advice needed on red montipora

[stevieduk]

Hi , i have for a few months,a large frag of red branching montipora which until last nite was at the back of my tank.
when turning the lights down to blues i noticed a white speck on it slowly moving, and to cut a story short , yes it was bugs eating it, but they,(i found tw0) had been eating the back side which i could not see and were now moving round to the front.
So anyway, the frag is about four inches tall, and has three branches on it, one central and a left and right one. All these only have polyps on one side now, so i was wondering should i put it back to where it was in the tank , upright, or would it be worth trying it laying down so the branches are horizontal to see if each branch shoots a new vertical branch.
Has anyone tried this

 

[justjes45]

Hi , i have for a few months,a large frag of red branching montipora which until last nite was at the back of my tank.
when turning the lights down to blues i noticed a white speck on it slowly moving, and to cut a story short , yes it was bugs eating it, but they,(i found tw0) had been eating the back side which i could not see and were now moving round to the front.
So anyway, the frag is about four inches tall, and has three branches on it, one central and a left and right one. All these only have polyps on one side now, so i was wondering should i put it back to where it was in the tank , upright, or would it be worth trying it laying down so the branches are horizontal to see if each branch shoots a new vertical branch.
Has anyone tried this

Following to see what the answer is...[emoji5]

 

[Flippers4pups]

Hi , i have for a few months,a large frag of red branching montipora which until last nite was at the back of my tank.
when turning the lights down to blues i noticed a white speck on it slowly moving, and to cut a story short , yes it was bugs eating it, but they,(i found tw0) had been eating the back side which i could not see and were now moving round to the front.
So anyway, the frag is about four inches tall, and has three branches on it, one central and a left and right one. All these only have polyps on one side now, so i was wondering should i put it back to where it was in the tank , upright, or would it be worth trying it laying down so the branches are horizontal to see if each branch shoots a new vertical branch.
Has anyone tried this

You need to dip the frag to remove the "bugs", otherwise they will continue to eradicate the coral, regardless of position it's placed.

 

[bobbyM]

Photo?

 

[Billdogg]

Digitata I presume?

Yes to dipping it. I prefer Bayer for that little job. And yes, if you put it back in with a different orientation it will grow new branches. I like to frag mine and then glue the branches to plugs horizontally so that there is more branching growth.

 

[bobbyM]

You will want to cut away the dying part. Probably the entire base of the coral.

 

[RobZilla04]

Do you have the ability to set up a quick QT / Hospital tank for it? Dipping is the right first step, observing over a period of time is the second.

Placing back into the tank in the same place & orientation under close observation would be my recommendation if you cannot setup another small tank for it.