Coral doesn't look good. Need some advice

[gmiller12345]

Got this coral from the LFS and the guy said it was a frag of a green star polyp. I'm not sure as this coral is the first in my tank. I have a 6 gallon nano cube with 3 hermits and 3 snails and this coral. Nothing else in the tank except the live rock and sand. The coral looks as if it is shedding and turning purple.

I was wondering if it is dying and what I could possibly do to prevent it from dying. The first attached picture shows the coral after a couple days in the tank and the second attached picture is the coral after about 2 weeks roughly.When i got my water tested at the LFS they said everything looked good except my pH was a little low and my alkalinity was a little off. Also he said my phosphates were around .2 I believe. He suggested phosguard for the Phosphates, eight.four by aquavitro for the pH, and Reef builder by seachem for the alkalinity. Is that ok?

Also he said to get Iodine, Fuel by aquavitro, and Reef advantage calcium by seachem to help the coral. Does this seem like good advice or BS?

I'm very new to this so sorry for the barrage of questions and info.

 

[ddmiller38]

Might be me but it doesn't look like GSP from the pictures. FYI. don't dose anything to your tank that you don't have a test kit for

 

[Khemul]

It could be an Encrusting Gorgonian, but you'd have to see when polyps come out. Encrusting Gorgonian basically looks extremely similar to GSP, just with a different color base and sometimes different growth patterns.

Unfortunately, from the look of the pictures it looks like it died. If enough survives it may regrow, but the change from pic 1 to pic 2 looks like just about all of it rotted away.



As for the dosing. Like ddmiller38 said, best not to dose for something you don't dose for. Also keep in mind how your parameters interact for dosing.
1) Dosing for both alkalinity and PH is redundant and could lead to problems. For one, your PH is related to your alkalinity, so raising your alkalinity may fix the low PH itself. Second, dosing for PH itself can stress your fish and send your parameters on a rollercoaster ride. And three, your alkalinity is balanced against your calcium and magnesium. You don't want to simply mess with one without watching the others. And it could well be that your alkalinity is fine, as long as it is in balance with your calcium and magnesium. As a result, you also don't want to dose calcium without knowing this balance.
2) Iodine. Some believe that some corals like it in their waters. Others state there is no real need to dose it.
3) Don't get hung up on exact numbers. LFS's love exact numbers, since it helps them sell products. But the reality is is that you will get a feel for what your tanks wants and when. Your tank may like low alkalinity. Personally, mine likes low calcium (and low PH), but everything is fine. An LFS would tell me to dose X amount to reach a specific level of calcium and probably PH too. But all that'd do is help their register, since my tank simply tends towards low calcium.