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FAQs about Oculinid/Galaxy Coral Health

Related Articles: Oculinids, Galaxy Corals,

Related FAQs: Oculinids 1, Oculinids 2, & FAQs on: Oculinid Identification, Oculinid Behavior, Oculinid Compatibility, Oculinid Selection, Oculinid Systems, Oculinid Feeding, Oculinid Reproduction/Propagation, & Stony/True Coral, Coral System Set-Up, Coral System Lighting, Stony Coral Identification, Stony Coral Selection, Coral Placement, Foods/Feeding/Nutrition, Disease/Health, Propagation, Growing Reef Corals, Stony Coral Behavior,

Are actually very tough. But also, very stinging!

Coral Infection? No data, ridiculous       4/3/16
Very long-lived, successful Galaxea coral suddenly losing polyps and forming clear gel around damaged area.
See photo below.
Best strategy?
<Reading. On WWM. Re Stony Coral Health, Oculinids. Stat. Bob Fenner>
Thanks!
Martin Pentz

Re: Coral Infection?       4/3/16
<?! Keep reading!>
OK, but should I attempt to remove the gel, or leave it in place? It isn't brown, so l don't know if it is harmful.
Thanks.
Martin Pentz
Re: Coral Infection?       4/3/16

OK, but should I attempt to remove the gel, or leave it in place? It isn't brown, so l don't know if it is harmful.
Thanks.
Martin Pentz, from my iPhone
<?! Keep reading.... and supply data; as you see others have. BobF>

Re: Coral Infection?        4/4/16
Mixed reef. Primarily LPS, but including Acropora. NO3 <2 mg/L; PO4 0.03 ppm; dKH 8.0; Cal 400 ppm; Mg 1300 ppm.
<These values are all good... do you measure RedOx?>
Affected area has not enlarged, and gel has begun to dissipate. Did 30% partial change with Red Sea Coral Pro. I'm inclined to do nothing and monitor.
<I consider this prudent>
Galaxea about 6 years old (in my tank), has tripled in size, and is encrusting live rock and glass panels. Would be very difficult to remove.
<Am wondering... if something fell on this area... a supplement? B>
Martin Pentz, from my iPhone

Galaxia skeleton being eaten? No data of use         4/24/15
Hi folks, as always thanks for all of the years of help you have been to all of us. I have a Galaxia that seems to be dying on me, it's "base" is being either eaten or destroyed in some fashion. When one of its "polyps" gets knocked off I have successfully glued them to a piece of rock and it (they) are doing fine. The main body though is in rough shape. How or can I treat this?
<... need to know what the root cause.... water quality... other organisms here... >

The "pink" area seems to be the healthy tissue, the "rock" is where it is dying or has been eaten away ( Or I may have it totally backwards as usual).
Once again,
Thanks for all the help
Richard M.
<Try reading on WWM re Scleractinian health, Oculinids. Bob Fenner>

Galaxea, and mystery Cnidarian
Crew,
<SP>
I first and foremost would like to thank you for the informative website, and at first I have some good news. I took in a small Galaxea colony that had completely bleached about nine days ago, it was completely transparent except for a few tentacles with had faint green color. Since then here is the color I have seen develop, it also was not exhibiting polyp extension in the old tank. I am frequently surprised at how resilient coral can be.
Anyway, nearly a year ago I emailed about a strange species that appeared in my fish tank attached to a Favites colony I purchased. I thought it was likely Euphyllia of some sort, but it has exhibited non-Euphylliid behavior
I am fairly certain. It underwent rapid division (started with two separate individuals and now have over 15 all differ in size largest is about 3.5 inches) It had tissue that was attached to the rock, but after the skeleton reaches about an inch in diameter it somehow detaches from the rock (including the skeleton) I know I must sound crazy, but the colony also is growing in diameter, but not especially in height. I have had Euphyllia before, and never seen this kind of growth. I will attach the current picture as well as the original I sent in and if more are needed let me know because Im not sure what this is. In hopes all is well,
Bryce
<Might be Euphyllia; perhaps acanthocauli... from a Fungiid: Heliofungia

