Sunset Montipora Help

[Xler8n]

ok.. I got a nice sunset motipora about a 2 inch frag from a guy i met off frags.org. It was beautiful until i messed with it. It encrusted over a standard sized plug and i wanted to cut off the bottom of the plug so that i could let it sit on a rock evenly/. The montipora just domed over the plug so that if i cut the bottom plug off it would be even. So i broke out the cutting wheel on my drill and started cutting away. As i was cutting, the powdery rocky stuff that was comming off (kinda milky like) was hitting the bottom edges of the montipora. After i was done and the bottom of the plug was removed i was left with this whitish substance around the edges of the monti. I tried swishing it around in the tank and some came off but the rest is still there. Like it embedded into the flesh of the montipora. I also tried blowing it off with a powerhead... didnt work either. Finally last night i tried to rub it off gently with my finger but that didnt work either. Today when i looked at the part that i rubbed it seemed to have lost its orange color. Is it possible to rub the orange off of these montiporas? What did i do?? Will it heal up?? Please help as i have gotton the rare montiporas like superman, pokerstar, rainbow and sunset from this guy and dont want to make any more dumb mistakes. Thanks

 

[NVTE]

I think you just leave it alone. I know some release some slimmy stuff to protect themselves.

 

[Xler8n]

Its not slime from stress. It like the color just came off or rubbed off. I glue it to a rock and im just gonna watch it. Hopefully it heals and doesnt spread or im gonna have to cut it

 

[Nanofins]

Sounds like some of the dust/powder from cutting got caught up in the tissue and/or slime of the monti. If you actually rubbed the living tissue to get it off, it's quite possible you may have damaged some of the mantle soft tissue between polyps. Normally I'd just leave it and let them shed the unwanted crud off. With good current it will get sloughed naturally. Anyway, so long as the piece is healthy, it should recover this tissue in a short time. Just keep it clean and in good current so algae and detritus don't get on it.

 

[Xler8n]

Ok thanks. I should have just cut off the plug using snips or something but you live and you learn right? Next time i wont use a cutting wheel especially with a rare monti such as a suset..

 

[Sikryd]

Those things are bullet proof - you should be fine...

 

[mylittlejade]

I would leave it alone, and it will heal fairly quick for you.

 

[pwoller]

I had the same thing happen to mine. Just leave it be and in a week or so the whitelines will go away.

 

[cpage3]

Yeah it seems that this happens alot for me after periods of high stress. It does go away with stable conditions and new growth of the colony