Cauliflower Colt and Devil's Hand

[michfish5]

I have a Cauliflower Colt that has always done well in my aquarium (65 gallon). It was about 8-9 inches tall and pretty full. My clownfish took residence in it about a year ago. I have had this coral for over 2 years.

A couple of months ago it started to shrink. It is now about 1/3 of it's original size. My water parameters have been stable. I do weekly 10% water changes. I did add a Devils Hand around the time it started shrinking and I am wondering if that is what is causing the shrinkage or if it is something else. The Devils hand is placed in the middle, high up, and the colt in on the far right side of the tank. There is ample space between them and I run carbon.

My parameters are temp 79, SpG 1.025, pH 8.2. kH 9.8 (raising this), CA 420, NO2 .10, Mg 1280, PO4 .02. My lighting is T5HO. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Your KH is fine, no need to raise it any. Kh of seawater is in the mid 7's. Something else going on here other than your parameters. Can you post a picture of where it is in your tank? Also what kind of lighting do you have?

I've got a toadstool that I had for a while that was HUGE, then one day it started to get smaller and smaller. Now it's not much of anything. It seems to have something that makes it deteriorate into a powder that I can blow it off then the polyps come back out. The stalk of it gets brittle on the end and just crumbles away. None of this has affected any of my other corals so I just leave it hoping it will recover. Think I'll do a dip in revive today and see if it starts to grow again.

 

[CoralBeauty13]

Be very careful, I mistakenly moved my 1' tall X 1-1/2' Colt over by my Devils hand, the devils hand waxed over and and within three days it was history. Overnight the colt shrunk and by the third day it turned black and shredded to pieces. That devil's hand killed two other leathers I had by it , not sure why I made such a stupid mistake like that. It still hurts

 

[el aguila]

Be very careful, I mistakenly moved my 1' tall X 1-1/2' Colt over by my Devils hand, the devils hand waxed over and and within three days it was history. Overnight the colt shrunk and by the third day it turned black and shredded to pieces. That devil's hand killed two other leathers I had by it , not sure why I made such a stupid mistake like that. It still hurts

So is that why it is called devil's hand? Lol

No, I'm a newbie to softies. Are all varieties of sinularia like this?

I have some neon green sinularia in a 70 G. It isn't going to do this is it?

 

[CoralBeauty13]

I wouldn't trust it. I also have a 16in toadstool that has seen better days. It was about a foot away from the DH and it shrunk up waxed over and has never quite bounced back. I moved it to the farthest side of the tank and it seems to be doing well. YOu can try it out. If your DH shrinks and waxes up when you put it near, it will cause damage because it's already doing warfare. My DH is so big and pretty it's been a hard decision as to wanting to keep it or not. Everyone I talk to will just frag it up and I feel that's too bad as it's such a beautiful piece, but then I also love the movement of the Colt tree.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I wouldn't trust it. I also have a 16in toadstool that has seen better days. It was about a foot away from the DH and it shrunk up waxed over and has never quite bounced back. I moved it to the farthest side of the tank and it seems to be doing well. YOu can try it out. If your DH shrinks and waxes up when you put it near, it will cause damage because it's already doing warfare. My DH is so big and pretty it's been a hard decision as to wanting to keep it or not. Everyone I talk to will just frag it up and I feel that's too bad as it's such a beautiful piece, but then I also love the movement of the Colt tree.

So where is the picture of this beauty?

 

[michfish5]

Sorry! I had computer issues on top of everything else. I will get a pic up shortly. Both are still hanging in there. The DH looks good still and the colt is still small. If I move the DH all the way to the left side of the tank and leave the colt on the far right, could things improve? Or can they just not coexist in the same aquarium?

 

[3dees]

I have both in my reef. their about a foot apart. they are both growing fine. I think your kh is a bit high. don't think the devils hand is the problem.