Does substrate piling on coral hurt them?

mbarber87 · May 1, 2020

I have a sleeper goby that LOVES digging up substrate and dropping it all over my coral. Specifically my Lobo, Duncan, and Hammer. They seem to be able to get the substrate off over time, but I was wondering if this is something that stresses coral out or if they are pretty adapted to doing this. I love the goby, but love my coral even more, so I want to make sure I am not stressing them out. Thanks!

ndrwater · May 1, 2020

Generally being buried alive is not a good thing.

andrewey · May 1, 2020

It really depends on the percentage of the coral that's covered at any given time and how frequently it happens. I've had gobies kill some of my chalices that kept getting buried and thus couldn't get enough light. Generally speaking though, if it's a light dusting that goes away, no worries at all.

mbarber87 · May 1, 2020

ndrwater said:
Generally being buried alive is not a good thing.

andrewey said:
It really depends on the percentage of the coral that's covered at any given time and how frequently it happens. I've had gobies kill some of my chalices that kept getting buried and thus couldn't get enough light. Generally speaking though, if it's a light dusting that goes away, no worries at all.

Thanks!