Colt Coral Help Needed

[Adnuces]

Bought a small piece of colt coral and when I got home noticed that it has been torn away from the rock frag it was attached to. Is there any hope for this? What can I do, I currently have it placed in a hollow in the lr with the small stone weighting it down until I can figure out what to do?????

 

[KimPossible]

The colt is very hearty coral. I would "lightly" band it to the piece of LR you want it to attach it to. You could also stitch it on.
Keep it in a light flow area until it has attached.
You shouldn't have any problems. Good Luck!
I have seen a colt regenerate from the small tissue remaining on the live rock it had been torn from.

 

[Woodstock]

You did the right thing... anchoring it down. It will be fine. Do not move the rock that is holding it down for a couple of weeks because it takes a while for the leather to attach.

 

[Adnuces]

Well today one piece broke away from the band......grrrr..I took it out and superglued it to the rock and replaced it in the tank. I will watch it carefully and if I lose it.....it will be an expensive lesson learned...

 

[addict]

I agree that Colt's are really hardy corals... I've also had one grow out from a miniscule piece of flesh into a 6" tall specimen in about 7 months.

As for the problem you're having, it sounds like you rubberbanded the coral directly to the rock, which is going to cause it to split. Your best bet is to sandwich the base in between two rocks, and 'lightly' band the two together. It'll probably attach to both rocks, but then you can cut away the rock that has the least amount of attachment.

As a bonus, the small piece of flesh left on the cut away rock will probably grow out into another colt.

The problem with banding the coral directly (as you've found), is that it's such a small area pressing the coral down to the rock, that it most often just splits the coral in half... I also doubt the superglue will stick, since the coral will simply 'slime itself off'... it has to attach on it's own.

Good luck.

 

[Woodstock]

Ditto to Addict. I usually just try to place a small rock over it for a few weeks to anchor my frags down. Rubberbanding soft corals is an art in itself and I myself have cut many a frag in half trying that. A large netting that allows water flow through also works... just make sure you do not attach it too tightly.

 

[JasonL]

I am glad that I was looking around through the forums now because I think you just helped me identify my mystery coral, check it out in my gallery. (orange) Mine too appeared to be ripped from the LR but seems to be doing fine now. The polyps only come out at night though... is that normal?

 

[DaveK]

One of the "tricks" you can do with a colt coral is to put a plastic toothpick through it at the base, and then rubber band each end of the toothpick. Position the base of the colt over a low point where you want it to attach.

Give it two or three of weeks, and you can remove the rubber bands and tooth pick.