• Thickness (density) of tissues in euphyllia.

  • Karen

Good evening, everyone. I have a question. I had a Euphyllia anchor (about 10 heads). Then a Helmon started to nip at it. What I noticed is that he easily nipped off several polyps at a time. It was clear that the tissues were very delicate, and he did it effortlessly. When approaching other corals and nipping at them, such as Lobophyllia, Zoanthids, and other LPS, nothing similar was observed; they didn't even retract. The bite of the Helmon is very weak; he often nips at my hand when I'm cleaning the aquarium—it's hardly noticeable. Therefore, I want to ask if there are species of Euphyllia with tougher tissues that he won't be able to bite through so easily? I'm particularly interested in Euphyllia glabrescens (the name has errors, but the essence is clear).

Jade

Your helmon is peculiar; mine doesn't behave like that... and your message is the first time I've encountered this. These fish usually don't bother in reef aquariums, but here, it has destroyed such a coral. Well, I won't claim that any euphyllias have tougher tissues; that's unlikely. Try to keep this helmon constantly well-fed, so its belly is always full of food. Perhaps this behavior indicates its constant hunger? Then it might become less interested in the invertebrates...

Diana3118

I'm doubtful about his hunger; I feed him in the morning and evening, and he's very well-fed. He devoured all the aiptasia in a week and is now catching the last little worms from the sand. But he hasn't eaten the euphyllia. He swims up and nips at it, and the polyps retract, which he enjoys watching. And so it goes every day, little by little, until there's nothing left. It's a shame; euphyllia is one of my favorite invertebrates.

Angela7060

Yes, the case is certainly not as surprising as it is unpleasant. It's just an individual characteristic of your helmon, and there's nothing you can do about it. There can be some unpredictability in the behavior of fish...

Erica752

Can you cover it with something? The question sounds easy, but in practice it may not be quite feasible... If you cut a 2-5 liter PET bottle, attach heavy live rocks (LR) or dry reef rocks (DR) with clamps, make holes in it with a diameter of 1 cm, and let it sit like that for a week? Maybe it will settle down?

Jenny

I will try to come up with something for the covering - thank you for your help.