Bubble coral dying?

[gavinz]

I’ve noticed that the Skeleton on my purple bubble has been receding recently ( 1st pic ) and I’ve noticed that white circular thing with a hole in it growing below it ( 2nd pic ) not sure what that is but is it dying? I’ve already lost a green bubble awhile back and I’ve had this one for around 2 months now, its fully open during the day and tbh after my female clown hosted it 2 weeks ago it seems to be opened more than ever! My params are all stable and I don’t have any issues so far with my other coral. It does seem to be not as dark purple in coral as when I got it from the store because I think it might be bleached because when I first got it my lights were quite high I’m sure and I’ve lowered them since because of a torch that bleached not long after I got it, but it’s just recently that I’ve noticed the skeleton receding. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I don’t want to lose this coral!

 

[Doctorgori]

bad eyes here but fwiw that hole thing reminds me of a retracted aptaisa … again fwiw
bumping

 

[gavinz]

bad eyes here but fwiw that hole thing reminds me of a retracted aptaisa … again fwiw
bumping

@vetteguy53081 any thoughts? You’ve helped me out a lot since I’ve joined

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

How quickly has the tissue been receding? It looks like there is a hard green algae line up to where the flesh stops, skeleton begins. Looks like it's been in that position a while. When tissue is receding quickly, There is normally a newly exposed lighter area of skeleton.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’ve noticed that the Skeleton on my purple bubble has been receding recently ( 1st pic ) and I’ve noticed that white circular thing with a hole in it growing below it ( 2nd pic ) not sure what that is but is it dying? I’ve already lost a green bubble awhile back and I’ve had this one for around 2 months now, its fully open during the day and tbh after my female clown hosted it 2 weeks ago it seems to be opened more than ever! My params are all stable and I don’t have any issues so far with my other coral. It does seem to be not as dark purple in coral as when I got it from the store because I think it might be bleached because when I first got it my lights were quite high I’m sure and I’ve lowered them since because of a torch that bleached not long after I got it, but it’s just recently that I’ve noticed the skeleton receding. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I don’t want to lose this coral!

The object with the hole looks like a filter feeding tunicate but could also be atube type worm
To eliminate the possibility of it causing harm, place a dab of gel superglue over the opening.
As for coral, there are a few considerations:
Placement- sand bed no good as loose sand can irritate them. Place this coral at lower third of tank
- too much flow can stress them and remove some of the mucus on their stem
- too much light can do the same with stress but not the skeletal part
- calcium very important for euphyllia in general. Assure it’s between 390 and 450
- pests- look closely at the base for very tiny worms or nudibranch(slug) on the trunk of this piece
- salinity 1,025, ph 8.1-8.3

 

[gavinz]

How quickly has the tissue been receding? It looks like there is a hard green algae line up to where the flesh stops, skeleton begins. Looks like it's been in that position a while. When tissue is receding quickly, There is normally a newly exposed lighter area of skeleton.

It hasn’t been super fast but noticeable from
What it used to be

 

[stovenut]

Is your clownfish trying to use the bubble coral as its host? If so, that will cause the bubble to retract. Make sure the clown(s) have a coral/bta that can host them and tolerate their annoyance.

 

[gavinz]

The object with the hole looks like a filter feeding tunicate but could also be atube type worm
To eliminate the possibility of it causing harm, place a dab of gel superglue over the opening.
As for coral, there are a few considerations:
Placement- sand bed no good as loose sand can irritate them. Place this coral at lower third of tank
- too much flow can stress them and remove some of the mucus on their stem
- too much light can do the same with stress but not the skeletal part
- calcium very important for euphyllia in general. Assure it’s between 390 and 450
- pests- look closely at the base for very tiny worms or nudibranch(slug) on the trunk of this piece
- salinity 1,025, ph 8.1-8.3

Would it be okay to glue the bubble coral sideways to the rock behind it? And my calcium is about 500-550 is that a cause for concern? And I believe the flow is actually pretty low on it if almost nonexistent because the only circulation in my tank comes from my return pumps since it’s an AIO I have a wavemaker but don’t use it at all. And lighting is definitely another concern of my as I don’t know what’s too much or too little, it’s not as dark purple as it used to be I don’t believe so I think it might’ve bleached because my torch bleached very fast after adding it but other corals seems fine so I cranked it down to the levels you told me about a long time ago and I’ve slight raised them recently while dropping my whites a bit. And I’ll glue that cap when I get home because I just noticed that last night as I usually check everything every night. I’ll check for worms and such tonight but I haven’t been seeing anything yet

 

[gavinz]

Is your clownfish trying to use the bubble coral as its host? If so, that will cause the bubble to retract. Make sure the clown(s) have a coral/bta that can host them and tolerate their annoyance.

