Scleronephthya (orange cauliflower coral) help please

[Dangerwill]

I have a fairly large orange cauliflower that has been doing very well, eating and growing for the past few months then about a week ago he shrunk in and is in scared/defensive mode. My water parameters have not changed at all. I have read that this coral should be hung upside down but I have not tried this yet. I understand this is a difficult coral to maintain but if any of you have experience with this coral and have suggestions they would be welcome.

Thank you

how he usually looks



how he is looking now

 

[MARINECRITTERS]

These corals inflate and deflate on demand, they do not like direct flow or intense lighting.
It could be because you are not feeding enough, they should be fed once a day with some sort of zooplankton or oyster egg cocktail. If you are feeding phytoplankton chances are, it is too small for the coral to consume.

 

[Dangerwill]

I feed the tank cyclopeez, brine or mysis, rods food, phyto and some other stuff that has the oyster feast and zooplankton. When i feed i make sure they get a cloud of food. I have it placed under a large rock so it gets moderate flow and ambient light

 

[devimik]

I had one of these. The LFS that sold it to me said it was a Chili Coral and to keep it in the dark and feed once a week. Well, it looked great for about a week or two - kept inflating and deflating. Did my research and determined what it really was and how hard they are to keep alive in captivity, plus realized I wasn't feeding nearly enough. Tried to rescue it and feed every day, but it didn't make it. It basically disintegrated and started looking like your second pic, then worse despite anything I did. Hopefully, you can get yours back to health. You could try feeding it with a two liter bottle - cut off the bottom and place over the coral, then squirt the food in through the cap so that the food stays surrounding the polyps. Problem is, they won't feed if they look like your second pic.

Good luck - I hope you can save it.

 

[Bratyboy2]

i have a very nutrient rich tank that mine is in. though mine is only an 1.5 inches it is doing well. BUT i wasnt feeding my tank all the time so i believe with the higher levels of phosphates and nitrates they are taking in the bacteria in the tank which i think is the main item in their diet.