Candy Cane

[JimCali75]

Hi all, I purchased a Candy Cane about 3 weeks ago. It’s in a temporary 20 gallon with two 24 watt T5s. No substrate or rock.. Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia all 0.. PH is at 8.4. I just moved and decided to upgrade tanks. I’m using this 20 as a holding tank for the corals from my previous tank in the meantime. The first couple of weeks all the heads expanded nicely and now I’m getting more erratic expansion. Several of the heads have expelled some zooxanthellae. I’m seeing some white at the base of a couple heads and I’m worried it might be some recession?
Second pic is healthy expansion a week ago. First is possibly showing some recession on the brighter head in the center. Taken last night..

Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[Katrina71]

Mine does well with some nitrates and flow

 

[JimCali75]

Another picture with a couple heads expelling zoox I believe?

 

[alton]

It is starving to death, feed it or remove it from your too clean of a tank.

 

[JimCali75]

Thanks, what would you recommend feeding? Phyto Feast perhaps?

 

[JimCali75]

Thanks.. What would you recommend feeding? Phyto Feast perhaps?

 

[declanisadog]

Reef roids, reef chili...Anything to get your nitrates up. that's where your problem is.

 

[JimCali75]

Lots of people mention not feeding at all. I foolishly figured it would be ok with just lighting for a while.

 

[JimCali75]

One more thing.. You don’t have to feed each individual head correct? They will absorb nutrients through the structure?

 

[declanisadog]

I rarely directly feed my lps. They just don’t like sterile water in my experience.

 

[Erasmus Crowley]

One more thing.. You don’t have to feed each individual head correct? They will absorb nutrients through the structure?

Coral polyps can only share nutrients through heads that are connected by flesh. There is nothing living inside the calcium structure between the heads.

It's worth mentioning, since no one has yet, that Caulastrea (your candy cane corals) have beautiful and powerful feeding tentacles, but the feeding tentacles only come out at night. Look into the tank in the middle of the dark period with a flashlight and you'll find that it looks like an entirely different coral. During this time, while the feeding tentacles are out, they are capable of eating surprisingly large meaty foods. I'd suggest trying to dust the whole colony with brine shrimp or mysis shrimp.

For this particular coral species, I only actively feed mine at night.

This isn't my image, but I've attached an image of what a Caulastrea in feeding mode looks like.

 

[Weedy Sea Dragon]

Thanks for that info and the pic EC.

We have candy canes and ours were dying too. We trimmed them up and moved them to a smaller tank and they bounced back are are multiplying like crazy now. I had no idea they fed at night like that.

 

[JimCali75]

Coral polyps can only share nutrients through heads that are connected by flesh. There is nothing living inside the calcium structure between the heads.

It's worth mentioning, since no one has yet, that Caulastrea (your candy cane corals) have beautiful and powerful feeding tentacles, but the feeding tentacles only come out at night. Look into the tank in the middle of the dark period with a flashlight and you'll find that it looks like an entirely different coral. During this time, while the feeding tentacles are out, they are capable of eating surprisingly large meaty foods. I'd suggest trying to dust the whole colony with brine shrimp or mysis shrimp.

For this particular coral species, I only actively feed mine at night.

This isn't my image, but I've attached an image of what a Caulastrea in feeding mode looks like.

Thanks for the info! I was concerned about feeding since it’s a temporary tank without anything to mop up the uneaten food. I could alway suck up the leftovers before it goes bad though. Need to do something.. I shouldn’t have purchased it yet. Setting up the new tank has taken longer than I hoped.

 

[DSC reef]

I always liked feeding our LPS corals. For now you can broadcast feed small particle foods like reef roids or reef nutrition roe. Eventually you'll start seeing feeding responses during the day, it's pretty neat.

 

[JimCali75]

I always liked feeding our LPS corals. For now you can broadcast feed small particle foods like reef roids or reef nutrition roe. Eventually you'll start seeing feeding responses during the day, it's pretty neat.

Thx for the input.. since it’s a temporary tank I’d really have to keep an eye on

I always liked feeding our LPS corals. For now you can broadcast feed small particle foods like reef roids or reef nutrition roe. Eventually you'll start seeing feeding responses during the day, it's pretty neat.

Thanks for the input.. wouldn’t broadcast d

I always liked feeding our LPS corals. For now you can broadcast feed small particle foods like reef roids or reef nutrition roe. Eventually you'll start seeing feeding responses during the day, it's pretty neat.

Got some live phyto.. I’ll start with that. I’m thinking I might have to try target feeding to jump start the feeding response. I’ll try some reef roids for that. There’s definitely a few heads showing some recession. Are they able to bounce back once they’ve started receding?

 

[Flippers4pups]

In my years of experience with them, I have never spot fed them. They, like most other LPS, need little to no spot feeding. They do on the other hand need N03 and P04 to stay healthy.

N03 at 5-10ppm and P04 at trace, 0.02.

Medium to high flow and pars around 150-250 do well.

 

[JimCali75]

In my years of experience with them, I have never spot fed them. They, like most other LPS, need little to no spot feeding. They do on the other hand need N03 and P04 to stay healthy.

N03 at 5-10ppm and P04 at trace, 0.02.

Medium to high flow and pars around 150-250 do well.

Thanks Flippers, in your experience can heads bounce back once they’ve already started receding? Is there anything I can to besides increasing NO3? Iodine dip perhaps?

 

[JimCali75]

In my years of experience with them, I have never spot fed them. They, like most other LPS, need little to no spot feeding. They do on the other hand need N03 and P04 to stay healthy.

N03 at 5-10ppm and P04 at trace, 0.02.

Medium to high flow and pars around 150-250 do well.

Gorgeous colony by the way! [emoji7] That’s what I’m striving for.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Thanks Flippers, in your experience can heads bounce back once they’ve already started receding? Is there anything I can to besides increasing NO3? Iodine dip perhaps?

Reduce your light period or intensity for a short time, say a couple days or a week. During that time increase your N03 and P04. Should bounce back.

The colonies that I have started from two heads that were almost dead. They were a fathers day present.

In 6 years it was split into two and then into 4 colonies. Given the right conditions and stability, they will grow large.

 

[CuseReefer84]

I got this one from someone who was taking apart their tank and they had a few stray corals behind that were definitely on their way out. This CC had only a tiny bit of live flesh left and bounced right back.