Red Baron Chalice Splitting in the middle?????

secretreefer · May 1, 2011

hey guys 2 pics here of a Red Baron chalice (like it i named it myself haha) anyways it seems to be splitting in the middle or something. anyone know what is happening? or is it starting to die? ??? any help would be appreciated. sorry about the actinic pic if it offends you.

Salty Dog · May 1, 2011

anything nippin at it? Very strange looks healthy

Just Clownin Around · May 1, 2011

nipping or something was sitting on that spot causing it to rot

Macropora · May 1, 2011

Looks like spot bleaching.

secretreefer · May 1, 2011

ok i've been observing day and lights of ninja style with my led flashlight and i don't see anything eating em. i have a fat mandarin that seems to keep copepods/amphipods in check (since i don't see any around) but the spot has been there for over a month. almost like it's main mouth was tearing or something. The chalice is definitely happy and eating well so... idk? so if it's spot bleaching what do i need to do? move it in the shade ?

Macropora · May 1, 2011

Move it into a shaded area and it'll eventually recover. I've seen it happen many times when a water change + new carbon clears the yellow out of the water too fast and the corals zooxanthellae can't adjust that quickly.

secretreefer · May 1, 2011

bingo. that's exactly what i've been doing recently. keeping up with my weekly water changes and carbon changes every 3 weeks.

Greg'n-Reef · May 1, 2011

This might be scrolling. I have a molten lava chalice I thought was going through the same thing about a year ago, but it ended up killing itself right in the middle and in other areas like yours making new tissue and then off-shooting, weird right. My chalice has been in my tank since I started reefing in 06 and is roughly 18" in diameter and has never fragged. Keep a vigilant eye on it just to make sure. Chalice do scroll.

secretreefer · May 1, 2011

that's interesting. i've had this guy for over a year already. should i frag it in the middle of the white part? and what exactly is chalice "scrolling"?

Greg'n-Reef · May 2, 2011

Plate montipora scroll. You have probably seen this in other reefers tanks where the coral literally covers itself looking for more real estate. For the spot is in the middle of the coral and fragging that part, I wouldn't be to concerned yet and it looks like a nice big show piece at that. A couple things could happen, this will plate over, or just make new tissue. Is the spot getting any bigger or staying the same size?