Australomussa won't eat!?

[bfam4t6]

Has anybody else experienced an Austrolumussa that wouldn't eat? It was doing fine the first two months or so that I had it. I'm trying Fauna Marin LPS pellets, and mysis shrimp, and one edge is starting to recede a bit, but this may have been cause by a nearby scoly. I've since move the Australomussa. It sits at the bottom of a 24" tank with an ATI 6 but T5 for lighting that is about 9" about the water. Any help appreciated!

 

[mainereefer]

all the ones I have seen die within the first year good luck

 

[bfam4t6]

That's not what I wanted to hear...:ooh:

Anybody successful with these? This one has to live. It's very unique.

 

[bfam4t6]

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

i love this coral, but where i live i never see them.

 

[bfam4t6]

Yeah, I've seen them locally where I am, but I had to order this one. I'll do anything to save it.

 

[bfam4t6]

C'mon...I know there are a few people out there who have been successful with these.

I'm not a noob. I've been in the hobby for over 4 years, and I have no trouble keeping any other LPS including several chalices, which are in the same tank as this Australomussa.

Is there a limit to how much spot feeding these things can take? From my research, I thought they were pretty hungry creatures like scolys. However, the last three days and or nights that I've shut my pumps off and dropped food onto the Australomussa's mouths, it hasn't accepted anything. I let the food sit for about 45 minutes before I give up and turn the pumps back on.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I paid a pretty penny for this piece, and I turn into the Hulk if it dies.

 

[mainereefer]

these are not an easy coral to keep and 90% of the time just die for no reason. imo they need to be left in the ocean. but again good luck

 

[MAKcorals]

IMO these corals should not be imported. They are almost impossible to keep in captivity from what i have seen and read. We simply cannot recreate the conditions that this species needs to survive in our aquaria. They are beautiful and i wish you luck.

 

[bfam4t6]

Wow. I didn't realize so many people considered these things to be unkeepable.

Luckily, mine seems to have improved. Pretty much everything I've read about these tells me that they prefer dirty water. I let my tank go a little longer than usual without a water change. It's an LPS tank, so everything else seemed just fine. Well, I did about a 15% water change last night. This morning, I prepped the corals by dissolving some fine particle frozen foods and letting it swirl around for a few minutes. I turned the pumps off, and amazingly my Australomussa gladly accepted some mysis.

In the purple half, you can barely notice three paler sections above the main mouth. There is actually a fourth on the bottom left part of the purple section, almost touching the green section. Anyways, they are baby mouths that have developed since the coral arrived in my care a few months ago. If you look carefully, you can see one of the top three swallowing a head of mysis shrimp. This is the first time I've witnessed one of the baby mouths eat, and I'm very happy.

Frankly, the first several months of caring for this coral were extremely easy. I basically treated like an acan or a scoly...low flow, low light, lots of food. I think I just let my harmful nutrients build up a little too high before doing a water change. I'm fairly confident that I can keep this alive. :)

You can tell it's at least grown a little bit since being in captivity:
http://reefbuilders.com/2013/01/03/twoface-australomussa-earmarks-coral-chimera/

 

[bfam4t6]

I figured out the issue...digitate hydroids have been stinging it. I'm extremly unhappy about this revelation. Researching solutions now.

 

[Ian]

You don't have to feed your corals, I don't know where this idea came from... Actually I do, it came from people waning to feed their chalices so they'll grow faster in order to frag them and make a profit.

All I know is that nothing beats good husbandry....

 

[bfam4t6]

Thanks Ian,

That means a lot coming from you. Before I had even set up my first tank I had already heard great things about you and Reef Odyssey. I'm not sure how familiar you two really are, but it was my buddy Chris Dock, who used to operate a LFS in the Carolina's, that spoke so highly about you. He holds no punches when it comes to vendor reviews, and he had nothing but good things to say about you. And to mention his feeding regimen, he too was adamant that spot feeding was unnecessary. He broadcast fed only, and his tank looked amazing. Sadly, he has now moved to a new state.

I guess now that I've realized the culprit, not to mention the fact that the coral has once agin resumed regular acceptance of food, that my title to this thread is meaningless. The fact that this coral continues to show signs of growth in one direction but recession in another had me really stumped. It took a late night flashlight investigation to uncover the stinging hydroids. The little SOBs are in my substrate. I'm just praying to find a solution right now. There are two other rather large chalices in the same tank that are also being stung, and I currently do not have the means to relocate them.

Anyways, please wish me luck!