How long does it take to kill coral?

[rcpalmer1]

When I setup my tank I just wanted as many cool looking corals as I could afford. Now a couple years later my poor placement is catching up with me. I lost three corals this month due to reef wars. The main ones I want gone are some echinatas and a cactus coral. Luckily they are on an arch. So I removed what I could. Then I wrapped the rest with some black plastic and zip tied it down. This will remove all light and water flow. Does anyone have an idea about how long it will take for them to die?

 

[ScottR]

When I setup my tank I just wanted as many cool looking corals as I could afford. Now a couple years later my poor placement is catching up with me. I lost three corals this month due to reef wars. The main ones I want gone are some echinatas and a cactus coral. Luckily they are on an arch. So I removed what I could. Then I wrapped the rest with some black plastic and zip tied it down. This will remove all light and water flow. Does anyone have an idea about how long it will take for them to die?

That’s a good question. Please update. I would guess a matter of day more than hours. I had a zoa frag fall behind some rocks face down. And was there for a couple weeks. It opened back up a week later. But I’m zoas are more forgiving than an acan is. Can’t you just cut the cactus?

 

[ReeferBud]

When I setup my tank I just wanted as many cool looking corals as I could afford. Now a couple years later my poor placement is catching up with me. I lost three corals this month due to reef wars. The main ones I want gone are some echinatas and a cactus coral. Luckily they are on an arch. So I removed what I could. Then I wrapped the rest with some black plastic and zip tied it down. This will remove all light and water flow. Does anyone have an idea about how long it will take for them to die?

Why kill your corals?!?!?

If you don’t want them anymore I’m sure there’s another reefer in your area that would be thrilled to have them. I know I would... Heck, you could even take them to your nearest LFS and get credit for them.

These are living animals after all. You probably wouldn’t decide (I hope) you didn’t want your dog anymore and just put it in a plastic bag and wait for it to die.

Corals dyeing is an inevitable part of our hobby sometimes and I’ve lost more corals than I care to admit to but I would never just intentionally kill a coral because I didn’t want it anymore.

 

[tupes]

When I setup my tank I just wanted as many cool looking corals as I could afford. Now a couple years later my poor placement is catching up with me. I lost three corals this month due to reef wars. The main ones I want gone are some echinatas and a cactus coral. Luckily they are on an arch. So I removed what I could. Then I wrapped the rest with some black plastic and zip tied it down. This will remove all light and water flow. Does anyone have an idea about how long it will take for them to die?

Im sorry but this is very poor practice. People already dont like the Fact that we keep corals and fish in tanks, and that we dont let them live in the wild much less. now you are talking about purposely killing living creatures/animal being the coral because you no longer want it. Give it away to somebody else that would love to have it.

 

[andyg1960]

There are so many better options than killing them. In my opinion you’ve picked the worst possible option

 

[Cell]

Next time do the right thing and eat the cost if the rock if you cant remove the life from it.

 

[SallyWho]

Yo, dude, this ain't it. Instead of killing them just because they inconvenienced you, give them away or sell them. It costs nothing to post an ad on Craigslist or the FB Marketplace, search for a local reefing club and offer them up, or you can ask your LFS if they can take them off your hands.

 

[Xam]

Perhaps they are difficult to remove? I bet if you post some pictures, and ask how to remove, you'd get some super helpful advice

 

[rcpalmer1]

This forum has always been positive. I really wasn't expecting this kind response. So far a bunch of people with no clue have been posting nothing useful. So I will try to be respectful and explain why nothing that has been said pertains to the situation. I cannot just remove the rock because this was one of the large carib sea arches. tThat is one rock. It has encrusting corals on it which means that even if I was to try to offer this to somebody on Craigslist or Marketplace they would still have one rock with multiple Corals that can't be removed and that will kill each other. So even if I do nothing corals are going to die.I have removed pieces the corals and placed else where in the tank so they are still going to live on. I just need the to get rid of the encrusted parts that are kill every thing around them. In the last month they have already killed three other corals. I admitted that I did not know how much these corals would grow when I first got my tank. These corals we're 6in apart two years ago. If your neighbor's dog killed your dog you wouldn't just say you can't kill a animal and let him stay so he kills the neighbor on the next sides dog and then the neighbor down the street dog.

