New acquisitions! Hooray! And a question....

Ok so I dropped $141 today and got 2 peppermint shrimpies, a S.T. plate, STARK yellow toadstool leather, and some xenia. I haven't bought like this in awhile and I forgot just how expensive reefing can be.

Anyways I'm hoping the shrimpies will help in moving out my small aiptasia problem. What have your experiences been with this?

Also, some of you might remember my plight with brown jelly last year. It claimed my L.T. plate, my xenia, and almost got my colt. I managed to save that one and it's still alive and kicking today. So wish me luck with my new plate and xenia.

Here's my question; tongs? I think that's what caused the brown jelly in my plate to begin with. I would use tongs to move around my corals, thinking that would be better then using my hands. It was suggested to me that the tongs actually probably ripped the plates' skin, and then the disease was caught and spread.

Also, my beautiful hammer coral is just about gone. I used tongs on it also, and it started losing its skin and is just about all the way gone. The little bit that's left seems to be doing well. Do you think maybe an iodine dip could assist it?

All levels are normal and well. I just tested last night. I had neglected my tank for a few months and am recently finding time to give it the attention it needs and bring it back up to speed. Any thoughts will be appreciated.

 

Peppermints always seem to take care of aiptasia for me. Some of them tend to get "lazy" and don't eat the anemones but if yours don't, just add more. You're bound to get one that eats them heartily

I remember your jelly problem and most likely, it started with the plate and spread to your other corals. Either that or you damaged the flesh of both the plate and the hammer with the tongs. I would definitely do an iodine dip on the surviving coral but, if it still has brown jelly and if you have the option, stick it in a quarantine tank after you dip it to prevent the disease from spreading to your new corals.

 

I would stop using the tongs and just use your hands to move around your corals or atleast wear gloves! The tongs, as you mentioned probably ripped or injured your corals due to the sharp, hard ends. Many of the corals we keep are what is known as meaty corals and thus require care in that we don't tear the tissue around the base of the skeleton. Examples of this are plates, open brains, bubble, hammer etc.
Care must be exerted when transporting, adding or moving any coral however!

 

No, the brown jelly is long gone. Thank god. I don't think that's why the hammer has gone downhill though. It just got a rip in its skin on one side and its just sort of spread, its took months. Finally it gave up and the majority of it deteriorated in a matter of days. I'll go ahead and dip it though.

A few dips saved my colt, maybe I can salvage this guy and get him to grow back. Let this be a lesson. I sincerely thought tongs were the better alternative but it's really just better to move them with your hands if you don't want them to die.

 

Yea I stopped using the tongs months ago. Mostly because my corals were fine where they were but also because my suspicion was that they were the culprit of my woes. Ah well. Things are getting back on track and shaping up nicely. Just another one of those things in this hobby that is a good lesson. Costly, but knowledge for the future.

 

It's not that tongs are "bad", it's just that you have no real control over how much pressure you place on what you're picking up with them. Nothing beats nature's tools after all

 

Plates are like many corals from Frogspans to bubbles and elegance and open brains . the problem is when we touch them with our hands sometimes a bit of our skin oil will make them start to recede and a opens them up to a bacterial infestion and once it starts it never stops. I always try to wash my hands really well and then try to lift with my finger tips in a under side motion like the claw in the games at a store when you try to grab the good stuff and always get the junk just stay as far away as you can from where the flesh meets the edge of any coral . Latex gloves are great also.