Coral Plate dead?

[LozziLuck]

Ok only 3 months in. Today I noticed my coral plate looks odd, no flowing but is still a little green. Is it dead or almost head? If not dead what can I do to help it stay alive?

 

[thamnasteroid]

It is hard to claim that it’s healthy because we see a mouth, the mouth is the last part to erode. I can not see any flesh in that picture aside from the mouth. A healthy and happy white plate would look like this

But hey. Maybe it’s alive and just ticked off and completely retracted.

Inflated corals being healthier than deflated ones is a myth; look at photos of wild corals and you'll see most of them are not inflated. The flesh is just not inflated in my photo, as the depth I took that photo in was more shallow.

Even your photo is on the sand.

The outer perimeter is bleached from irritation. It’s the only part on contact with sand. Why do you feel they dont inflate in the wild? I’ve seen plenty of pics of inflated wild plates.

The perimeter is not bleached, but just retracted. It's not just plates that aren't as inflated in the wild; most corals just are not. I'm basing this off both my experience diving and looking at photos.

It’s a matter of conditions

That is what I'm saying; polyp extension/inflation does not necessarily correlate with health. Corals inflate under low-light conditions

It’s beginning stages. Seen it many times. The loss of color in that area is how it starts. Just because a plate is in the wild does not mean it’s healthy

That may be true, but when most plates look like that and live on the substrate says something.

It can be anywhere and I welcome you to take a lps and bury half in sand and see what that area looks like after a few days

Not on the underside. Just don't get sand on the upperside and you'd be fine.

How is this any different than a plate relocating itself and becoming stuck. How can you confidently say that gluing it to a tile or plug will not be good for it? Not good in what way?

They only relocate to find better conditions. If we provide them conditions that are safe and acceptable, they have no need to relocate.

I have never heard of a plate dying from not being able to relocate. It happens naturally in the ocean and is no different.

It's not the inability to relocate. The glue will irritate the flesh on the underside, and the plate would probably eventually slough off the glue, ultimately detaching itself.

I’ve heard and experienced plates being damaged and killed from sand irritation and abrasion, leading to tissue recession, and then forming infections. Sand on top that it can not remove on its own can cause necrosis and bleaching.

All I stated as a recommendation from the beginning was to elevate it off the sand, which will promote full inflation and healing. Plates don’t need sand and they don’t need to be able to move freely. Sand may not always cause an issue, but many times it does. Not worth the risk

This is not my experience; when I had my tank set up, my plate was healthy on the sand. Cycloseris are also usually found on the sand in the wild.

Here are more plates on the sand, this time with more inflated specimens and less retracted peripheries:
C. cyclolites | Noumea, New Caledonia | Credit: Pauline Fey

Batangas, Philippines | Credit: Mark Rosenstein

Kenya | Credit: Mwanaisha Musa

Batangas, Philippines | Credit: Benoit Segerer

Eastern Division, Fiji | Credit: Debra Baker

C. cyclolites | Kwajalein, Marshall Islands | Credit: Scott & Jeanette Johnson

Borneo, Malaysia | Credit: Albert Kang

Lembeh Strait, Indonesia | Credit: Dan Schofield

C. curvata | Cocos Island, Costa Rica | Credit: Billy Bensted-Smith