So yes my female coral was trying to host it to the point where she never left it but now she leaves it and now I see my male around it only at night. However after she had started hosting it I noticed that it seemed happier as in it was bubbled up way more than usual which surprised me. But I have a RBTA in my tank and they have yet to host it. It’s been in there for around 3 weeks to a month now I believe and they’ve never shown interest in it

 

[stovenut]

Sometimes clowns can have a very adverse effect on LPS corals like torch, bubbles, etc. Other times they don't seem to mind each other. The coral benefits from the the clown's pooping, but at times the clowns can kill very expensive corals. My pair of clowns host a huge space invader pectinia colony and I got lucky that the relationship works.

 

[gavinz]

Sometimes clowns can have a very adverse effect on LPS corals like torch, bubbles, etc. Other times they don't seem to mind each other. The coral benefits from the the clown's pooping, but at times the clowns can kill very expensive corals. My pair of clowns host a huge space invader pectinia colony and I got lucky that the relationship works.

I’m hoping that it worked out between them since it seemed to open up more. I just wish they’d host my RBTA but he’s up on the glass of my tank about halfway up rn

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Is your clownfish trying to use the bubble coral as its host? If so, that will cause the bubble to retract. Make sure the clown(s) have a coral/bta that can host them and tolerate their annoyance.

This is quite true.

My gladiators hooked up with my bubble when I took away all of their anemones but one. They abandoned it and jumped into the bubble.

Bubble is much less happy since.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Would it be okay to glue the bubble coral sideways to the rock behind it? And my calcium is about 500-550 is that a cause for concern? And I believe the flow is actually pretty low on it if almost nonexistent because the only circulation in my tank comes from my return pumps since it’s an AIO I have a wavemaker but don’t use it at all. And lighting is definitely another concern of my as I don’t know what’s too much or too little, it’s not as dark purple as it used to be I don’t believe so I think it might’ve bleached because my torch bleached very fast after adding it but other corals seems fine so I cranked it down to the levels you told me about a long time ago and I’ve slight raised them recently while dropping my whites a bit. And I’ll glue that cap when I get home because I just noticed that last night as I usually check everything every night. I’ll check for worms and such tonight but I haven’t been seeing anything yet

Naturally, bubble corals often grow on the underside of ledges and caves. You can glue it upside down if you want. Just ensure it has the light and flow needed.

 

[gavinz]

This is quite true.

My gladiators hooked up with my bubble when I took away all of their anemones but one. They abandoned it and jumped into the bubble.

Bubble is much less happy since.

I don’t know what I can do to get my clowns to host my RBTA

 

[gavinz]

Naturally, bubble corals often grow on the underside of ledges and caves. You can glue it upside down if you want. Just ensure it has the light and flow needed.

I’ll definitely try gluing it to the rock behind it then in hopes that helps!

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I don’t know what I can do to get my clowns to host my RBTA

You can't Make them.

You can try feeding around the bta more often, getting the clowns used to it. Looping hosting video has worked once for me, Not a few times. Moving the bubble out of there home turf may force them to go looking for another home

 

[vetteguy53081]

Would it be okay to glue the bubble coral sideways to the rock behind it? And my calcium is about 500-550 is that a cause for concern? And I believe the flow is actually pretty low on it if almost nonexistent because the only circulation in my tank comes from my return pumps since it’s an AIO I have a wavemaker but don’t use it at all. And lighting is definitely another concern of my as I don’t know what’s too much or too little, it’s not as dark purple as it used to be I don’t believe so I think it might’ve bleached because my torch bleached very fast after adding it but other corals seems fine so I cranked it down to the levels you told me about a long time ago and I’ve slight raised them recently while dropping my whites a bit. And I’ll glue that cap when I get home because I just noticed that last night as I usually check everything every night. I’ll check for worms and such tonight but I haven’t been seeing anything yet

Ca quite high- you want 400-450
Calcium affects all which likely is also off, and likely ph
Moderate light and water flow

 

[vetteguy53081]

I don’t know what I can do to get my clowns to host my RBTA

BTA is the host and. Clowns are the guests
Not all will bond. I have 4 breeding pair and even look at my BTAs

 

[gavinz]

Ca quite high- you want 400-450
Calcium affects all which likely is also off, and likely ph
Moderate light and water flow

Everything else is within standards I believe my calc is high because I was using Red Sea pro salt which contain much higher levels from what I heard so I’ve changed salts and slowly bringing those levels down on it

 

[gavinz]

You can't Make them.

You can try feeding around the bta more often, getting the clowns used to it. Looping hosting video has worked once for me, Not a few times. Moving the bubble out of there home turf may force them to go looking for another home

I’ll look at that and try feeding around it more!