clove polyps

[blood_hound]

My clove polyps has ot open for 3 days now, is it safe to assume that its already dead so I can remove it from my tank?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

No leave them. Or pull them out & do the smell test. If it stinks then its dead. Soft corals have a habit of looking dead & not opening for several days, sometimes weeks but still being alive. Had a toadstool that wouldn't open & drooped down like a piece of poop but its now alive & looking healthy again. Anthelia & other polyp type softies will do the same.

Anthony

[blood_hound]

Ok I'll just live it there for couple of days more and if it not open yet I'll do the smell thing

[medic_eva]

i have some that only open about once every week or two, they are still alive, but they just dont like being perky. i was ready to give them away, and then yesterday after 3 weeks of not looking good, they got all fat and perky again. stupid cloves.

[Delphinus]

They're not dead until they're physically gone (i.e., not there). So don't chuck 'em ... although you may want to try seeing what it is that is making them fussy. Water quality, water current (too much or too little), lighting, or some kind of daytime/nighttime fluctuation that might be too much (temperature, pH, or something).

[Petcrazy]

Same thing here, I had a massive rock coated in polyps that stayed closed for what seemed like ages. I thought they were goners...then one day I walked up to the tank and they were open. They've been fine since...
I guess they didn't like the changes I did to the tank before that and had to adjust.... -shrugs-
It's all good now.

[Beverly]

blood_hound,

Don't know how much of a factor alkalinity, calcium and magnesium levels affect clove polyps, but you might want to test your tank for these important reef chemistry components.