takee a look at this bubble coral please

[cracker]

Hey folks, This is my white bubble. Iv'e had it about a year I guess. Now this coral is a little finicky and won't open after water change or a move etc. This time however it's mouth is wide open and there are a few long brown strings coming out of the mouth. it never looked this bad ! 2 things I changed recently. Sunday eve I started dripping Kalkwasser. I just tested for alk and Ca there has been no change since sunday Both are the same alk 8.4 Ca 400. Also last night I went a little crazy with a spot feeding of mysis and coral gumbo. I gave this bubble a big shot from the baster. Ok so this was about an hour ago I noticed it looking terrible. By the time I took pics downloaded them ran the test and started this thread, it already is looking better ! the mouth is closing the strings are gone and it's puffing up a little. What was "that " all about ? thanks !

 

[DaveK]

Bubble corals are sort of strange in that they have Zooxanthellae so they can make food from sunlight, at the same time they have tentacles so they can feel on larger items. You'll often see them inflate their bubbles during the day and deflate them at night. Then you can really see the tentacles.

They can eat some fairly large food. A large bubble coral can eat an entire silversides minnow.

The brown threads you see is usually coral poop, but just to be sure it's not something worse, give the coral the smell test.

Your coral seems a bit more deflated on the right end. Check it to make sure there are no problems there. If you find anything, you may want to dip the coral.

If you have a really serious problem, it is possible to frag a bubble coral and save the good parts. You need a power tile saw to cut through the massive and think coral skeleton. Then mount the good parts on a base. This will do some damage to the living tissue, so it's a good idea to dip the coral after fragging.

What sort of food are you using to feed your coral? You might want something larger than they usual dust size foods usually fed to corals. They can handle it.

I have found that bubble corals seem to like moderate flow.

 

[cracker]

Thanks Dave the coral looks fine now. I don't feed very often, the night before I feed it mysis thru a baster.
It was pissed off over something.

 

[DaveK]

Maybe it didn't like you? (grin)

You may want to feed it a bit more often. They can eat a lot, compared to many other corals.

 

[cracker]

Well the bubble looks just fine tonight. I can feed it a little more. Not too much as the tank is still young.
Now Iv'e seen this bubble pissed before but not like the other night.

 

[oneofmany]

Check this out.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/4/corals

HTH.