[Help needed] Nepthea stalk rotting?

I've had this nepthea for about 7 months, and it has been growing well. However, it's in an area of low light and is leaning to get ot the center of the tank. I'm working on redoing the lights to give it something more direct in that area of the tank.

When I got it from the LFS, it was on a frag plug. I popped it off and glued it to a rock with super glue gel. It was the first coral I glued, and it didn't come out the greatest, so I built up around it with 2 part epoxy putty to make sure it didn't fall over.

You can see in the before picture that there was a "crusty" chunk at the very bottom of the frag. That wasn't at all visible once I built it up with the putty, and I didn't see it again until about 3 weeks ago. Now, it is creeping up the stalk of the nepthea and is black on the back side.

Should I cut this off the rock and re-attach it? What's the best way to re-attach it if glue/putty is causing this? Rubber bands or a screen of some kind?

Thanks.

 

How long did it take for this crusty part to develop? often times on soft corals, when they begin growing, the lower part of their stem hardens. At least my soft corals have done this.

 

It was there when I first got it from the LFS on the very bottom of the stalk, but it was just on the very bottom. Now, it appears that it has grown up the stalk at least 3/4" as it is now higher than the epoxy ring I put around it.

My biggest concern is that area just above the epoxy on the low light side of the coral is turning very black. Not sure if that is normal or a sign of something decaying.

 

I think i have read of people having success with a toothpick through the coral and then gluing the toothpick to the rock. Let the coral attach to the rock (after a week or two) then pull the toothpick out.

 

Might have to give that a try if I have to cut it and re-attach. Seems like the glue may be a problem for the softies, but I'm not sure yet. Need to do some more digging on that.

 

Any other thoughts on the black area? Is this a concern for a softy? Looking tonight, it appears the stalk is shrinking in diameter where the epoxy ring is around it.

Thanks for any help.

 

Bump

 

+1

Soft corals will not take to epoxy or gluing in my experience.

Tooth picks, fishing line, placement in low flow area in small container with rubble for a few weeks all have worked for me in the past.

If you suspect rotten areas I would just cut that off with a sharp knife and place in an area with some rubble or tooth pick it to a piece of rubble in a mod flow area.

 

Thanks.

Time to break out the frag kit. I think the black area has moved up the stalk even further than last night's photo.