Is this caulastrea dead?

[Starkrost]

I received this caulastrea (Blue Spruce) from a well known online store on 17-Jun. There was also a yellow Watchman goby that died before I could even get it acclimated. The coral was in a separate bag but it certainly doesn’t look like a healthy (or even living) coral. There’s a 30 guarantee so if it’s dead, I’d like a second opinion so I can apply for store credit (for hard goods only).

 

[ThePurple12]

No, it's alive. Not looking too healthy, but definitely alive.

 

[ahiggins]

It’s not dead...but it will be without proper care to get it back to being healthy. Borderline perfect parameters in an established tank, correct lighting-it can’t handle any more stress at the moment.
Also, I can’t tell if that’s bacteria growth or the starting of brown jelly. Not sure if they are susceptible to brown jelly though-I’m sure you can look into that.
As for the 30 days-I’d call the support line Monday and explain what happened and see if they’d rather you wait and see or replace it now. Usually they’re more receptive if you tell them as early as possible

 

[Starkrost]

Really!? Any advice as to what I can do for it?

 

[Starkrost]

It’s not dead...but it will be without proper care to get it back to being healthy. Borderline perfect parameters in an established tank, correct lighting-it can’t handle any more stress at the moment.
Also, I can’t tell if that’s bacteria growth or the starting of brown jelly. Not sure if they are susceptible to brown jelly though-I’m sure you can look into that.
As for the 30 days-I’d call the support line Monday and explain what happened and see if they’d rather you wait and see or replace it now. Usually they’re more receptive if you tell them as early as possible

Thanks! I’ll call them on Monday.

 

[ahiggins]

Really!? Any advice as to what I can do for it?

Id call that place and see what they recommend. If you acclimated it properly and your tank is 5-6 months ish and stable, you have a shot.

 

[ahiggins]

Granted, everyone’s tank is different but 5-6 months with live rock start is usually the “you’re good” time frame.

 

[ThePurple12]

Caulastraea is basically bulletproof. Can we get your tank parameters and lighting info?

 

[Red Leader]

Here's 2 little heads that broke off from the mother colony, got buried in the back of the tank for who knows how long, and then I saw 2 glowing eyes one time during early morning. The heads had shriveled all the way into the skeleton but the feeding tentacles were out. So I mounted it and now its recovering. Yours looks better than these guys.

 

[Starkrost]

LED lighting (came with the Fluval Evo). I’m going to move it higher in the tank. Today’s parameters:

salinity: 1.023
pH: 7.8
ammonia: 0
nitrites: 0.25
nitrates: 40
calcium: 380
hardness: 143.2 (8)
phosphorus: 0

 

[ThePurple12]

Your tank's cycled, right? There shouldn't be nitrite, unless it's just your test kit.

 

[Starkrost]

I‘ve been reading 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite for weeks. This is the first time I’ve seen anything more than 0. I’m using the API kit so the color result was actually kind of darker than 0 but lighter than 0.25.

 

[ThePurple12]

Weird. I think the candy cane will be fine, anyway.