Bob Fenner>


Galaxea Coral   12/26/13
Dear Crew,
<SP>
Cheers, and good morning! I have a 20 gal reef tank. Lit with a Kessil A150W LED. In the tank I have about 15 lbs of live rock, and the sand bed is about two inches deep. I have no fish in the system, and the live stock includes: Two Thor amboinensis, one small orange Birdsnest, two types of Caulastrea sp., and the coral I am most concerned about a Galaxea.
<.... Oculinids are problematical... with other stinging-celled life; in particular in settings like here... that are small. They (colonies) need a good foot (15 cm.) of all-clear space about them>
 I checked water parameters, and everything seems okay. pH-8.3, Ca-390ppm, NH3-0, NO2-0, NO3-20ppm, KH-10.
<Stop. My usual sigh here re the simple misunderstanding amongst current well-meaning hobbyists who have been sold "nutrient removing media" Kool-Aid... Chemo-photo synthates absolutely need nitrate, phosphate... Search WWM, the Net re>
 Anyway, I do not entirely know how long everything has been this way. I just returned from college for the Christmas Break, and discovered Green Bubble Algae had taken over and killed about two CandyCane polyps, the Birdsnest had lost tissue at the base to the algae, and two branches were also dead, but the Galaxea is by far the worst. The tissue between the polyps has died. So, each polyp is still alive and during the photoperiod has great expansion, but at night it looks horrible. The tank is topped off with RODI water, and kept at about 79 degrees. It hasn't been fed in who knows how long. I have three 500 gph power beads pointed in different directions on timers to cause random flow, though when they are covered in the bubble algae they don't do a lot of good. I was planning to do two 5 gallon water changes over the course of this next week, but I am not sure if that would be enough to save the Galaxea. The die off has been slow according to my mother who has been adding water to the tank, but I've seen coral go really quickly once they get to a point, and hopefully my Galaxea isn't there. Would it be worth taking with me and putting in a new tank I set up for my dorm?
<Yes; IMO>
The lighting on that is a 30 watt Reef Bright LED. Would it be better to just take it all?
<... "to take it all"... what does this mean?>
 My hunch is that it needs to be fed, and has to have frequent water changes, but I would like some expert advise.
Sincerely,
Bryce
<... Reading, return of nutrient... Bob Fenner>
Re: Galaxea Coral   12/26/13

Crew,
I mean should I remove all livestock from the system. I am only concerned the lighting wouldn't be enough for the Birdsnest.
Bryce
<If there's time, interest, I would remove all Cnidarians... and reintroduce through time... with the least warring to most placed in turn... The Galaxea last... with mixing some water from the isolation system/s on a daily basis per the Allelopathy articles and ppt on WWM. B>

Galaxia dying 11/29/11
Hi folks,
Once again thanks for all of the help you give all of us. I have already tried looking through the articles about this and can't find anything that looks like this. My Galaxia <Galaxea> is slowly being eaten?
<Mmm, no...>
Or at least killed off by what ever is in this pic. I can't figure out what to do to stop/kill what ever is happening. If there isn't anything to do, can I break out some of the good pieces and how would I get them to take hold on something else?
Thanks once again,
Richard
<Something overt has happened here... Likely an encounter w/ another Cnidarian... Do you have a wandering anemone in this system? Is there a possibility that some chemical additive was dropped/sprinkled onto this Coral? Best to remove this colony to a sump/refugium, double-triple dose it
with iodide/ate... Bob Fenner>

Galaxia Problem 4/15/11
Hi folks,
We got a Galaxia <Galaxea> about 6 months ago, it started out fine, but in the last 2-3 months has started to wither. It also has these weird filaments sticking out from the dead tissue area.
<I see these>
In the picture it is a little retracted since I had just moved it up to get a better picture. I have been fighting high nitrates in every way listed,
<What does this mean? How have you been doing this?>
they are usually around 20.
<Not too high>
Spg is 1.024 and the ph, temp are all great. All other measurements stay where they are supposed to, and I am using a Hagen master kit for my tests. I UNDER feed everything, and do heavy water changes every week. Anyway, what's up with the Galaxia?
Thanks for using your time to help us.
Richard
<Mmm, it may be being poisoned by the BGA/Cyanobacteria under in in your pic... or some other Cnidarian present... or the means you're applying to limit NO3... Please (run the gamut) read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/galcordisf.htm
and the linked files re the family above. Bob Fenner>

