ever seen turbinaria do this?

[framerguy]

My turbinaria has been doing this for a couple of months now. His "skin" will be smooth and blue then it will swell up with a reddish puffiness. The bluish spot in the very center is what his skin looks like normally. The polyps still come out fine. The puffiness will go away after a while. I can't isolate when it happens, it's different times of the day. Looking at my parameter history log there hasn't been any significant changes. I stopped dosing iodide just before Christmas but can't remember if I noticed the coral doing this or not before that. I was just wondering if it's anything to be concerned about. He's growing, and otherwise seems healthy. All the other corals except the GSP are growing also. See what ya think...

[goldenmean]

I have a green pagoda cup and I have never seen mine do that in 1 1/2 years.
It kind of looks like it has broken out in hives. Maybe there is some chemical warfare going on with another coral in your tank????

[framerguy]

Hives! That's exactly what it looks like. Hmmm, I wonder who it could be.

[Dentoid]

It's embarassed! Seriously, I have no idea.

[naperenterprise]

I saw this STD video in the Navy years ago... Has he been hangin out with the wrong girls??

[naperenterprise]

Is this polyp bailout?

Could it be getting stung by another coral close by, what happenes at night any coral's that extend tenicals or anything?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fungia and some other fungiids can decalcify part of the skeleton in the formation of anthocauli
Most corals (soft and stony), if locally covered long term in deposited material or mechanical obstruction, can " divide" their colony, not simply grow over/around it.
Polyp expulsion can occur in the corals Favia fragum and Oculina patagonica where the polyp and its corallite are released in whole to drift and settle, negatvely buoyed by skeletal material.
Polyp bail out occurs in Pocilloporidae. Here, the polyp only is released from from its corallite. Two small filaments are found at the base of the polyp that are like "quick attachment" anchors.
Stony corals, regularly release small areas of their tissue, lifiting it upward in the calcification process, before skeletogenesis. These areas, first described i 1972 by Barnes, are called lappets, and are usually formed during dicrete periods of the day.
Oulophyllia cripa is reported to voluntarily bail out of its skeleton - a Favidae member.

[framerguy]

I still have to wait a little longer to be absolutely sure but I believe the cup coral was reacting to the Vodka I had been using for nitrate reduction. I occured to me last Tuesday as I was about to dose the tank. I was only using .8ml in a 125g system but it seems it was enough. I stopped cold turkey (actually it was Mr. Boston). It took about three days but he, and my GSP have both perked up nicely. This may be a little more fuel for Chucks anti vodka fire, and I am probably joining his team.

[goldenmean]

He was drunk.
That wasn't hives - it was gin blossoms

[Dentoid]

Greg there is really no way to be sure the vodka is what caused your corals stress. The only way to be sure is to give it rest then start dosing again and see if you get the same response out of your corals. Since I'm sure you don't want to risk causing any harm to your tank, neither would I, your observation is a start, for me, into deciding whether this is an acceptable method or not. Unfortunately, so many ideas and methods are discounted in this hobby from anecdotal, rather than scientific, evidence. I'm glad your corals are doing better.

[framerguy]

You're right Scott. A little more time needs to pass to be sure, and I won't subject them to that again to find out definately. It's a pretty serious cowinkydink though, don't you think.

[Dentoid]

Absolutely! I always say that clinical/field study are as important as laboratory study!

[CATALYST]

It it harder where it's discolored? The base of one of my leathers discolored and hardened a little. I brushed it with a toothbrush and a day or two later it perked up a lot. Do you think if tried it in a spot you could tell? Since you stopped this alcohol has it cleared up?