Long tentacle plate

[BestMomEver]

For months this plate coral has thrived. Day before yesterday I noticed that the whole right side of it is drawn completely in while the left side appears normal. I took it out of the tank and zipped it through a coral dip in case a critter was bothering it but nothing changed. I have changed nothing and nothing is touching it. Any thoughts?

 

[KrisReef]

Is it glued to a plug?

 

[BestMomEver]

Yea... it was maricultured. Came glued with a tag. Couldn’t pull the tag out so I left the whole thing. Should I try to remove it? Will that potentially break the base?

 

[DeniseAndy]

I would try to carefully remove the plug. Have you added anything new to the tank? cuc, coral, fish, carbon,etc?

 

[KrisReef]

These corals settle out of the plankton and attach onto the reef hard substrate, but they detach fairly quickly and will move around by inflating and deflating their bodies to increase & decrease their buoyancy. It will have a better chance of long-term survivorship if you can remove the plug, imo.
I would pick it up by the plug, and gently agitate the coral in the aquarium until the polyps were fully retracted. Turn the plate upside down and use a putty knife or butter knife to gently wedge between and coral plate and the plug while holding only the plug firmly until the plate pops off. I would do this over a clean wet towel or a bucket with water to minimize the drop-impact. Once freed, I would put the plate back in the tank on a hard flat substrate where it cannot fall from. Lots of people put these directly on the sand, but I think they survive better with flow on both sides

 

[BestMomEver]

These corals settle out of the plankton and attach onto the reef hard substrate, but they detach fairly quickly and will move around by inflating and deflating their bodies to increase & decrease their buoyancy. It will have a better chance of long-term survivorship if you can remove the plug, imo.
I would pick it up by the plug, and gently agitate the coral in the aquarium until the polyps were fully retracted. Turn the plate upside down and use a putty knife or butter knife to gently wedge between and coral plate and the plug while holding only the plug firmly until the plate pops off. I would do this over a clean wet towel or a bucket with water to minimize the drop-impact. Once freed, I would put the plate back in the tank on a hard flat substrate where it cannot fall from. Lots of people put these directly on the sand, but I think they survive better with flow on both sides

Thanks so much. I'll try it today. I hope it works. It's my favorite coral and I waited months for it!