Sacrophyton has a hole in it

[Larry Grenier]

It's abount 3" across. Polyps fully extend during the day. Hard to see the hole when polyps out, easy to see early morning. Otherwise looks healthy. Edges of the hole don't appear to be damaged or diseased. Polyps right up to the edge. Don't see any bugs. Maybe not a problem. Just looking for opinions.

[jason the filter freak]

perhaps a fish has taken a liking to that coral

[Jon Lazar]

This is not uncommon with leather corals, and they seem to usually recover on their own. A 3" hole sounds large, but I wouldn't do anything except monitor it, especially because you said there's no sign of diseased tissue and good PE right up to the edge.

 

Good luck,

Jon

[Coral Hind]

I think he meant the coral was 3" across.

 

Holes in toadstools normally develop from a necrotic area as it just rots away. Possible reasons is food or detritus falls there and just sits, wasn't blown off by the currents so it rots. I have also seen this when upgrading bulbs, kinda like a sun burn.

[lanman]

There was a discussion on this here about a year ago? The 'hole' actually ended up being a spawning event; a piece of the leather near the hole 'fell off' and started a new coral. All was well.

 

bob

[Larry Grenier]

Thanks folks,

 

I meant that the sacro head is about 3" across. The hole is < 1/4" across.

 

Otherwise looks healthy.

 

The piece of food is possible as the coral kinds forms a cup that can hold stuff.

 

Spawning event sound like a good theory too.

 

New bulbs, next month's hurdle :-)

[zygote2k]

This is a normal way of reproduction in sarcophyton sp. It is very much like petal laceration. It is 100% normal and healthy.