Candy cane coral looking very weird lately

[TbSaysNo]

 

[PokeFish]

hows your params-looks like it isnt doing so well... the skeleton is visible and the flesh is ripping from each other

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Agree with the title, they are looking weird.

If we could get information on your tank, I'm sure you'll have lots of suggestions how to help: parameters, tank age, lighting, how long have you had the coral, etc,,,

 

[HB AL]

They don't look horrible but not great. I have 5 different types and they always look puffy, except in the morning when the lights have been off. They are very easy to keep so I would check all your params and report back, something is bumming them out.

 

[TbSaysNo]

hows your params-looks like it isnt doing so well... the skeleton is visible and the flesh is ripping from each other

10.8 DKH
1600 Mg
430 CA

1.026 salinity

0.35 phosphate
6 nitrate

 

[TbSaysNo]

Agree with the title, they are looking weird.

If we could get information on your tank, I'm sure you'll have lots of suggestions how to help: parameters, tank age, lighting, how long have you had the coral, etc,,,

Tank was started june 2022
2x red sea led 90
I have had the coral since late june, it has looked very great until now.
I had a layer of GHA on the backwall which consumed all PO4 NO3 for 2 months, and i recently removed the GHA, which made my nitrate and phosphate jump to 6 and 0.35
Could this be the reason? I have Also thought about buying a ICP test

 

[TbSaysNo]

I have pumpkin flatworms, could they be the problem?

 

[zdrc]

Water parameters don't seem too bad. Phosphate is a little high, but honestly I would expect Caulastrea to be fine with that level of phosphate.

Any recent changes to your maintenance, feeding, chemical dosing, etc. besides removing the GHA? How long has the coral looked like this? Have you seen the flatworms on the Caulastrea?

 

[HB AL]

Bring the alk down into the low 9's. Now if those flatworms you mention are on the canes then thats your problem.

 

[TbSaysNo]

Water parameters don't seem too bad. Phosphate is a little high, but honestly I would expect Caulastrea to be fine with that level of phosphate.

Any recent changes to your maintenance, feeding, chemical dosing, etc. besides removing the GHA? How long has the coral looked like this? Have you seen the flatworms on the Caulastrea?

not anything that i know of. my blue hermit crab keeps going on top of the coral and just stand there the whole day...

i dont dose any chemicals or anything. flatworms are on most corals but i have not seen them on the candy

 

[Badboyan93l]

Mine did the same, I lower the intensity of the lights just a little to a see if it puffs up and they did, and so kept the intensity until they recovered.

My parameters are
1.025
DKh 12
Cal 480
Mag 1470
Phos 0.59
Nitrate: 50

check out the pic and my YT vid:

Feeding Nori ð #seaweed #reef #reeftank #aquarium #coralreef #corals #125g #marinefish #kessil

youtube.com

 

[zdrc]

not anything that i know of. my blue hermit crab keeps going on top of the coral and just stand there the whole day...

i dont dose any chemicals or anything. flatworms are on most corals but i have not seen them on the candy

How long has the flesh been receding like this?

Did the colony grow at all in the time you had it?

When was the last time you calibrated your salinity measurement device?

Based on what you've said, it's not obvious to me why the Caulastrea is dying. You could do a water change just for fun, my corals always look happiest right after a water change.

 

[TbSaysNo]

How long has the flesh been receding like this?

Did the colony grow at all in the time you had it?

When was the last time you calibrated your salinity measurement device?

Based on what you've said, it's not obvious to me why the Caulastrea is dying. You could do a water change just for fun, my corals always look happiest right after a water change.

The flesh has been receding for about 3 weeks

the colony has grown some new heads since i Got it.

actually, after testing the water manually it says salinity is 1.023? should my euphyllia not be dying then? could my hanna salinity say 1.026 but in reality it is 1.023?

 

[Badboyan93l]

The flesh has been receding for about 3 weeks

the colony has grown some new heads since i Got it.

actually, after testing the water manually it says salinity is 1.023? should my euphyllia not be dying then? could my hanna salinity say 1.026 but in reality it is 1.023?

1.023 is not that bad, but you can is best to raise it back to 1.024 or 1.025. Stick with a refrag. My Hanna would be a little off while my 2 calibrated refrag would read something else which was more accurate.

 

[zdrc]

The flesh has been receding for about 3 weeks

the colony has grown some new heads since i Got it.

actually, after testing the water manually it says salinity is 1.023? should my euphyllia not be dying then? could my hanna salinity say 1.026 but in reality it is 1.023?

What do you mean by manually? Refractometer, hydrometer, or something else? Basically every salinity measurement method apart from glass hydrometers will drift out of calibration over time so I wouldn't fully trust any measurement method unless it's just been calibrated. I usually calibrate my refractometer every single time I use it. You want to be really sure about the salinity measurement before you go making changes to the tank based of that measurement.

Still I don't really know what the problem is, and there's not really anything super obvious you could change.

How are the other corals?

Are you sure you didn't change something about the tank ~3 weeks ago?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Mag very high and light appears bright. Assuming your tests are accurate, and current phosphate is very high (.04-.06)
What test kits are you using ?
These coral require moderate light and water flow and 2-3 feedings each week. Mysis is a good food. Assure calcium is correct as skeleton does not look healthy also