In the last month I have probably given away for free 20 frags. I kept putting this off trying to kill the edges because I did not want to get rid of one of my favorite Coral. But after already losing three small colonies, I am now within an inch of a colony that I could probably get a hundred or more frags off of. So at the rate things are going if I do nothing Within two or three weeks that colony will be dead. So forgive me for taking a couple of three-quarter inch pieces of an animal and turning it into hundreds and giving them away to other people so they can grow hundreds but having to actually call a few that are killing each other. Stupid people really bother me I think that the problem we have with this country are so many people want to criticize others when they don't even know what they're talkin about to begin with.

 

[rcpalmer1]

Perhaps they are difficult to remove? I bet if you post some pictures, and ask how to remove, you'd get some super helpful advice

Thank you for a helpful comment. I will try to get a picture once my lights come on.

 

[BantyRooster97]

Have you tried to epoxy over the edges or kalk paste? Hot water injected on to them?

 

[sghera64]

This forum has always been positive. I really wasn't expecting this kind response. So far a bunch of people with no clue have been posting nothing useful. So I will try to be respectful and explain why nothing that has been said pertains to the situation. I cannot just remove the rock because this was one of the large carib sea arches. tThat is one rock. It has encrusting corals on it which means that even if I was to try to offer this to somebody on Craigslist or Marketplace they would still have one rock with multiple Corals that can't be removed and that will kill each other. So even if I do nothing corals are going to die.I have removed pieces the corals and placed else where in the tank so they are still going to live on. I just need the to get rid of the encrusted parts that are kill every thing around them. In the last month they have already killed three other corals. I admitted that I did not know how much these corals would grow when I first got my tank. These corals we're 6in apart two years ago. If your neighbor's dog killed your dog you wouldn't just say you can't kill a animal and let him stay so he kills the neighbor on the next sides dog and then the neighbor down the street dog.

In the last month I have probably given away for free 20 frags. I kept putting this off trying to kill the edges because I did not want to get rid of one of my favorite Coral. But after already losing three small colonies, I am now within an inch of a colony that I could probably get a hundred or more frags off of. So at the rate things are going if I do nothing Within two or three weeks that colony will be dead. So forgive me for taking a couple of three-quarter inch pieces of an animal and turning it into hundreds and giving them away to other people so they can grow hundreds but having to actually call a few that are killing each other. Stupid people really bother me I think that the problem we have with this country are so many people want to criticize others when they don't even know what they're talkin about to begin with.

Sorry about the flames you received. R2R is typically more helpful. Unfortunately, some folks are a little sensitive to the fact that we are all under a bit of fire for damage to reefs that have more to do with the cars we drive and not the species we keep in our tanks. Also it is impossible for you to post a bunch of irrelevant facts (like where these corals are in the tank, the damage to the entire system that might occur if you tried to safely remove these, the fact that most of these are so hardy they might be considered invasive species - - even in the ocean, or that you sell/trade/give-away corals to propagate). But so be it.

I'll answer with this. I had/have a similar situation with some ugly, invasive zoanthids which contain the palytoxin. I've removed them safely from some parts of the reef - - and no one wants them - - even for free. I still prefer to remove if I can do it completely by scraping with a butter knife. But there are parts of my reef that I can't access AND see with my eyes at the same time. They are at the base of my rock structure and I'm not pulling that out or I lose the Jinga game big-time. Covering them, or nuking them with kalkwasser is the only way. I found that it took 1 month for them to slowly use up their energy stores. Even then, a few of them were little tiny white nubs smaller than the pupil of your eye. AND THEY CAME BACK. I thought since there were only a few, no big deal. The shade from my acro's should have finished them off, but nope! So, I will simply offer up that a month is the right ball park.

