Colony Not Expanding Lite Fungus Growth

[ReeferHead84]

I have been all over the web searching for a cure or at least a diagnosis of this problem. I came to a light weight conclusion, I suck at keeping coral LOL... I brought these frags home about 2 1/2 weeks ago.They did fine the first day, within minutes of placing them in my tank, I noticed the large frag responding to my 150W MH normally. They opened partially, which I believe is normal for the first couple days. The other frag which happens to be a hard to get species did not open until after lights out, under moonlighting. I'm happy and kinda proud of myself at this point, my first frags in my first saltwater tank after hours of internet drooling I have a tank I can call my own. The euphoria didn't last long.

I was told by my lfs to move the frags up 1 inch every day and if they close, to move them down. I did as I was told, moving 1 maybe 3 inches to towards my ideal spot. Not a good move. They closed up so I moved them back down. They have not opened since. I think this is whats causing the fungus growth. Well I'm hoping these 2 pictures are helpful. I have faith in the vast RC community. Happy Holidays!

Notice the mouths are exposed, light brown fungus growing
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k620/reeferhead84/th_photo.png (http://s1118.photobucket.com/albums/k620/reeferhead84/?action=view&current=photo.png)

Notice no exposed mouth.
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k620/reeferhead84/th_photo1.png (http://s1118.photobucket.com/albums/k620/reeferhead84/?action=view&current=photo1.png)

[A. Grandis]

Did you dip prior to add to your system?
I would dip now with iodine based dipping and put them right back.
The less you play with them the better for you. They may take a while to get better.
Try to raise the MH pendant for now or place them on the shade for a week or so.
To slow acclimate the colonies/frags is crucial for the adaptation to the new environment. Not an inch per day with MH! That is true for light and water chemistry. Specially when they come from T5s to MH, if that's the case.
Not too bad though.
Let's see what others will post about this.

Good luck and Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Grandis.

[heckeng]

Sounds like burning from the light in my opinion. I have done this unfortunately many times as well.

PUt them low in the tank, and raise your light if possible. I believe the light brown stuff is not an issue on your zoas--pretty normal but it can turn into a problem. I think some is diatomacious brown algae--no big deal, but if your zoas are burned, you may get a "film" of the stuff grow over the top of the polyps which I think is similar to us shedding skin when we get sunburned. The algae will grow with and on top of the burned skin too. what I do is once I see the film form, I wiggle my finger close to the polyp heads moving slowly closer until the film comes off. But, if there is still too much light, they will just continue to stay shut and burn over again. I have had some species that are difficult to get back after burning, but some spring right back. Sometimes you will see the polyps shed the film on their own and push it out of the way.

On a side note, I think many of the suppliers and stores that carry corals do not use enough light so the coral gets used to low light conditions and then get put in a tank with good light but get shocked. I have ordered corals from some online retailers who say they use 400w mh bulbs, which sounds like a lot, but what we don't know is how high they are or how many there are per foot of tank etc. Acclimation is huge with new corals, and I would say one of the hardest parts of general salt aquarium keeping. I use the practice of putting all new corals as low as possible and once I know they are happy on the bottom of the tank--at least a week or two of being happy, I will start experimenting with them higher in the tank.

[ReeferHead84]

Thank you guys to the priceless information. Just a couple days before I was frustrated at keeping these corals, but now I am making sense of this hobby. The corals are coming around, although not fully expanding. I am expecting a full recovery in a week or two.

I acclimated too quickly, causing them to close from the light intensity. Im thinking it's an extreme case of " light-shock" , the polyps had sunburn! I quickly placed them in a dark area away from direct lighting. I figured the light reflecting off the sand bed and rocks would be enough to keep them alive. It was sort of like an " I C U" . I cut the lighting buy a few hours and I resisted sticking my hands in the tank for two days, it felt like a week!

This morning I moved the large colony to a little brighter area, but still away from direct light. They are getting healthy. There skin is a deeper color and I noticed brighter green mouths. I'll keep them here until I see full extension. The smaller Frag doesn't show signs of decreasing health. I would say they are stable.

The mouth of most polyps ( large frag ) are open, just a little. Are they hungry? Well thanks again. I expect a full turnaround soon. Patience is a virtue in this game.

[heckeng]

You don't need to worry about feeding them, I would probably not advise it until you have a little better handle on the tank. If you feed too much, the nitrates and phosphates can get out of whack and cause coral health and algae issues. If the mouths are opening, that means they are on the road back to recovery. The sunburned tissue has either been shed or it wasn't bad enough to actually burn them, just make them mad! Nice job on recognizing it soon enough to save them, you did the exact right thing! Wish I could say the same for those of mine that I have burnt!