Plate Coral Attachment

[dmweise]

I got a finger leather this week. The leather came with a small plate coral, about the size of a nickel, attached the rock. I would like to remove it and relocate it but am unfamiliar with how plate corals attach themselves to surfaces.

How do plate corals attach themselves to surfaces? How could I safely remove it from the rock?

[Squiers007]

When you say plate coral are you referring to a fungia? If so, then they normally do not attach themselves but simply sit on the bottom. If it is attached to a plug then it was most likely glued on there so you may have a hard time removing it.

[dmweise]

I'm not too sure. Here is a picture of it:

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs275.snc1/10220_161990588878_500053878_2691634_5004332_n.jpg

[Squiers007]

Yeah, thats a fungia. They are solitary polyps that usually sit on the bottom and can actually move themselves around a bit. If they glued it onto that rock then you will probably have a hard time removing it without damaging the coral, however it should be fine if you leave it where it is.

[nubz]

i would leave it, it was probably glued there and you will damage the coral by removing it.

[hobogato]

it is very possible that it actuall grew there on the rock. i have seen other rocks from the wild and in tanks where baby plate corals appeared on the rock like that. the safest way to remove it would be to try to cut the rock, but you would risk damage that can easily be fatal to fungia (although they are not as touchy as heliofungia)

[Paraletho]

I had on e the same way on a Zoa frag. Alot of Fungia babies are attached by a stem in the center. Fungia in general have the ability to dissolve the cal carbonate skeletons at will by releasing a certain enzyme. In other words they can frag themselves. The babies usually attach to rocks until big enough to handle themselves on the sandy bottom and not get covered so deep they can't dig out. When they are ready they dissolve their attachment. Mine had a long enough stem I just clipped him out of the zoas as they weren't doing each other any good.
After fragging it turned purple this picture 3 mths old . Now about the size of a silver dollar
http://i514.photobucket.com/albums/t341/paraletho/PC200806.jpg
Before while in some Fire and Ice zoas
http://i514.photobucket.com/albums/t341/paraletho/P7200537.jpg

[hobogato]

great info! thanks for adding that

[Mr Cob]

Allow my to piggy back here...

About a year ago I bought some live rock and got a itty bitty hitch hiker that looked like a little frilly mushroom...it was the size of an eraser head. Well, it eventually grew into a little plate coral and now is about the size of a silver dollar.

It's growing on a small piece of rock in the sand...I have always just left it alone...is that fine? Does it need to be removed? And if removed will the brown color it has potentially change to something more appealing?

Thanks.

[aggman]

i got this from exerpt from an article in reefkeeping magazine...

"My first experience with Fungia was accidental. Early in my days as a hobbyist I'd purchased a colorful soft coral attached to a small rock. In a few weeks the soft coral had withered away but, being lazy, I left the rock in the tank. After a few weeks I noticed a very small polyp starting to grow, attached to the rock. I had no idea what it was, because it was about the size of a sesame seed. It continued to grow for the next six months or so to about the size of a half dollar. At that point the now recognizable Fungia broke free from its attachment point on the rock and became free living. It continued to grow, and retained its standard brown color for many years. The fascinating thing for me was that I noticed that a tiny amount of living coral tissue remained at the point where the free-living polyp had broken free. Over the course of the next few weeks, this living tissue grew over the bare skeleton that was left where the coral had detached. The tissue re-formed into another polyp and began to grow again, soon looking identical to the way it had before the first polyp's detachment. This went on for several years, and I ended up with three or so babies being "born" from this single attachment point. Eventually I had some serious problems with a tenacious form of algae known as Bryopsis, which is unpalatable to most herbivores. The attachment point was overgrown with algae, and that was the end of my Fungia "factory." Having several identical Fungia in hand, however, I felt it was time to experiment with some fragmentation techniques on this coral. To this day, I still have several of this coral's daughter clones, which I obtained from my propagation efforts."

hopefully it is useful. rob it sounds exactly like what you described.

~alex

[Mr Cob]

Very cool. I guess I'll leave it be and see if it detaches itself. Thanks Alex, I enjoyed reading it and, "yes" that's exactly what I have going on...just still at phase 1.

Man, I have almost traded or sold this thing several times because it's ugly...but I can't break my attachment to this little guy. He has developed a light green mouth but that's about it.

[aggman]

yeah i have a yellowtail damsel that has that affect on me. he is a trooper and i just can't bring myself to get rid of him.

~alex

[Paraletho]

Well he finally decided to frag himself. Curious to see what he is going to do with his new found freedom.
http://i514.photobucket.com/albums/t341/paraletho/PB130245.jpg
http://i514.photobucket.com/albums/t341/paraletho/PB130244.jpg
right before he detached about 2" across
http://i514.photobucket.com/albums/t341/paraletho/P9060131.jpg
It really puffs up at night
http://i514.photobucket.com/albums/t341/paraletho/P9080141.jpg

[tebstan]

That's so cool. Now I want a plate coral.