Re: Galaxia/ea Problem 4/15/11
Could you point out to me what you are identifying as the BGA?
<To the right, below>
As I look in that area or any other part of the tank I don't see any. There is a light green "color" on the rock but that is the only area that it might be? It doesn't have any depth to it, literally looks like a light stain in the pores of the live rock and it never changes. There is a lot of what I believed to be coralline algae growth on rock (purple patches) and even the glass, no slime or any type of hair algae either. The only thing that does show up is a small amount of brown algae on the glass and substrate. All of my measurements are great except the NO3 which stays at the 20 level despite 30 gallon water changes every 7-10 days. By the way it's a 80 gallon tank with a 5-7 gallon 'fuge. Water temp stays between 79.5 and 81, salinity is at 1.024. I am using two 250 watt metal halides in the 20K range.
Thanks yet again,
Richard
<See WWM re... BGA ID, B>

Cutting Sweeper Tentacles on a Galaxea fascicularis -- 07/21/08 Hello WWM, <Rick> I thoroughly enjoy your site! I read somewhere (some other book or web resource) that you could keep the sweeper tentacles cut on a galaxea fascicularis. <Mmm, no... regenerate> I have not been able to relocate the information. I recently purchased an excellent specimen and want to provide the best environment for it and the other occupants of my 140g mixed reef tank. Will cutting the sweepers harm this coral? <Trying to, yes> If I do cut the sweepers do I have to be careful not to let them float around the tank? <Mmm, yes> Can sweepers be cut on other corals? <Not really... aren't obvious, are largely translucent... can/do grow back> Thank you for any help you can give. Rick Hrdlicka <Leave at least a foot of space around the Oculinid... acclimate all new Cnidarian life by mixing some water for weeks twixt isolation (quarantine) and the main tank, before introduction/acclimation. Bob Fenner>

Galaxy Coral Hi Bob, Hope all is well. I picked up a Galaxy coral for my 55 reef yesterday at a "scratch and dent sale" at my LFS. He is opening well but does have a few spots that look like damage during shipping. It looks like the stony base may have 2 or 3 spots that are damaged where there are no tentacles. Will this grow back under good conditions? Are they able to regenerate some lost tissue? If one area is damaged will the whole animal die? As always, thank you for you help., Andrew >> Really like the Galaxeas (family Oculinidae)... though they are "real stingers" (keep a good space between it and other cnidarians)... And yes, under propitious circumstances the animal will overgrow bare spots... and get bigger all the way around. Bob Fenner

My galaxy coral Hello, I just found this site and I love it. I have heard (read) your name before. Aren't you kinda famous? <Ha! You're making my day> anyway, thank you for supplying yourself for questions. I have one for you. I have a Galaxy coral that I got as 6 little sticks about the size of cigarettes, I epoxied them together on a piece of liverock in my 35 gal. reef. there they started to grow quite well and the mantel covered over the epoxy. that was about a year and a half ago. Then I broke down my 55 gal freshwater tank and converted it over to a reef tank with a sump and all that stuff. then after it cycled I moved everything into it from the 35 gal. tank about 6 months ago. now lately I have noticed on my galaxy coral that the center of the galaxy coral is disappearing. do you know any reason why this might be happening. the Galaxy coral is still growing slowly outward as the center disappears. I hope I'm not going to lose it. All my tank readings are clean and calcium is at 410. any suggestions I would appreciate <Thank you for writing... A few things could be amiss here. I would first check on the age of your lighting/lamps... it may be that they're "getting old"... should be cycled out every six months or so (depending on the format, hours used per day...), and next your alkalinity... Your calcium et al. can be fine, but without adequate alkaline reserve your biomineralizing livestock will falter... I do doubt if you have a predator at play here, due to the origin of the "whiting out" spot... however, if the light, alkalinity possibilities don't help, I'd move the specimen up in your water column toward more light and better circulation conditions.> Thank you, Mike Lewis <Bob Fenner>

My galaxy coral Hello, I have to say thank you again for helping me. I dose Kalkwasser and I also have been adding Kent Marine supper buffer dKH, could the supper buffer be doing it. I also add Kent Iodine, Strontium, Iron, Calcium, Coral-Vite as a mix once a week. what am I doing wrong. thank you. Mike Lewis <Yikes... too much mixing of various alkaline and biomineral agents... Yes to choosing EITHER the Kalk OR the Calcium product... and do leave out the "Vite" for a good while... Do look into the Baensch Marine Atlas v.1 for a thorough going over of the basics of water chemistry... you want to fashion or purchase a calcium reactor going forward, believe me... Bob Fenner>

