Trachyphyllia radiata Behavior?

chopkins · 03/28/2014, 09:33 AM

I was wondering if someone could tell me a little bit about their normal behavior. I just recently added this to my tank about 3 weeks ago and it has been doing very well. The past day one of the mouths appears to be very open, the feeder tentacles are retracted and the polyp itself, for that one mouth, has retracted inwards.

My first impression is that it is just ejecting waste, but I'm not sure what the normal behavior is and I'm having a hard time finding information about it on the web. Has anyone else experienced similar behaviors?

tank is about 4 months old. i've been fighting a winning battle against hair algae and cyanobacteria and it's reduced greatly in the past month as I adjusted the frequency of feeding and increase my husbandry practices. There is still plenty of algae and detritus for the crabs in the tank so I don't think they are an issue. When they finish it off I plan to supplement a piece of seaweed.

pH: 8.3
ammonia: 0
nitrites: 0
nitrates: 0-5 (I have clams so I keep it in that range)

waterflow: 650gph hydor koralia, 500gph marineland, canister filter (not sure about the water flow, made for 75g tank)

I do a 10% water change once a week and clean the canister filter during that time.

tank mates
-------------
blue leg hermit crabs (10-20, they've been killing each other for shells)
red leg hermit crabs x2
emerald crab x2
peppermint shrimp x2
banded serpent starfish (not a brittle star)
bonded pair of misbar clownfish
scopas tang
red firefish
green mandarin

corals
--------
lots of room between them here

waving hand
devil's hand
kenya tree
green star polyps
galaxea
a leather coral i haven't identified yet...(blue with yellow/green polyps cup with a frilled edge?)

the other corals are doing fine...and have even grown quite a bit! so i'm not sure if this just normal behavior or if something is wrong.

not long ago I started adding live phytoplankton to the tank. the micro-life seems to have exploded in the tank (lots of copepods and stuff).

Any advice or knowledge would be greatly appreciated!

chopkins · 03/28/2014, 09:43 AM

Here is a picture of the coral. There appears to be something brown protruding from the top of the mouth (hard to see in the picture).

chopkins · 03/28/2014, 03:53 PM

bump. anyone?

cloak · 03/28/2014, 08:15 PM

All in all, the coral does looks good. Assuming your parameters are within reason & the lighting is sufficient, you might be right, it's just hunkered up and taking a dump. They'll do this from time to time. If the right half doesn't look nice & puffy like the left after a couple days, get back to us. GL.

chopkins · 03/31/2014, 06:37 PM

Thanks for getting back to me. I've been watching it for a few days now. That brown spot that I see is definitely stone-like, but I would have thought it was white if it were dying. Watching its behavior, it seems like white string has been moving over it, then it stops.

I was talking to the guys at the LFS (pretty knowledgable) they said I might be 1) feeding it too much and thus pooping (2 a weekish?) or 2) could be dying. I'm really hoping its the former. I thought I saw it do the same before.

chopkins · 03/31/2014, 06:40 PM

I was having issues with cyano but today i looked at the tank and like a miracle (and good practices) it has almost disappeared! I'm hoping some didn't get inside the mouth itself beforehand.

I don't think it is the parameters. The kenya tree has doubled in size, the waving hand went from having 2 polyps to having 15, the star polyps have doubled in size. everything is doing well except that one that i'm not sure about. Hopefully it isn't dying. I'll let you know in a few days.

03/28/2014, 09:33 AM	#1
chopkins Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 14	Trachyphyllia radiata Behavior? I was wondering if someone could tell me a little bit about their normal behavior. I just recently added this to my tank about 3 weeks ago and it has been doing very well. The past day one of the mouths appears to be very open, the feeder tentacles are retracted and the polyp itself, for that one mouth, has retracted inwards. My first impression is that it is just ejecting waste, but I'm not sure what the normal behavior is and I'm having a hard time finding information about it on the web. Has anyone else experienced similar behaviors? tank is about 4 months old. i've been fighting a winning battle against hair algae and cyanobacteria and it's reduced greatly in the past month as I adjusted the frequency of feeding and increase my husbandry practices. There is still plenty of algae and detritus for the crabs in the tank so I don't think they are an issue. When they finish it off I plan to supplement a piece of seaweed. pH: 8.3 ammonia: 0 nitrites: 0 nitrates: 0-5 (I have clams so I keep it in that range) waterflow: 650gph hydor koralia, 500gph marineland, canister filter (not sure about the water flow, made for 75g tank) I do a 10% water change once a week and clean the canister filter during that time. tank mates ------------- blue leg hermit crabs (10-20, they've been killing each other for shells) red leg hermit crabs x2 emerald crab x2 peppermint shrimp x2 banded serpent starfish (not a brittle star) bonded pair of misbar clownfish scopas tang red firefish green mandarin corals -------- lots of room between them here waving hand devil's hand kenya tree green star polyps galaxea a leather coral i haven't identified yet...(blue with yellow/green polyps cup with a frilled edge?) the other corals are doing fine...and have even grown quite a bit! so i'm not sure if this just normal behavior or if something is wrong. not long ago I started adding live phytoplankton to the tank. the micro-life seems to have exploded in the tank (lots of copepods and stuff). Any advice or knowledge would be greatly appreciated!

03/28/2014, 03:53 PM	#3
chopkins Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 14	bump. anyone?

03/28/2014, 08:15 PM	#4
cloak Moved On Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Stockton, CA Posts: 14,854	All in all, the coral does looks good. Assuming your parameters are within reason & the lighting is sufficient, you might be right, it's just hunkered up and taking a dump. They'll do this from time to time. If the right half doesn't look nice & puffy like the left after a couple days, get back to us. GL.

03/31/2014, 06:37 PM	#5
chopkins Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 14	Thanks for getting back to me. I've been watching it for a few days now. That brown spot that I see is definitely stone-like, but I would have thought it was white if it were dying. Watching its behavior, it seems like white string has been moving over it, then it stops. I was talking to the guys at the LFS (pretty knowledgable) they said I might be 1) feeding it too much and thus pooping (2 a weekish?) or 2) could be dying. I'm really hoping its the former. I thought I saw it do the same before.

03/31/2014, 06:40 PM	#6
chopkins Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 14	I was having issues with cyano but today i looked at the tank and like a miracle (and good practices) it has almost disappeared! I'm hoping some didn't get inside the mouth itself beforehand. I don't think it is the parameters. The kenya tree has doubled in size, the waving hand went from having 2 polyps to having 15, the star polyps have doubled in size. everything is doing well except that one that i'm not sure about. Hopefully it isn't dying. I'll let you know in a few days.