crazy question

[verynewatthis]

As some of you know....i had a tank crash and all of my SpS Rtned on m.e...stupid water heater blew up on me..../cry...

So here is the question.....all of my corals Rtn'ed....but im looking at a few of them and they have polyps out.....What gives.....the corals are stone white....and at night they look dead as can be....but how are the polypes coming out....do they have a chance...or are they just taking longer to die??

let me know...ty

Rich

Stay Cav

[subsailor]

Let me see if i can take a crack at this and not mess it up.

The tissues of the corals are clear and are colorless while the zooanthelle of a specific coral produces the color variations that we see. The white that you see in after a coral RTN is the calcerous core of the coral through the translucent tissues of the coral. When a coral is bleached its zooanthelle has evacuated the coral and died( Due to whatever circumstances) however the coral can remain allive as it not only lived off of zooanthelle but also with filter feeding.

The reason zooanthelle share a symbiotic relationship with a coral is that it provides it with a protected shelter and also provides it carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.

So.... I would say the answer to your question is yes they could still be holding on however it is inevetible since the zooanthelle is gone that they will die.

This is what I think happens and is by no way for sure, sorry to be the one that says it......

[JimD]

Thats fairly accurate, the only thing is that the coral can and will recover given the opportunity to regain its algae content. Light and nutrition are the key.

[Texreefer]

if there are still polyps and tissue it was not RTN it is just bleached and they can recover if there is enough appropriate food available until the zooxanthellae can re-populate

[subsailor]

Oh ok that is what I did not know I thought that it was not recoverable in an aquarium enviroment. Good to know.

[coraline79]

I had the same issue with my sps-green slimer and green monti caps. They were almost all white/light brown after an accidental 5 day lights on while out of town. heat killed them I thought, but, after a month and a half, the color has started to return to all of them. I use b-ionic 1&2, phytopheast, and rotifeast I think they all help SPS growth in general.