sps, at what point do you give up and throw it away?

burgerchow · #1 10-23-2009, 08:25 AM

Hello everybody, I've been keeping lps for decades, but just started sps this year. My question is when is an acropora totally dead. I've got some frags that I bought from j and l about 4 mos ago. Most are o.k., but got this big acro.( about 5 inches tall, 3 inches wide) that I think is dead. Haven't seen any polyps for months. I've been hoping it would recover, but it has'nt changed or grown in months. ( my green birdsnest and green millipora have doubled in size in the last 4 mos)
How long does everybody keep trying to save a frag? I guess as long as you can still see some living tissue, it might have a chance to come back, or am I wrong? Can sps actually recover? When do you pull the plug?

fishytime · #2 10-23-2009, 12:46 PM

As long as it isnt white with no tissue or polyps.... thats bad....any other condition, the coral has the potential to recover from.

sphelps · #3 10-23-2009, 01:51 PM

White with no polyps = dead

Aquattro · #4 10-23-2009, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sphelps

White with no polyps = dead

Absolutely not. I had a small colony that was completely white with no polyps for months. I couldn't reach it, so left it in the tank. 4 months later it started coming back, and at 6 months was an awesome little blue colony.
Sure way to tell, remove it from the tank and smell it, acros have a pungent smell if they have tissue. Dead have no smell at all.

sphelps · #5 10-23-2009, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Absolutely not. I had a small colony that was completely white with no polyps for months. I couldn't reach it, so left it in the tank. 4 months later it started coming back, and at 6 months was an awesome little blue colony.
Sure way to tell, remove it from the tank and smell it, acros have a pungent smell if they have tissue. Dead have no smell at all.

True but very rare, for the most part if the coral is bleached and not showing any polyps it's not coming back. It's very difficult to tell whether it still has tissue or not. Perhaps I should have been more clear.

I give up up and throw it away when the coral is white and shows no polyps, that to me = dead.

Aquattro · #6 10-23-2009, 02:46 PM

haha, yes, throwing it away almost certainly means it's dead, or will be shortly. But the smell test is 100%, if it smells like acro, it's got potential. I've had several return from death, and several not, but as long as there is tissue (smell it) it stays in the tank.