Need HELP with my Candycane!

[Mockmo]

Hello i have a frag of green candycane corals ive had them in the tank for over 6 months and for the past few weeks they look shriveled up and not healthy, my water parameters are all good and my calcium and alkalinity are good as well, however i do have some brown and red stuff on my sand, from what iv read its just from stirring the sand up. I have other candycanes in the tank and they are doing just fine and look very well. some of the heads are beginning to die off too. any help would be appreciated.

 

[gpx1200]

are you feeding them, my candy canes all get fed meaty items like mysis shrimp, whenever i sell a frag to someone who does not feed them they start to shrink. if your not target feeding them it might help, they like to be fed at night after the lights go off or in the morning before they come on

 

[Mockmo]

I feed them "Coral Frenzy" that i mix with tank water and spot feed, and i feed the fish frozen mysis, so they probably get some of that too.

 

[Mockmo]

after speaking with one of the lfs he said my water might be too clean and tried to sell me some "aquavitro fuel", i wasnt so sure about it so i didnt buy it. has anyone heard of water being too clean causing candy canes to shrivel up and be unhealthy?

 

[greech]

after speaking with one of the lfs he said my water might be too clean and tried to sell me some "aquavitro fuel", i wasnt so sure about it so i didnt buy it. has anyone heard of water being too clean causing candy canes to shrivel up and be unhealthy?

It appears that you have a fair amount of cyano going in your tank which suggests that you have enough nutrients in your system to promote its growth. Based on that alone I would not say your water is "too clean" and for sure would not be adding any more foods to your system than is necessary at this point.

 

[Mockmo]

Thats exactly what i thought, so i didn't buy the supplement, but still anyone know what could be causing them to shrivel up?

 

[~RuSh~]

I have some candy cane that is being hosted by a pair of clownfish. Two of the heads have really receeded in tissue and have skelton exposed just like the picture you posted. Is there a fish that is hanging around it possibly irritating it?

 

[Mockmo]

none at all, there are never any fish near by it.

 

[kingfisher62]

I have had that same variety of candy cane for several years . They were one of my first LPS's and one of my most prolific ones.I hardly ever feed mine. They are usually pretty hardy corals. The cyano could be irritating it. kicking up the circulation could help that. Also, check for parasites at night.

"When in doubt , do a water change!" has always been my motto!
A couple of extra water changes will do wonders.

 

[Mockmo]

how would i check for parasites at night?

 

[greech]

A red flashlight (the actual bulb/lens , not the housing ) works best but any flashlight should work.

 

[kingfisher62]

Just check with a small flashlight a few hours after lights out.

 

[Mockmo]

not seeing any bugs or critters.

 

[kingfisher62]

Are they still loosing tissue?

 

[sqwat]

+1 on upping the current and vacuming out that cyno then a couple of small water changes every other day for a week then feed each indavidual head .they look unfed and in a deadspot.if you dont have i woulf get some carbon in the sump.what are youre water params?gl i hope you stop the receding the comeback fast if you do and also spot feed i would feed tiny bits of shrimp soaked in vitamins till they are bacl plump and then cut down.this way you are not using a liguid food and upping the the nitrate and phos.

 

[Mockmo]

i did to 10% water change twice in the past week, and there looking alot more plump, im going to continue to feed them and do smaller water changes over the next few weeks, and hopefully that will fix the problem. As for the cyno i siphoned it all out, and so far very little is showing back up.