Trachy Tissue Recession

[tdileo]

Posting this in general since my post in LPS got no replies and I’m hoping I can get an answer here. TLDR: a trachy I recently bought looks to be recessing and possibly bleaching as well, also has a gaping mouth.

Photo is from a day ago, it is even worse now. Going out to lunch with my grandfather so no time to get params but all my other corals, mostly SPS, are looking good and have normal PE. Hoping somebody can give me an idea of what to do.

 

[Darth George]

Move it to low flow/low light for a week and keep an eye on it. Post params when you can.

 

[BlueCursor]

Before I move it I would make sure it is too much light. Too little light causes recession and lightening in color too. Gaping mouth is not a good sign and unlikely too much light unless it is really way too much light. How recent is recently? Gaping mouth can be as simple as it isn't getting enough light/food so it's trying to use its mouth and extended stomach to catch food, or it's in really bad shape.

Another thing to try is turn off all pumps and try to drop some food (mysis, LPS pellets) onto its mouth after the tank is dark and fish are hiding. If it reacts positively to the food then it is probably gaping because it is starving.

 

[miyags]

Start off with a good water change.Try to keep alk around 9 to 10. low flow. I would give it an iodine dip.When Lps are damaged Amphipods like to go inside the skeleton and make things worse.Iodine dip will help this and help with a bacterial infection.

 

[tdileo]

For some reason I never got the notifications for these replies until now. Anyway, I did dip it in iodine, and slightly less than a recommended dose. When I gently squirted the turkey baster pretty much all of the tissue came off. I had it for 2 weeks and the first week it ate everything from shrimp to pellets when I offered them.
Parameters always stay stable. Here are my test results from earlier this morning.
Ca- 440
Alk- 9
PO4- 0.06
NO3- 7

 

[tdileo]

Update today. I finally threw it out. Decided there was 0 chance of a comeback at this point and it wasn’t worth looking at every day and getting upset over. Did a water change and moved corals and pumps around to get better flow and hopefully growth for my SPS.

 

[AntarcticIkeelu]

I would say it was probably hungry. Reef roids is the brand of food I use to keep my scolys and meat coral happy

 

[DSC reef]

Your be surprised at how little tissue is required for a coral to make a comeback. I don't think it looked even close to being a goner.

 

[AntarcticIkeelu]

Your be surprised at how little tissue is required for a coral to make a comeback. I don't think it looked even close to being a goner.

He's right take a look at my green bubble

 

[AntarcticIkeelu]

First photo was when I bought it, second was several months later when it was at its worst, third photo was just taken.

 

[DSC reef]

Here's our chalice coming back to life.

 

[DSC reef]

All that remained was the skeleton for at least a month. One day my wife noticed a glowing speck, I couldn't believe it. Now we have 3 full mouths on the old Skelton. I was bummed when we lost that colony.