Candy Cane Coral not looking good

[Walla2GSP]

So I'm fairly new to the reef tank/coral game, and just have a few basic coral frags till I get used to caring for them. My problem is my Green Candy cane Coral I have had for a couple months and have never seen it out of the skeleton. I have also never seen it extend feeding tentacles at all since it arrived. I have high nitrates and phosphates right now that I'm working on getting under control, but the levels don't seem to be effecting any other corals in the tank. As of yesterday, the skeleton looked healthy and the polyps were retracted but had good green color. I checked tonight and the skeleton it reddish brown and the polyp green is very faint.

Other Corals include
-(Mushrooms: a Green Rhodactis + smaller new heads, Fuzzy Green Mush, Blue Mush, and a Christmas Mush)
-A peppermint Acan (six new heads in two months)
-Two Green star polyp frags
-and various Zoas
(all eating normally and thriving)

Is it possible to force feed a coral? Any suggestions or ideas?

 

[bmackcw]

I've got one 4-head frag - skeleton white, and heads bright green. Barely active. Went and bought a large piece tonight from a LFS. Skeleton is dark red, heads are big and wavy. You might have shitty frags. Or your water is keeping it retracted?

 

[JammyBirch]

That looks dead to me... The skeleton should not be showing. I have one it has a hard base that is smooth, the fleshy part of it is totally covering the skeleton and like the previous post, it waves or moves a bit in the current. Id' get my money back for that thing.

 

[rlm2005]

That coral is dead.

 

[triggreef]

That coral is dead.

What coral? All he got there is a skeleton :fun2:

 

[alexgv14]

I have some corals come back from looking like that. But that does look preet bad and probably has a very slim chance of coming back.

 

[FraggledRock]

what are your water parameters?

 

[Walla2GSP]

Based on last nights readings:

Salinity: 1.024
pH 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 2ppm
Phosphate: 2.5 ppm
Calcium: 490 ppm
KH: 15KH
Magnesium: 1380 ppm

 

[FraggledRock]

Alk seems a bit high.

and phosphates.

what are you feeding it?
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1643240

 

[FraggledRock]

"Candycanes and hammers should be fed meaty seafoods, I.e., mysis, squid, etc. "

 

[Walla2GSP]

I'm target feeding everybody 3 times a week, and this is the only coral not eating. I feed the acan raw shrimp run through a blender and mysis shrimp and it eats as soon food hits the water. The zoas, mushrooms, and star polyps eat phyto from the tank, and brine shrimp, and will eat daily if I feed them that often. The Candy Cane coral retracts into the skeleton anytime I approach the tank, and I have never seen it eat or extend feeding tentacles.

The KH, MAg, and Calc are all high because I'm using hard tap water till I can get an RODI set-up. I'm looking at options for reducing it, but reducing all three at the same time is hard to do without bringing them out of solution.

 

[reefhead2]

thats all algae and skeleton no coral there its totally dead

 

[rlm2005]

thats all algae and skeleton no coral there its totally dead

This. The coral is not eating because it can't. It's dead.