Rescue Corals

[NanoLover]

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.

[capt85]

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



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.

[MechEng99]

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]

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.

[MechEng99]

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]

Originally Posted by MechEng99

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.

[MechEng99]

Sully - how's that Acan doing?

Anyone else have any updated photos?

[SaltwaterAdict]

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]

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]

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

[melonz]

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

will post some pics when i get the chance

[jc-reef]

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)


Rescue Now - 'Red/Green Favia' - October 2010 (Doing well and grown to about 20+ eyes)


Rescue 1 year later - 'Red/Green Favia' - May 2011 (Doubled since Oct 2010 with 40+ eyes)


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[TJ]

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]

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]

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~]

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:

[jc-reef]

Originally Posted by LightTackle

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]

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]

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

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.

[Jarred1]

Originally Posted by MechEng99

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

[rogersb]

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]

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]

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

[telanni]

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]

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.


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