Is this coral dead?

[RaymondL]

I'm not sure what to think of this - I picked up this Bernardpora - flowerpot coral 4 months ago, and it was doing fine until one day it just closed and it remained closed for now for the past 3 months. I check all parameters and moved it around the tank and it refused to open anymore. I even moved it to another tank, but still no luck. I assume the coral is dead, but if it was would it still retain it's original color, which is as seen in the picture here? (no lights to ensure accurate color).

I thought that when corals such as LPS do die, they lose all color and appear white. Perhaps wrong as I'm still learning my way through this hobby.

 

[blaxsun]

After 3 months it's almost certainly dead. If you have slow algae growth (which it looks like from your rocks), it can remain like that for a while. The purplish tinge on it could be coralline algae.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It doesnt look dead to me, it has color, I still see the shape of the polyps... My very first Bernardpora stayed closed like that for 5-6 months before it finally started opening. Stop moving it around, every time you move you reset the acclimation clock. Put it in the middle somewhere, medium light and flow, and leave it alone. There should be some detectable levels of nitrate and phosphate in the water, it does like nutrients.

 

[RaymondL]

It doesnt look dead to me, it has color, I still see the shape of the polyps... My very first Bernardpora stayed closed like that for 5-6 months before it finally started opening. Stop moving it around, every time you move you reset the acclimation clock. Put it in the middle somewhere, medium light and flow, and leave it alone. There should be some detectable levels of nitrate and phosphate in the water, it does like nutrients.

Thanks - I'm not going to give up and hoping it's the same scenario as what you experienced. 5-6 months is a long time....I wonder if this is just the nature of these corals - not sure, but it seems unusual for them to close for this long. In your case, did you recall making any changes that caused them to open after such a long period?

 

[DE FISH]

There is still flesh it would be bone white if it were dead

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Still alive. There's still flesh/polyps on it and I see no recession. Just give it time to adjust. I've found the best thing to do is don't touch coral

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Thanks - I'm not going to give up and hoping it's the same scenario as what you experienced. 5-6 months is a long time....I wonder if this is just the nature of these corals - not sure, but it seems unusual for them to close for this long. In your case, did you recall making any changes that caused them to open after such a long period?

For me, I was dumb and glued my frag right up top under MH lights, and it was glued in a way that I was not able to remove it, so it was acclimate or die type of situation lol. I figure thats why it took forever for me, I did not do anything special to make it open, just waited.