Blasto got mauled - need advice

HanoverFist · 12/09/2010, 03:34 PM

My Ric decided he wanted to be on top of the Blasto's rock apparently. He was a good 6" away on the sandbed. I'd noticed him reaching for light before I left for store and told myself I needed to move him up higher. When I got home the girlfriend told me the Ric literally reached up the rock, all the way to the top, before she realized the Blasto was in danger and moved the Ric to a different area of the tank. The Ric had latched right onto the Blasto with its fringe polyps. So, what I thought was him reaching for more light was actually the beginnings of a territory war - or both.

2 of the 4 polyps are just white skeletons now and not extending at all . The other 2 are barely extended today. I have Lugol's but not sure if that'd stress it out even more.

Anything I can do to help ensure the little guy survives and gets back to health as quickly as possible?

.... I knew softies would use chemical warfare and should be at least 6" upstream from LPS, and vice-versa, for various reasons, but this I did not expect. Lesson learned the hard way. Sorry Blasty - I'll do better.

HanoverFist · 12/09/2010, 04:45 PM

I forgot to mention they didn't just retract - I don't think. The 2 polyps that got attacked looked white and milky like they'd been dissolved sorta. Today just the white skeleton remains where they were extended yesterday beforehand.

drainbamage101 · 12/09/2010, 06:40 PM

if the flesh turns milky white and sort of liquidy, they're rotting, so chance of recovery on that tissue is minimal at best. I would do a dip with an incredibly heavy dose of lugols (like make the water so yellow/brown it's hard to see through, but not totally opaque) while at the same time using a turkey baster to gently suck the rotting flesh away. Don't blow on it, but rather use the suction to pull the rotting flesh away from the still healthy. Leave the blasto in that dip for 10~20 minutes, then shake off and return to the tank.

I've had this happen to a few of my blasto's, some don't lose the rest of the flesh on the heads that got stung, some do. One of my nicest colonies got nailed by an Acan Echinata and had to do same thing with it, but was able to save the non-rotting flesh on the heads that got nailed, so hopefully I'll see some growback eventually.

HTH!

12/09/2010, 03:34 PM	#1
HanoverFist Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Phoenix, Az Posts: 626	Blasto got mauled - need advice My Ric decided he wanted to be on top of the Blasto's rock apparently. He was a good 6" away on the sandbed. I'd noticed him reaching for light before I left for store and told myself I needed to move him up higher. When I got home the girlfriend told me the Ric literally reached up the rock, all the way to the top, before she realized the Blasto was in danger and moved the Ric to a different area of the tank. The Ric had latched right onto the Blasto with its fringe polyps. So, what I thought was him reaching for more light was actually the beginnings of a territory war - or both. 2 of the 4 polyps are just white skeletons now and not extending at all . The other 2 are barely extended today. I have Lugol's but not sure if that'd stress it out even more. Anything I can do to help ensure the little guy survives and gets back to health as quickly as possible? .... I knew softies would use chemical warfare and should be at least 6" upstream from LPS, and vice-versa, for various reasons, but this I did not expect. Lesson learned the hard way. Sorry Blasty - I'll do better.

12/09/2010, 06:40 PM	#3
drainbamage101 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: San Diego, California Posts: 155	if the flesh turns milky white and sort of liquidy, they're rotting, so chance of recovery on that tissue is minimal at best. I would do a dip with an incredibly heavy dose of lugols (like make the water so yellow/brown it's hard to see through, but not totally opaque) while at the same time using a turkey baster to gently suck the rotting flesh away. Don't blow on it, but rather use the suction to pull the rotting flesh away from the still healthy. Leave the blasto in that dip for 10~20 minutes, then shake off and return to the tank. I've had this happen to a few of my blasto's, some don't lose the rest of the flesh on the heads that got stung, some do. One of my nicest colonies got nailed by an Acan Echinata and had to do same thing with it, but was able to save the non-rotting flesh on the heads that got nailed, so hopefully I'll see some growback eventually. HTH! __________________ "the solution to any problem is to visualize the problem as a square. Now take your problem-square and turn it on its fifth corner. You have now found your solution" - anon Current Tank Info: 3 tanks- 1 display, 2 frag tanks

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12/09/2010, 04:45 PM	#2
HanoverFist Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Phoenix, Az Posts: 626	I forgot to mention they didn't just retract - I don't think. The 2 polyps that got attacked looked white and milky like they'd been dissolved sorta. Today just the white skeleton remains where they were extended yesterday beforehand.