23/2012, 07:17 PM

Gemini..That LPS should make it, especially if the tissue is expanding during the day. If it has a base to it, I would prop it upright so the polyp is not against the gravel.

mess7777

03/31/2012, 01:02 PM

great thread!

I hope to rescue a few euphyllias....from myself!! I have some that have bleached and receded pretty bad. Looking for a comeback!

For now, here is the pagoda that came with my tank when i bought it....i didn't even know it was alive!

BEFORE - 03/24/2011
http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb464/mess7777/coral2.jpg

MOVE FORWARD - 08/10/11 - still looks like this today
http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb464/mess7777/New%2090g/IMG_9632.jpg

Psirex

03/31/2012, 01:50 PM

To the OP what are some of the techniques you use? I have a trach that is not doing so good....

MechEng99

03/31/2012, 10:55 PM

To the OP what are some of the techniques you use? I have a trach that is not doing so good....

There are several long posts on the first page or two that outline what all I do. Trachs are usually pretty easy in my experience (I've rescued several), but it depends on what caused their trauma. If it started not doing well in your own tank, then you'll need to look at your water parameters.

discol76

04/01/2012, 07:38 AM

I know its been said many times but i too felt i had to congratulate you on a fantastic thread. I think in the future i too will try to rescue a sorry looking coral using your advice instead of leaving it to rot. I dont like encouraging shops to stock corals if they cant look after their needs but what else can you do apart from not buying from them. Anyway well done fantastic job!!!

catfish

04/01/2012, 10:24 AM

I like it. Not for me, but keep up the good work.

tritonman

04/01/2012, 09:44 PM

Just read through, great thread. I've had a few LPS struggles, primarily on my old LED tank. Fragging the healthy section, followed by quick dips in Iodine and Revive saved 4 of the 6. Also, little feedings of mysis in the days after. Haven't had any problems in my new T5 tank, but would follow the same steps if need be.

MechEng99

04/10/2012, 05:10 PM

Has anyone tried using Interceptor on any of the Acanthastreas coming in that are dying? I was reading a few threads about this, and I was wondering if any of our "rescuers" had used it to success.

MechEng99

04/12/2012, 09:37 PM

Alright...what do you all think I should do with this one? I know it's not going to survive as a full colony. But, I'm hoping it'll sprout off some babies. Anyone want to vote?

1. Let it be and hope it works out.

2. Flip it over into the sand (the bottom side has good tissue).

3. Score it across the top.

4. Cut the coral in half. Flip one part over on the sand and let the other part be.

5. Other?

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/Reef-d_Up/Aquarium/Corals/Rescues/IMG_0005-2.jpg

ritter6788

04/12/2012, 09:44 PM

I vote #1 and hope for anthocauli. You could cut it in half and try an experiment with each half too. If it's going to sprout babies a frag will work too.

Mhayes462

04/27/2012, 06:37 PM

My new acquisitions. Two scollys and a blasto colony. Someone poisoned Premium Aquatics tanks a week ago and I picked these three up for $25 when I went in today. I'm fairly sure the blasto will pull through, but REALLY hope the scollys will also cause I saw them when they were healthy and they were amazing. I did a lugols dip on them and have them in the qt. Any suggestions?http://img.tapatalk.com/443347ba-3c01-67fd.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/443347ba-3c0c-7871.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/443347ba-3c14-d0ca.jpg

Mike Hayes

Mhayes462

04/27/2012, 06:45 PM

A couple more picshttp://img.tapatalk.com/443347ba-3d95-08ad.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/443347ba-3da1-2b12.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/443347ba-3dac-628e.jpg

Mike Hayes

tritonman

04/27/2012, 09:08 PM

Man, those scolly's are in bad shape. They'd be an amazing save.

Agreed,the blastos should be fine.

MechEng99

04/28/2012, 10:07 PM

Ugggh! I can't believe someone poisoned PA's tanks! They always had really nice stuff.

Nice blasto! Looks like it's doing much better already! Those scolys look really, really bad, but I've seen worse pull through. Are they reacting at all...to anything? If you touch them gently, do they retract? Any feeding response? Any tissue blowing off? The best thing you can do is what you've already done - get them out of the poisoned tank (and btw, good on you for helping save these guys!) What poison was it (assume bleach?) If not, keep an eye on your other corals in case your rescues start releasing some of the poison. Keep that shrimp and crabs away from them...they'll pick at the dead tissue and usually end up damaging the good tissue too (like peeling a blister.)

Mhayes462

04/29/2012, 08:29 AM

I couldn't believe it either! I went in and their first three tanks where they keep most of their lps was empty. They didn't get the sps tank though! Scott said they think it was aspirin. I don't know why they think that. The guy said he was given bad advice from them that killed all his stuff. The scollys do eat. The bigger ones mouth stays open a lot but somehow takes the food in to where I can't see it anymore. The smaller one eats and closes its mouth. If I can save at least one scolly I'd be really happy. I have them in my qt tank, so no other corals. The shrimp doesnt bother them at all but I'll keep an eye on him. How often do you think I should feed them? What about light? I have them in a basic 10gal Walmart setup with a hood that has either a 15or 25watt incandescent bulb and I also have a little bubble wand led light in there. Is it too much, not enough, or good enough on the light? Should I trim any skeleton or wait until they're more healthy? Thanks for the advice.

Mike Hayes

MechEng99

04/29/2012, 10:19 AM

Huh...aspirin? That's an odd choice. Maybe the coral-killer thought he was being ironic - using headache medicine to cause a headache....

I wouldn't touch the skeletons until they are much, much more healthy. I'm so glad to hear they are reacting. Usually once they quit reacting, that's it. I'd feed once every 3 days or so. They aren't bleached, so they don't need daily feeding. However, I wouldn't feed too often since they're in a QT system. The lighting is probably ok, but I'd only go a month using it. But, by that point, they should be healthy enough to move.

I'd run carbon if you aren't already...hopefully it'll help process out any remaining poison.

Man...wish I was there to try to help them out. :-/