Healthy caulastrea? or ripoff?

[AJinNY]

Question..I saw a beautiful caulastrea and it was hard to not buy it.

The centers were a beautiful teal...but the outside for the most part looked good but on one side of the piece I noticed there were some "white" spots....not sure if it was skeleton showing or not....maybe it was just waste that didnt wash away? who knows.

I REALLY wanted to buy it but wasnt sure what to do. Arent these things supposed to be hardy? Anyone have a pic of a sick one? You think the piece was ok and I was being overly cautious?

Im bummed.

[AJinNY]

Come on...ok ok I'll sweeten the pot.....whoever responds to this thread gets some karma.

[mps9506]

AJ, it is honestly hard to tell from your description
Could be a number of things. But it is best to stay away if you have ANY doubts at all on the health of an organism.
Could just be some slime, or it could be bleaching, or could be slowly wasting away from a bacterial disease. My advice is if you are unsure, just keep an eye out on it for a week or so at the store. If you think it may get purchased see if the store will hold it for you while you see what happens to it.
I know at my store I have zero problems holding SW or expensive FW livestock to ensure it is eating/healthy etc.
Mike

[Craig Manoukian]

Alan,

Can you get a picture and post it here for a visual diagnosis? Would be very helpful, TIA.

[AJinNY]

Im not sure the guys at this lfs would appreciate me bringing a camera and snapping pics.....this is not the place where I buy most of my livestock and theyre not the friendliest of people in there.

But I will keep an eye on the piece...I just wish I knew what to look for.

[DaveK]

My own thoughts are that if something doesn't look quite right to me, it's usualy not a good buy. Any "white spots" on a coral would be questionable to me. OTOH, if the price was right, and I could frag it right away, I might give it a try. If the white spots seemed to be getting worse, I'f frag it and hope for the best.

[AJinNY]

I dont have a clue how to frag so its not an option to me. I went back today and the white has gotten a little worse and I see some skeleton....its not a healthy piece.

Oh well.

[DaveK]

Originally Posted by AJinNY

I dont have a clue how to frag so its not an option to me. ...

I highly recommend reading up on coral propagation by fragmenting a coral. The method is a little different for SPS, LPS, and soft corals. This is excellent knowlege to have, since it is often possible to save part of a dieing coral by fraging it, and saving the good parts.

I can understand that if you have a great looking coral, you don't desire to frag it, but if something every happens, you will know what you can do as a last resort. I have saved parts of several soft corals over the years by doing this.