 

[ScottR]

This forum has always been positive. I really wasn't expecting this kind response. So far a bunch of people with no clue have been posting nothing useful. So I will try to be respectful and explain why nothing that has been said pertains to the situation. I cannot just remove the rock because this was one of the large carib sea arches. tThat is one rock. It has encrusting corals on it which means that even if I was to try to offer this to somebody on Craigslist or Marketplace they would still have one rock with multiple Corals that can't be removed and that will kill each other. So even if I do nothing corals are going to die.I have removed pieces the corals and placed else where in the tank so they are still going to live on. I just need the to get rid of the encrusted parts that are kill every thing around them. In the last month they have already killed three other corals. I admitted that I did not know how much these corals would grow when I first got my tank. These corals we're 6in apart two years ago. If your neighbor's dog killed your dog you wouldn't just say you can't kill a animal and let him stay so he kills the neighbor on the next sides dog and then the neighbor down the street dog.

In the last month I have probably given away for free 20 frags. I kept putting this off trying to kill the edges because I did not want to get rid of one of my favorite Coral. But after already losing three small colonies, I am now within an inch of a colony that I could probably get a hundred or more frags off of. So at the rate things are going if I do nothing Within two or three weeks that colony will be dead. So forgive me for taking a couple of three-quarter inch pieces of an animal and turning it into hundreds and giving them away to other people so they can grow hundreds but having to actually call a few that are killing each other. Stupid people really bother me I think that the problem we have with this country are so many people want to criticize others when they don't even know what they're talkin about to begin with.

I agree with you on this point. It’s not like euthanizing an animal. I liken this to trimming hedges. Yes corals are animals. But still, they do need to be contained. Especially when they kill each other. The OP mentioned that he made the mistake of putting too many corals close together and then years later they grew to enormous proportions. I’ve had corals sting each other and couldn’t be moved. Once a coral encrusts, it’s nearly impossible to remove without damaging it or killing it.

 

[BestMomEver]

This forum has always been positive. I really wasn't expecting this kind response. So far a bunch of people with no clue have been posting nothing useful. So I will try to be respectful and explain why nothing that has been said pertains to the situation. I cannot just remove the rock because this was one of the large carib sea arches. tThat is one rock. It has encrusting corals on it which means that even if I was to try to offer this to somebody on Craigslist or Marketplace they would still have one rock with multiple Corals that can't be removed and that will kill each other. So even if I do nothing corals are going to die.I have removed pieces the corals and placed else where in the tank so they are still going to live on. I just need the to get rid of the encrusted parts that are kill every thing around them. In the last month they have already killed three other corals. I admitted that I did not know how much these corals would grow when I first got my tank. These corals we're 6in apart two years ago. If your neighbor's dog killed your dog you wouldn't just say you can't kill a animal and let him stay so he kills the neighbor on the next sides dog and then the neighbor down the street dog.

In the last month I have probably given away for free 20 frags. I kept putting this off trying to kill the edges because I did not want to get rid of one of my favorite Coral. But after already losing three small colonies, I am now within an inch of a colony that I could probably get a hundred or more frags off of. So at the rate things are going if I do nothing Within two or three weeks that colony will be dead. So forgive me for taking a couple of three-quarter inch pieces of an animal and turning it into hundreds and giving them away to other people so they can grow hundreds but having to actually call a few that are killing each other. Stupid people really bother me I think that the problem we have with this country are so many people want to criticize others when they don't even know what they're talkin about to begin with.

I get it. I have the same situation with a huge hydnophora. I woke one morning to find it had stung a whole section of one of my fav stylos. Fortunately, I had it growing on a rock that was easy to remove. It’s a beautiful coral and grows like wildfire. I moved the rock to the sand bed but the hydnophora is trying to attach to the glass. I have to do something. I feel your pain. People talk about killing aptasia, fire worms, mojanos and other stuff so I’m not sure why everyone has reacted so negatively. It’s not like you haven’t fragged and fragged and moved stuff around. Let me know if your bag trick works. It might be a great way to control growth of encrusting things. You could just cover the edge of something to keep it under control.

