Viagra for Soft Corals

[Scavenger]

Last weekend, I fragged off a stem of my colt coral for a friend. Since then, the poor colt has been sickly, he still expands and contracts with day/night cycle, but not near up to previous levels and base and stems are shriveled and wrinkled. It has no strength to stand upright either expanded or contracted. Is there any way of helping him through this tough time. I was wondering if a change in current or lighting would help. Maybe some phytoplanton?? Any ideas would be appreciated.

[BCOrchidGuy]

Scavenger, I've never fragged a coral myself but I just read in Marine Fish and Reef magazine about the problem you're having. I hope this helps.
"Soft corals, especially the colt coral (Kylxum sp.) and some genera in the family Nephtheidae that are "soft" and lack sclerite support, tend to collapse. The effect is like that of a fallen tree or wilted deciduous herb. ALthough in some cases the colony may become turgid and erect again, in most cases , the "deflation" of tissue is irreversible, and the colony rapidly deteriorates. Aquarist propagation can also cause this condition. Soft corals have large "Canals" with in the colony (called solenia) that are responsible for water flwo throughout the colony. Cutting opens these "biologically gated" canals, imparing the ability of the colony to hold water"
"Cut or broken colonies should be placed so that the damaged area is exposed to high water flow until healed. Damaged tissue should never be "planted" so that it contacts substrate or has reduced water flow. Alternately, super glue can be used to apply an "adhesive bandage" that seals the cut edges of the tissue."

Hope that's some help to you, I didn't think cutting a colt would be that bad.

Doug

[EmilyB]

That's very common for a colt frag. Try to get a bit more flow on it and some rubble around it while it recovers.

[Scavenger]

Thanks!! Used super glue on wound and icreased flow. 15 minutes later, visible improvement. Just another example of LFS advise. "Just snip it, it'll be fine."

[BCOrchidGuy]

excellent news, I'll take a frag too then...(just kidding)

Doug

[Scavenger]

Originally Posted by BCOrchidGuy

excellent news, I'll take a frag too then...(just kidding)

Doug

Reminds me of a old movie scene;

medic: "I've stabalized this soldiers wounds, but I'm afraid he'll loose use of both his legs."

commanding officer: "That's fine, just have him ready to storm that hill in 20 minutes."

[MitchM]

You can expect the coral to do poorly for a couple of weeks.
It will be releasing toxins into the water as well, so put some carbon somewhere in the system.

Mitch

[Scavenger]

Carbon, great idea! It might help with the slight cloudyness I've had for a bit too. Mostly due to free floating alae I suspect, as it is worst at mid day cycle.