encideought August 20, 2011 Share August 20, 2011 All right, this is the weirdest thing I have ever seen in my aquarium. Last night I was feeding my sun corals and I noticed some weird light-colored spots on my black sun coral. I stared at them for a while and noticed that THEY STARTED TO MOVE. The spots are INSIDE the coral tissue. I've had this coral for probably over a year and it has branched quite a few times and I think it's grown pretty well. I have never seen these spots before, I'm almost positive the black sun coral did not have them a while ago, and I haven't been able to see the same spots on my other sun corals. I've been intensively feeding my sun corals because they have basically stopped growing and my dendro is even starting to have to have some tissue recession from the base up. They are all eating great (especially the dendro) and last night is the first time the black sun coral has opened up for a good meal in probably a week or two. Here is a pic of the spots: Here is the So what the heck are these things? They move like flatworms and they're really quick. Has anyone heard of internal flatworm parasites? Who would be the authority on this kind of thing that I could ask? Would a freshwater dip work on internal parasites? I'm having a strange mix of terror and curiosity... Thanks! Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mando77 August 20, 2011 Share August 20, 2011 That just dont look right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel not fish August 20, 2011 Share August 20, 2011 Corals are very sensitive for a fresh water bath, you should use a revive bath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman August 20, 2011 Share August 20, 2011 Can't even guess... Eric Bornemann maybe? bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS August 20, 2011 Share August 20, 2011 What were you feeding them? Any chance it's the actual food they just ate? Just throwing that out there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals August 20, 2011 Share August 20, 2011 I haven't ever seen anything like that in our black sun corals, nor the dendros or other suncorals. Looks like you fed them rice... Would also like to find out what they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami August 20, 2011 Share August 20, 2011 Sun coral larvae? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad August 20, 2011 Share August 20, 2011 Sun coral larvae? This was going to be my guess too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoltarblue August 20, 2011 Share August 20, 2011 If that is just little ones it is very cool to see. I liked the video link showing it on you tube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 August 21, 2011 Share August 21, 2011 I had parasites inside of a cabbage leather coral long ago that looked similar to those. They were also internal, or at least I believe them to be. They didn't do anything to the coral, though, at least that I noticed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
encideought August 21, 2011 Author Share August 21, 2011 (edited) What were you feeding them? Any chance it's the actual food they just ate? Just throwing that out there... I just feed them frozen stuff, mostly mysis, sometimes adding a little of Scott's food. When I'm lazy I'll give them pellets. After looking through a bunch of stuff my best guess is that they're planula too. At least I should say that's what I hope they are. The coral doesn't seem sick or diseased, it's actually been a pretty big pig for a long time. I hope they're friendly, but I guess there's no way to tell other than give it time and see if the spots go away and: a) the coral dies or b) I find new polyps somewhere Cool, I hope this means they're happy, I can't imagine where something like this would have come from, so I'm pretty optimistic that they are supposed to be there. I'll try to get better videos and post if I'm successful. Thanks for the thoughts everyone! Edited August 21, 2011 by encideought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanglandJoshua August 21, 2011 Share August 21, 2011 That sure looks weird, obviously I hope its not a parasite....I.hope its larva. Looking foreward to see how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
encideought August 29, 2011 Author Share August 29, 2011 Well, I'm pretty sure they're larvae. I tried to take a movie of them moving but my camera just isn't good enough. Here's one about to leave: Here are a few crawling around the container I was feeding the sun corals in: I sucked up the ones I could find and put them into a little container with some rocks: After a day or two it looks like they attached to the rocks: I just checked yesterday and it looks like small polyps are starting to form. I'll try to get some pics in the next couple days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami August 29, 2011 Share August 29, 2011 That's so cool. Keep going with taking and posting the photographs. It's a neat record. Congratulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad August 29, 2011 Share August 29, 2011 That is awesome, Nick! Great photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanglandJoshua August 29, 2011 Share August 29, 2011 Thats wild! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave w August 29, 2011 Share August 29, 2011 What an amazing discovery! I hope they continue to grow for you and you can find them the right food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite August 30, 2011 Share August 30, 2011 Very Cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind August 30, 2011 Share August 30, 2011 This is awesome! 20 years in this hobby and I am still amazed at times by the new stuff we discover happening in our tanks. Keep the updates coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
encideought August 31, 2011 Author Share August 31, 2011 I tried to get pictures of the tiny polyps, but they're pretty darn small. Maybe I'll try taking some to work to get some pictures on the microscope... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanglandJoshua August 31, 2011 Share August 31, 2011 (edited) Please do! I've got at least three types of snails that spawn in my tank....wish I could get some pics of these tiny little babies. Even my bristle worms spawned....I need a better camera! Edited August 31, 2011 by LanglandJoshua Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FearTheTerps August 31, 2011 Share August 31, 2011 you can see them a little bit, definitely looks like a polyp. I wonder how long till they start to take on a darker color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Magnolia August 31, 2011 Share August 31, 2011 That is so cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami August 31, 2011 Share August 31, 2011 Great pictures. You can definitely see the polyps. Keep up the good work! Picture of the month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind August 31, 2011 Share August 31, 2011 I can see the polyps nicely. I think it would be cool if you brought them into the lab but I also fear a slight change in temp or another parameter during the transport might cause them to die. This is a delicate stage they are in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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