 

[ScottR]

I get it. I have the same situation with a huge hydnophora. I woke one morning to find it had stung a whole section of one of my fav stylos. Fortunately, I had it growing on a rock that was easy to remove. It’s a beautiful coral and grows like wildfire. I moved the rock to the sand bed but the hydnophora is trying to attach to the glass. I have to do something. I feel your pain. People talk about killing aptasia, fire worms, mojanos and other stuff so I’m not sure why everyone has reacted so negatively. It’s not like you haven’t fragged and fragged and moved stuff around. Let me know if your bag trick works. It might be a great way to control growth of encrusting things. You could just cover the edge of something to keep it under control.

@BestMomEver - I had the same thought about aiptasia and didn’t mention it. We as humans kill animals all the time. I abhor killing animals for sport. But in this case it’s acceptable.

 

[sghera64]

I agree with you on this point. It’s not like euthanizing an animal. I liken this to trimming hedges. Yes corals are animals. But still, they do need to be contained. Especially when they kill each other. The OP mentioned that he made the mistake of putting too many corals close together and then years later they grew to enormous proportions. I’ve had corals sting each other and couldn’t be moved. Once a coral encrusts, it’s nearly impossible to remove without damaging it or killing it.

+1

If your reef has been up and running for more than 5-10 years and is healthy, you are going to see corals, algae (micro, macro, encrusting), zoas, paly's, other inverts and fish compete in a life or death struggle. This is the way of nature. The difference is in our domestically kept systems, we play curator. We decide who wins (and to what degree), who loses, and who enters the competition (e.g. macro algae refugiums). It's the circle of life. Like trimming hedges, pruning a garden, either you sculpt it or nature will. You don't have to start with too many corals close together. Eventually, even a few corals will, in time, make for a packed system that needs pruning. I have a giant wall hammer (10" across) that is now competing against two rock walls (I believe the rocks may win). So, once I sell the wall hammers in the frag bin, the "big wall" comes out for a date with the band saw - - to make lots of baby wall hammers.

 

[Turtlesteve]

rcpalmer1 - I'm with you on this. Sad to see the kind of responses this evoked, this is typically absent on R2R and that's one of the reasons I like prefer the site over that other one. I see absolutely no fault in trying to target and eliminate specific organisms, especially those that have become a pest and are threatening their neighbors.

Back to the topic at hand, from my past experience, most hard corals are toast in a couple days if there is truly zero water flow. I've had corals land upside down in sand on several occasions, and they don't normally last more than a day or two if I don't catch it. So I'd wait 3-4 days and check. If this doesn't work, is the rock one that you can remove from the water for a few minutes? If so, there are other options. Something that worked for me immediately was application of straight muriatic acid with a paint brush (and dip the rock in a bucket of salt water before returning it to the tank).

Steve

 

[ScottR]

+1

If your reef has been up and running for more than 5-10 years and is healthy, you are going to see corals, algae (micro, macro, encrusting), zoas, paly's, other inverts and fish compete in a life or death struggle. This is the way of nature. The difference is in our domestically kept systems, we play curator. We decide who wins (and to what degree), who loses, and who enters the competition (e.g. macro algae refugiums). It's the circle of life. Like trimming hedges, pruning a garden, either you sculpt it or nature will. You don't have to start with too many corals close together. Eventually, even a few corals will, in time, make for a packed system that needs pruning. I have a giant wall hammer (10" across) that is now competing against two rock walls (I believe the rocks may win). So, once I sell the wall hammers in the frag bin, the "big wall" comes out for a date with the band saw - - to make lots of baby wall hammers.

I agree. I’ve had euphyllia kill each other. I moved them. They killed other corals. I run a 40g. I chose to keep these corals in a tight space. I’ve fragged them off, yes. But I have cut them away too. I can’t tell you how much xenia needs to be cut away. They are like a weed.

 

[Jon M.]

I say let them be because....

 

[rcpalmer1]

Have you tried to epoxy over the edges or kalk paste? Hot water injected on to them?

I thought about it but that would be a lot of epoxy.