Favia coral big bubble

[soreefed]

Anyone seen a favia bubble up like this before? It looks like it’s about to pop lol

 

[soreefed]

 

[Readywriter]

Thats a pretty cool octopus you got there.

 

[The_Paradox]

They do that sometimes.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Yeah, LPS have been know to bubble inexplicably sometimes:

I don't know if this is related or not, but it reminds me of when corals "bounce" unexpectedly (such as the acans discussed below):

They're basically joking that you've either got two corals or a "bounce" acan that would be potentially be valuable.

The only thing I can find on this condition is that it may potentially be caused either by some kind of high lighting (some people say LED's, others UV; it's basically thought to be similar to sunburn reaction in people) or by elevated potassium levels, and it doesn't seem to negatively impact the corals in any way (but the bubbles if popped are prone to infection):
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bubbling-acanthophyllia-and-acan.570958/https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/flesh-bubbles-on-acan.184931/https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/odd-bubble-in-acan-bower-tissue.224346/https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bounce-acans-micros.913841/https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bounce-acan.488798/https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bouncing-acan.707112/https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bounce-acan-what-could-be-causing-this-phenomena.538851/

So, it may be high lighting/UV or it may be elevated potassium; I've also heard of this happening to a number of other LPS corals (including different hammers), with suspected potential causes such as: coral starvation/lack of nutrients in tank, coral overfeeding, lack of flow, and toxins and/or activated carbon. No one seems to know for certain what causes it, though, and it doesn't seem to be harmful.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sick-hammer-coral-help.276558/https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/swollen-torch-hammers-frogspawn.622793/https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/why-is-my-hammer-all-puffy.709222/https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/swollen-hammer.367813/

 

[soreefed]

They do that sometimes.

lol nice… glad to know my bubbly friend isn’t alone

 

[soreefed]

Yeah, LPS have been know to bubble inexplicably sometimes:

Quality entertainment amongst those threads

 

[The_Paradox]

lol nice… glad to know my bubbly friend isn’t alone

Nope. Last twenty years I have had it happen seven or so times. Treated with various methods with various success.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

My LFS had a favia with a bubble like that, something popped it about a month ago, interesting how it develops almost normal polyp structure but lacks any skeleton

 

[Chrisv.]

My LFS had a favia with a bubble like that, something popped it about a month ago, interesting how it develops almost normal polyp structure but lacks any skeleton

What happened when it popped? Was it ok? I've heard of some LPS detaching from their skeletons and floating off to a new area of the tank and growing a new skeleton....but maybe that was a reefing urban legend.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

What happened when it popped? Was it ok? I've heard of some LPS detaching from their skeletons and floating off to a new area of the tank and growing a new skeleton....but maybe that was a reefing urban legend.

It just disappeared after a day or two and went back to normal, had that bubble for over a year

 

[soreefed]

Bubble turned into a hole over time.