Favia has holes

[Jennduhh]

Back again with another silly question. I put a new favia in the tank about a week ago & just noticed holes today that I've never seen before. Is this bad? Or is it basically just the "mouth" like other corals have & I just didn't notice them before? Lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

Back again with another silly question. I put a new favia in the tank about a week ago & just noticed holes today that I've never seen before. Is this bad? Or is it basically just the "mouth" like other corals have & I just didn't notice them before? Lol

Keep an eye on this as it may be coral boring worms or from what I believe are tunicates. You can also dip to assure any pasts are addressed. I use CoralRX

 

[Silexx]

yes they have mouths, even tentacles inside that mouth. They can be open while eating, trying to eat, or during excretion. At night try to take a peak at them and see if theyre extended. Also things like a shrimp/hermit could end up picking at its mouth(for the food), and sometimes sand can be stressing around the mouth, both can be damaging. Id just watch it and Let it be aside from a dip possibly, I use Polyp lab primer, its pretty gentle on corals.

 

[vetteguy53081]

yes they have mouths, even tentacles inside that mouth. They can be open while eating, trying to eat, or during excretion. At night try to take a peak at them and see if theyre extended. Also things like a shrimp/hermit could end up picking at its mouth(for the food), and sometimes sand can be stressing around the mouth, both can be damaging. Id just watch it and Let it be aside from a dip possibly, I use Polyp lab primer, its pretty gentle on corals.

May then be coral boring spinoid. A video here may be helpful

 

[encrustingacro]

The black inside makes me think some sort of boring (as in bore into) animal. That's a Paragoniastrea, not a Favia btw.

yes they have mouths, even tentacles inside that mouth.

Tentacles are on the periphery of the oral disc, not inside the mouth. Mesenterial filaments are in the mouth.

 

[VintageReefer]

On this one that bottom right polyp shows the mouth

 

[VintageReefer]

Just looked now and had perfect photo opportunity

 

[Silexx]

are filaments not a type of tentacle? or only known as a extension of the stomach lining

 

[Jennduhh]

yes they have mouths, even tentacles inside that mouth. They can be open while eating, trying to eat, or during excretion. At night try to take a peak at them and see if theyre extended. Also things like a shrimp/hermit could end up picking at its mouth(for the food), and sometimes sand can be stressing around the mouth, both can be damaging. Id just watch it and Let it be aside from a dip possibly, I use Polyp lab primer, its pretty gentle on corals.

I have seen its tentacles extended, but the holes caught me off guard lol
I do have 2 red hermits & an emerald, but theyre well fed & I haven't yet caught any of them picking at any of the corals. The sea hare seems to be the only one that explores the corals & he doesn't really eat them, more or less just bulldozes over them like a bull in a china shop. Lol

 

[Jennduhh]

Just looked now and had perfect photo opportunity

Look at the little tiny baby star

 

[Jennduhh]

The black inside makes me think some sort of boring (as in bore into) animal. That's a Paragoniastrea, not a Favia btw.

Tentacles are on the periphery of the oral disc, not inside the mouth. Mesenterial filaments are in the mouth.

Thank you for that. Riptide aquatics(or it may have been Corals Anonymous, idr) had it labeled as a favia & I'm still learning all the different corals.

 

[Jennduhh]

The black inside makes me think some sort of boring (as in bore into) animal. That's a Paragoniastrea, not a Favia btw.

Tentacles are on the periphery of the oral disc, not inside the mouth. Mesenterial filaments are in the mouth.

Oh, also, I've been checking daily & have only seen the holes once more which really has me thrown off lol Its almost like they come & go.
That being said, it was dipped when I first received it, before adding it to the tank, in Seachems Reef Dip. That would've killed off any hangers-on, right?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

are filaments not a type of tentacle? or only known as a extension of the stomach lining

They're not technically a tentacle - technically they're basically just an extension of the stomach lining - but they're basically used like specialized feeding tentacles. They also have a tendency to show up outside of the coral when the coral is doing poorly though.

 

[Silexx]

They're not technically a tentacle - technically they're basically just an extension of the stomach lining - but they're basically used like specialized feeding tentacles. They also have a tendency to show up outside of the coral when the coral is doing poorly though.

somewhat of a grey area based solely on the definition, I think. Definitely better just using the scientific name from now on I guess