Re: My galaxy coral Hello again, thank you for answering so quickly, I had to buy a alkalinity test kit and it reads 5.7 meq/L or 286.4 ppm I know that is a little high, could it be the cause of the "whiting out" spot. bye the way do you remember my last e-mail. thank you again, Mike Lewis <Ah, yes... or more specifically, the "whiting out" is likely caused by whatever it is that you're doing that is resulting in the high alkalinity reading... Do you mix supplements? Time to limit yourself to just one either "all-in-one" alkalinity and biomineral product or just one "two part" product. Bob Fenner> Hello, I just found this site and I love it. I have heard (read) your name before. Aren't you kinda famous? <Ha! You're making my day> anyway, thank you for supplying yourself for questions. I have one for you. I have a Galaxy coral that I got as 6 little sticks about the size of cigarettes, I epoxied them together on a piece of live rock in my 35 gal. reef. there they started to grow quite well and the mantel covered over the epoxy. that was about a year and a half ago. Then I broke down my 55 gal freshwater tank and converted it over to a reef tank with a sump and all that stuff. then after it cycled I moved everything into it from the 35 gal. tank about 6 months ago. now lately I have noticed on my galaxy coral that the center of the galaxy coral is disappearing. do you know any reason why this might be happening. the Galaxy coral is still growing slowly outward as the center disappears. I hope I'm not going to lose it. All my tank readings are clean and calcium is at 410. any suggestions I would appreciate <Thank you for writing... A few things could be amiss here. I would first check on the age of your lighting/lamps... it may be that they're "getting old"... should be cycled out every six months or so (depending on the format, hours used per day...), and next your alkalinity... Your calcium et al. can be fine, but without adequate alkaline reserve your biomineralizing livestock will falter... I do doubt if you have a predator at play here, due to the origin of the "whiting out" spot... however, if the light, alkalinity possibilities don't help, I'd move the specimen up in your water column toward more light and better circulation conditions.> Thank you, Mike Lewis <Bob Fenner>

Galaxy coral I just wanted to let you know, that awhile back I e-mailed you about my galaxy coral. it was dying off. you said I was adding to many additives. that was about 6 months or so ago. after your advise, it has all grown over the dead spots and is still growing. <Thanks for the follow-up, congratulations. Bob Fenner> Thank You, Mike Lewis

Copper treatment and Ammonia dilution; Galaxea problem -- 07/16/07 Hi Crew, <Hi.> I am treating my fish for ick with a product called CopperSafe <good>. My clown goby that looked real bad has cleared up and is eating, my spotted cardinal did not seem to have it, but he stopped eating, but now is eating and my royal Gramma had it, but did not seem too bad, but he died. I tested the water for ammonia and it is at least 1. <Yikes, I hope you are treating your fish in a tank without live rock/sand and invertebrates. CopperSafe is a chelated copper product. While easier to handle than ionic copper, it is still best to monitor the chelated copper level with an adequate test kit.> I am using a product called AmmoLock for ammonia and the fish seem ok. I am also making a 30% water change. Should I make more drastic water changes? <Not a fan of this and similar products in that case. While it may not hurt, I'd rather rely on large water changes to keep the ammonia down and additionally remove free stages of the parasites. Be sure to measure ammonia at least daily and act accordingly.> I got a Galaxea, see pictures (550 is current and 531 is as it was 2 weeks ago) and it is not doing well. It is in a 10 gallon with 65w pc. Does it need special feeding or more light? <<RMF lost pix...>> <Ensure the water quality is good at any time. Nitrates can be around 5, but temperature, salinity and pH should not change too much. Your lighting should be sufficient, but the small water volume might go through severe daily changes. Check that. Try feeding it just like other LPS corals. Give it some time. If its condition does not improve, it might do better in another tank. Beware this coral is quite aggressive and can sting animals almost one foot away. See http://www.wetwebmedia.com/oculinidae.htm and the linked FAQs.> I cannot find much info about it. I got it as a package deal and had no choice. I also got a very large Fungia but gave it away. Should I do the same for the Galaxea? Thanks. <Welcome and good luck with your treatment. Marco.>

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