Red Dragon help

[curiousphil]

Got a good sized frag from Bigshow a few weeks back, nice and encrusted over the base, but it had a wound on one side from where it looks like it was fragged or broken.  The coral is getting a bit of STN spreading out from the wound, which is basically in the middle of the colony.  The base looks great and so do most of the branches.  I think the base has actually even encrusted a bit more since I got it - but hard to say.

Should I leave it to heal? Frag off the good pieces?  Move it?  I'm pretty sure my placement is ok, it's inserted into a rock thats sitting on the sandbed and getting medium flow.  Next to it is a red monti cap thats growing well and maybe about 10 inches away is my frogspawn frag.

Possibly it needs to be further away from the frogspawn?  Or maybe it just requires more time to recover.  The only thing concerning me is that the white is spreading a tiny bit each few days.

As far as I'm aware my params aren't swinging around much at all.  Calc steady around 400, alk 7.5-8, PO4 0.02, Nitrates about 5.  Having to dose daily to prevent alk and ca from dropping.

Pics of now and when I got it (sorry the pics aren't more clear):
[img=1049x1400]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/3E927A65-9C59-4F00-8715-2706E2DB3DEC-8350-00000078258399AE_zps39e1a0ff.jpg[/img]
[img=1049x1400]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/EB7DFEF3-1860-4855-91F0-D437E8B144E6-8350-000000780BCCE42C_zps1b543b0e.jpg[/img]

First frag thats done this to me without me knowing why, and while all other corals doing well.

 

[Duke]

it is also on the small branch shooting off the plug, first photo is when you got it and second is now, correct?

 

[Neopimp]

i'm no acro expert but i have fragged pieces of the good off and mounted them.  They lived the other piece died
but liek I said... not an expert and maybe i was lucky

 

[Duke]

i think its more than just from the wound.. imo in the first picture it was fragged at that spot and looks well healed and actually encrusting back over, in picture 2 i can stn from that spot and a bunch of other tips also, i'd lean towards a water quality or placement issue. i think deep water corals are generally harder to keep than other acro species so that could be why other things are doing so good still.

 

[curiousphil]

it is also on the small branch shooting off the plug, first photo is when you got it and second is now, correct?

Thats correct, and yeah it was also on that other little tip when I got it.  It's now on a couple of tips.  Maybe I'll just wait it out and see how it does.. I don't want to frag off a good piece and risk losing everything, although I do have a good fragging spot in mind

 

[Duke]

yes in photo one the small tip looks like it was past damage that was healing back over also as opposed to white and dying im not sure what i would do myself, some will say leave it and some will say frag a piece, dragons do typically frag easily and heal quickly i think but if its a water quality issue its just going to stress it more.. i'd get some more opinions from others..

 

[theyangman]

What is it looking like today?

 

[Poseidon]

You can just bring it to me

 

[Darryl_V]

if its still getting worse you need to frag it out ASAP. 

 

[spyd]

if its still getting worse you need to frag it out ASAP. 

I agree 100%. It looks like it will need to be fragged ASAP.

 

[curiousphil]

No change since my post on Saturday.  If it worsens I will attempt to save it by fragging.

There is one good branch structure that's good all the way from where it 'trunks' off the main colony, I will try to clip it as close to the trunk point as I can.

As for what's left over after that, I'm not sure what to do with it.  Clip the main trunk right above the frag plug, so that I still have a fully encrusted plug?  Isolate the rest of the colony someplace else and see if it heals or continues to STN?

 

[Reef Hero]

No change since my post on Saturday.  If it worsens I will attempt to save it by fragging.

There is one good branch structure that's good all the way from where it 'trunks' off the main colony, I will try to clip it as close to the trunk point as I can.

As for what's left over after that, I'm not sure what to do with it.  Clip the main trunk right above the frag plug, so that I still have a fully encrusted plug?  Isolate the rest of the colony someplace else and see if it heals or continues to STN?

Strange in the way that tissue necrosis happened.....usually I see it from the base up or in the tips. No chance something stung it or hurt it? I would definitely keep an eye on it if you can because tissue necrosis can easily turn quick. It wouldn't hurt fragging it....or atleast shouldn't hurt it..... Sometimes I pull my acros and dip them if I see any tn but yet no bugs.....not sure if it helps but seems like most traditional stn or RTN comes from water parameters or bugs..... I heard some people lately blaming a bacteria infection in the water itself....not sure how much I buy that but who knows....
You dipped it right?


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[Darryl_V]

STN is usually base up but RTN is random.    It starts anywhere.

 

[curiousphil]

Painful night for me.  Came home from work and noticed that the necrosis had spread a bit further down the main stalk, so I decided to frag it.  I now have four pretty clean frags glued onto plugs and sitting on my sandbed in a "low" flow area near my aculeus and suharsonoi.  The remainder of the initial coral is sitting on the sandbed at the back of the tank under my overflow box, shaded.

We shall see how everything does.  Hopefully the fragged bits do well.  I would love for the main colony to survive but only time will tell.