Oprah Wrangler September 27, 2006 Share September 27, 2006 Hey all, This is a strange question but I dont know what this stuff is. My hammer coral has this brown stuff coming out of the whol ein the middle of it ( I thought it was a mouth) It looks a little like poop but has the consistancy of thick vomit and it is brown. All of the tenticls are shrinking and I have no idea if it is splitting or dying. Please help. I will tryto get a picture and attach to this in a moment. thanks Andre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte September 27, 2006 Share September 27, 2006 Could be waste or it could be expelling excess zooxanthellae. Either way, sounds like it is a healthy coral - so long as you are getting nice coloration (ie no bleaching) and good polyp extension. Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhoch September 27, 2006 Share September 27, 2006 Andre, Sometimes yes they do "poop", but typically that is a fairly thin amoutn of expulsion (in my experience). What I think is going on is potential Brown Jelly Disease or an explusion of zoanthelle (but without a picture hard to tell)... either way not a good sign. You can try a dip (in my experience I've been able to slow BJ Disease down, but not stop it). Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oprah Wrangler September 27, 2006 Author Share September 27, 2006 Hope the pictures help diagnose this problem. You can see the brown stuff in question in the center of the hammer coral Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhoch September 27, 2006 Share September 27, 2006 I see it, but am hard pressed for an answer... Mike says zooanthelle expulsion not a bad thing, so I might be inclined to lean his way.... My experience was that not long after that I started really loosing heads... My hammer doesn't do that and it's probably the biggest healthiest coral in my tank... Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oprah Wrangler September 27, 2006 Author Share September 27, 2006 Could be waste or it could be expelling excess zooxanthellae. Either way, sounds like it is a healthy coral - so long as you are getting nice coloration (ie no bleaching) and good polyp extension. Cheers Mike What do you think from the looks of the pics Mike? I havent noticed any loss of heads but this not the first time this as happened. I noticed that brown stuff two weeks ago strung across some macro algea. This is the first time i have witnessed the act and seen the origin of the brown slime. I see it, but am hard pressed for an answer... Mike says zooanthelle expulsion not a bad thing, so I might be inclined to lean his way.... My experience was that not long after that I started really loosing heads... My hammer doesn't do that and it's probably the biggest healthiest coral in my tank... Dave thanks for your prompt responses. What kind of things should i look for next to give me a sign of what to expect... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhoch September 27, 2006 Share September 27, 2006 Well I can't 100% say... but here is what I've noticed. On my LPS a sign of health is that the living tissue extends far down the branch of the coral (it's not just a polyp with a little bit of flesh holding it on) Take a look at the pictures on this page: http://www.danj.com/reef/corals_detail.php?coral_id=6 you can see the torch corals polyps are barely holding on (this one eventually succumed to brown jelly). You want to see growth down the stalk... see: http://www.danj.com/reef/corals_detail.php?coral_id=66 this coral has started extending down the stalk and to me thats a sign of healthy growth in the coral. Typically I get good polyp extension during the day and they close up at night (at least hammers and frogspawns)... I would watch the tissue around the stalk and see if it's growing or receeding. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emissary September 27, 2006 Share September 27, 2006 I suspect zooxanthellae expulsion. My frogspawn does this from time to time with minor changes in water conditions or lighting. Not *necessarily* a bad sign unless it keeps up. Sometimes corals just need to get rid of old zooxanthellae or change *types*. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryL September 27, 2006 Share September 27, 2006 i had an elegance that went postal when my alk went through the roof. then a chain reaction happened. i thought i lost all my spawn but i noticed like a few weeks ago that i had some froggy buds it was a nice specimin too. i hope it is the zooxanthellae, but keep an eye on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rascal September 28, 2006 Share September 28, 2006 My experience with a related coral: I had a torch in my old tank that went from 1 head to 8-10 in a little more than a year. After a combination of stressors (9 hr pwr outage and then an overly active cleaning lady), it got a brown jelly infection and I lost all but 2 heads in a matter of days. While it was healthy and growing it would sometimes expell zooxanthellae -- which looked to me like what the picture shows coming out of your Hammer. The difference was that the zooxanthellae would come out in a string which would eventually be released and that was it -- there was no "brown stuff" left on the coral. The brown jelly infection stays on the coral and spreads. It doesn't come completely off of the head until there is no tissue left to infect. If you want to quickly set your mind at ease, siphon some of the brown stuff out with a turkey baster and then squirt it into a cup and smell it. If it makes you gag -- it is probably the brown jelly infection. If I had this again I would immediately frag the coral to save the healthy heads. To me it looks like all you have is zooxanthellae expulsion. I would follow Dhoch's excellent suggestions on assessing the health of your coral in order to determine if this is just routine or perhaps an early warning sign of some sort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oprah Wrangler September 28, 2006 Author Share September 28, 2006 Thank you all for your info. I have kept an eye on the base of the coral since I have had it and it looks to be ok in that area. I was wondering if anyone thinks this could be leading up to a splitting of the coral. It looks like the opening in the middle is starting to divide into two parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte September 28, 2006 Share September 28, 2006 What do you think from the looks of the pics Mike? I havent noticed any loss of heads but this not the first time this as happened. I noticed that brown stuff two weeks ago strung across some macro algea. This is the first time i have witnessed the act and seen the origin of the brown slime. thanks for your prompt responses. What kind of things should i look for next to give me a sign of what to expect... Dave makes some good points as well. I have seen both hammer and frogspawn corals do this - I don't have any experience with torches. Keep looking for good polyp extension - that is one sign of a healthy coral. If the polyps start to expand less and less, the coral might "be coming down with something..." Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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