Why does my Trachy retract like this?

[John Hughes]

I've had this Trachy for about 5 months and it's been an amazing coral. Lately it doesn't seem as happy as it looks in the first pic. Now it still opens and looks almost translucent but not as large. I see it's skeleton and wonder if it needs to be trimmed back as it looks really shart, as seen in the second pic.

Any ideas would be great as I'd hate to loose this beauty.

Thanks in advance

 

[Jason mack]

I would first move it , put it in an area with less flow and light ,
#reefsquad

 

[DeniseAndy]

These guys are more sensitive to you messing with them. Do not try to trim it. They have hard skeletons and unless you have a proper band saw to do it, you could damage it.

These guys do regularly inflate and deflate depending on flow, light, food, etc. Has anything changed in the last few weeks? Any new items? Any parameter issues? Are you feeding it? It definitely looks to be receding a bit. Check for anything picking on it too.

 

[DSC reef]

Looks like tissue recession. Do not trim the skeleton. I've seen this from to little nutrients/starvation.

 

[John Hughes]

Looks like tissue recession. Do not trim the skeleton. I've seen this from to little nutrients/starvation.

Nutrients?

 

[John Hughes]

Looks like tissue recession. Do not trim the skeleton. I've seen this from to little nutrients/starvation.

They're photosynthetic aren't they? I just fed it some reefroids

 

[John Hughes]

These guys are more sensitive to you messing with them. Do not try to trim it. They have hard skeletons and unless you have a proper band saw to do it, you could damage it.

These guys do regularly inflate and deflate depending on flow, light, food, etc. Has anything changed in the last few weeks? Any new items? Any parameter issues? Are you feeding it? It definitely looks to be receding a bit. Check for anything picking on it too.

Just found a small aptasia that might be touching it during extension... just joe juiced the sucker.

 

[DSC reef]

They are photosynthetic but benefit from feedings. Nutrients meaning some nitrate and phosphate, dissolved organics.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Even though corals are photosynthetic, they all require extra food to thrive. Some are only about 60% photosynthetic while others are close to 99%. These guys do need food. This can be found in the form of reef roids as you stated, krill or large mysis (these guys have larger mouths), nutrients in the water (nitrate, detritus), and of course waste from fish.

I rarely feed my large trachys or my acanthestrea or my cynaria, but I have fish that help, broadcast food and feed similar to reef roids a few times a week. Plus my system is set up for these type of corals with lower flow, good light, "dirtier".

Try moving to the sand (or bottom). Feed it some brine or mysis shrimp. See its response. Make sure your water is not too clean (0 nitrates or 0 phosphates). Should recover with a healthy system if there is no damage to the flesh. They can be hard to recover with damaged flesh.

 

[kireek]

These guys are more sensitive to you messing with them. Do not try to trim it. They have hard skeletons and unless you have a proper band saw to do it, you could damage it.

These guys do regularly inflate and deflate depending on flow, light, food, etc. Has anything changed in the last few weeks? Any new items? Any parameter issues? Are you feeding it? It definitely looks to be receding a bit. Check for anything picking on it too.

Looks like tissue recession. Do not trim the skeleton. I've seen this from to little nutrients/starvation.

I agree that trimming would not be helpful.Definitely keep a eye out for anything that may be "trimming" it for you.

Even though corals are photosynthetic, they all require extra food to thrive. Some are only about 60% photosynthetic while others are close to 99%. These guys do need food. This can be found in the form of reef roids as you stated, krill or large mysis (these guys have larger mouths), nutrients in the water (nitrate, detritus), and of course waste from fish.

I rarely feed my large trachys or my acanthestrea or my cynaria, but I have fish that help, broadcast food and feed similar to reef roids a few times a week. Plus my system is set up for these type of corals with lower flow, good light, "dirtier".

Try moving to the sand (or bottom). Feed it some brine or mysis shrimp. See its response. Make sure your water is not too clean (0 nitrates or 0 phosphates). Should recover with a healthy system if there is no damage to the flesh. They can be hard to recover with damaged flesh.

Excellent recommendations @DeniseAndy ! I think with the proper lighting ,placement and parameters the coral will survive.

 

[John Hughes]

You can see the normal condition of my trachy in my profile pic. I haven't moved and I don't think I will. I did find a small aptasia on the upper middle outside edge of the trachy's skeleton and have since covered it with superglue. It's pretty fat today but still not extending around it's entire skeleton as before. I've fed it some reefroids and some shrimp so we'll see. Some have mentioned it might need more nutrients, well, again, I haven't changed my water change schedule of about 20 gallons of the 60 gallon tank every two weeks or so but will wait another week or so before doing one and see what happens.

Thanks again to all!

 

[John Hughes]

The trachy is open and extended today, not nearly as much as before where it would cover it's entire skeleton and become almost translucent.
I'm not going to move it because I think it's a great spot and it apparently liked it before as is evident from my profile pic of this same trachy.
I've fed some reefroids and shrimp chunks and will wait and see how it goes. I did remove a small aptasia that I found on the trachy's skeleton on the upper middle section. It didn't appear to be close enough to the trachy but hopefully that's what was upsetting it.
I'm going to try and let my tank become a little dirtier to provide more nutrients as suggested by several and will let my 20 gallon out of 60 every two weeks or so go a little longer and see how things react.

Thanks to all here at R2R!!

 

[John Hughes]

Sorry for the double post, looked as though I had lost the first one and then there it was again...

 

[Flexin]

What are your water parameters? That's what is missing at the moment.

 

[reefwiser]

While they are photosynthetic, they require more food than say a Acro. They are found on walls in the wild and live on small particles of food.

 

[John Hughes]

What are your water parameters? That's what is missing at the moment.

SG 1.025
NH3/NH4 0.2
pH 8.2
NO2 0
NO3 5
KH 7
Ca 490

2 Weeks post 20 gallon water change to 60 gallon tank.

 

[Flexin]

Are you using GFO or have you changed your lighting?

 

[John Hughes]

Are you using GFO or have you changed your lighting?

Not using GFO and have been using two AI Prime HD's for since October.