Fungia rescue!

[tyler1503]

Hi guys. I picked up a nice fungia today. The bloke at the LFS chucked in a second piece for free as it was damaged during shipping in hopes I could revive it. A little less than a quarter of the flesh has died and it's colour isn't too good. I blew as much of the dead flesh away as I could and it seems there's no flesh on the mouth.
Any tips in keeping these guys happy? Ive successfully kept them in the past, but they've never been in this condition to begin with. I have very little real estate left in my tank so he's on the rock work at the moment as opposed to the sandbed. I'll post some pics tomorrow when the lights come back on.
The only pics I have now are during acclimation.
Dying piece.

Both pieces.

Healthy piece.

 

[fungia_fiend]

That second one's a looker! I like it a lot.

There's not going to be too much you can do about the damaged one other than good general care, but I have some suggestions.

First, Get it off the rocks. They can live on the rocks (we saw them on the rocks snorkeling in the Philippines), but they can and do move. A tumble can damage them. An already damaged one shouldn't be exposed to more risk.

Second, put it in less light. Don't stress it with too much light yet, just give it just enough. Again, get it off the rocks and down somewhere low.

Third, feed it if it will eat. Not daily. Once a week to start, more frequent if it starts eating well. Mine love mysis.

Fourth, even if it does die, keep the skeleton. There's a chance it will produce acanthocauli (baby plates) on the old skeleton.

Good luck!

 

[tyler1503]

They're both actually the same colour variation the purple on the nicer one has already popped a bit more and the tentacles have opened since that photo. I'm excited to see them in the light tomorrow!
I think it's under appropriate lighting. It's about 3 inches from the water surface under 11W 50/50 PC. Not much light at all. Do you think I should still give it a little less light?
I have a tendency to over feed my corals, I'll have to restrain myself lol.
I've heard that plates can produce babies after the mother dies, but never experienced it myself.
I'll see what space I have on the sandbed in the morning. I don't have a lot of room so I may have to move a few things. Will it be able to move itself while in that condition?
Thanks for the tips

 

[tyler1503]

A lot more of the skeleton is showing today. I'll try to feed it tomorrow, but I can't say I think it will make it till the end of the week.
The healthy one looks really good though

 

[fungia_fiend]

I'm glad the second one looks good for you. The first I'd definitely get it on the bottom ASAP. You might lose it.

 

[mrcoffee2]

I had one showing skeleton just like that. Make sure you don't have any opportunistic feeders in the tank.

Here is how it looks now.