Can RTN'd white skeleton of frag repopulate?

[AlanM]

I have a frag that had just begun encrusting on the plug after buying in October.  I could see a bit of color on the base of the frag covering the super-glue that attached it to the plug.  Over the course of a couple of days all of the flesh peeled off the frag leaving a bare white skeleton, but it didn't peel off the part that had grown over the glue.  It's really just a couple of mm of possible life over there.  So I left it in. 

 

Now it looks to me like some color is coming back to the white part of the skeleton as if it's growing flesh back over the dead part.  Does it ever happen that the previous dead part will get new polyps grown back in the dead corallites, and it will basically come back to life? 

 

The color could just be algae or something, but it looks like it's the same color that the frag used to have, hence the question.

[davelin315]

Doubtful at best, it can encrust over them, but I don't believe it will reoccupy a dead corallite. Maybe Henley will chime in on this one.

[surf&turf]

Can you see any polyps?

[Origami]

Doubtful at best, it can encrust over them, but I don't believe it will reoccupy a dead corallite. Maybe Henley will chime in on this one.

This is my experience as well

 

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[YHSublime]

Alan, this happened to me with a large frag, I thought it was coming back, but it was algae. I tossed it a few months after. My experience.

[steveoutlaw]

If there is an area where the tissue didn't RTN, just leave it alone.  Are you sure it's RTN and not bleached?  I have had bleached stuff come back.

[AlanM]

If there is an area where the tissue didn't RTN, just leave it alone.  Are you sure it's RTN and not bleached?  I have had bleached stuff come back.

I watched the flesh peel off over the course of a couple days, so I dont think it is just bleached. I will leave it in for now to see what happens.

[Jason Rhoads]

I have never seen a RTNd frag repopulate, it can grow back over the dead. Without diagnosing why the piece died off I doubt you can salvage even that which is still alive. I have tried with a few and only once have I ever been able to salvage a total loss. 

[OUsnakebyte]

If there is any tissue left (i.e. it is indeed not algae/diatoms occupying the newly-dead skeleton), then it is possible the colony is still alive and will re-encrust the old skeleton.  However, the coral will not reoccupy the vacated corralite - it will simply build its new skeleton/flesh over the existing skeleton, creating new corralites in the process. 

 

Good luck and hope it recovers.

 

Cheers

Mike

[AlanM]

OK.  I kind of doubt it is flesh from the old one encrusting over the old corallites.  It must be algae that is slightly coloring the skeleton.  I'll leave it in there for now to see what happens.

Edited January 6, 2014 by AlanM

[Origami]

If there is any tissue left (i.e. it is indeed not algae/diatoms occupying the newly-dead skeleton), then it is possible the colony is still alive and will re-encrust the old skeleton.  However, the coral will not reoccupy the vacated corralite - it will simply build its new skeleton/flesh over the existing skeleton, creating new corralites in the process. 

 

Good luck and hope it recovers.

 

Cheers

Mike

That's exactly what I've seen with some partial die-offs: Re-encrustation. But this takes time - typically weeks - to accomplish fully.

 

OK.  I kind of doubt it is flesh from the old one encrusting over the old corallites.  It must be algae that is slightly coloring the skeleton.  I'll leave it in there for now to see what happens.

Often algae will cover newly exposed skeleton in a matter of days. It can be brown or green, but it's most likely going to be algae. The exception would be if you were to see evidence of polyps in the coralites, in which case, you might have a case of coral bleaching from which a coral can recover.

 

In either case, wait a week or two if you can before deciding a direction. If there is a growing area of tissue loss (slow tissue necrosis (STN)), then fragging away the dying area may be your best option to halt the spread of the dying area.