What am I doing wrong with this Candy Cane?

[brownerd]

I bought this on line and it was shipped via fed ex to be delivered last Saturday - fed ex being fed ex didn't get it delivered until Monday. Here are my water parameters:
Nitrate 5
Nitrite .05
Ammonia 0
Ca 509
All 9.6 dkh
pH 8.12

This is a new tank that has been cycled using the Red Sea mature reef program.
I have attached some picks so you can see where it is in relation to the lights as well as the light settings. You can see some of the heads are dead and the others won't open. I have been feeding the fish mysis and I Ed using reef chili on the candy cane, but it just keeps dying more and more. Is it something I am doing or is it because it was in a box for 3 and a half days? Thanks for your help - I am a newbie to this

 

[cjd]

Could be a couple of things. First off , how did it look when you first put it in the tank ? Slimy shriveled up ? plump and juicy ? I would definitely notify the seller about the fed ex issue and let them know the coral is suffering. Have proof of delivery handy when asked for it. they may or may not even care , but its worth a shot. How long has the tank been running ? What test kits are you using to test Ammonia , Nitrite ? I don't think hobby grade test kits are able to pick up on nitrites after a tank is cycled , ammonia and nitrite should be converted to nitrate before they show up as anything else . Maybe the tank is to new and still cycling or your adding things too fast for the biological filter to keep up . It could be getting to much light , I find them as a lower light coral . Mine have always done best at the sand bed or shaded area . I would turn down the intensity and or move them to the sand and maybe partiality shaded under a overhang to see if they recover .

 

[brownerd]

Could be a couple of things. First off , how did it look when you first put it in the tank ? Slimy shriveled up ? plump and juicy ? I would definitely notify the seller about the fed ex issue and let them know the coral is suffering. Have proof of delivery handy when asked for it. they may or may not even care , but its worth a shot. How long has the tank been running ? What test kits are you using to test Ammonia , Nitrite ? I don't think hobby grade test kits are able to pick up on nitrites after a tank is cycled , ammonia and nitrite should be converted to nitrate before they show up as anything else . Maybe the tank is to new and still cycling or your adding things too fast for the biological filter to keep up . It could be getting to much light , I find them as a lower light coral . Mine have always done best at the sand bed or shaded area . I would turn down the intensity and or move them to the sand and maybe partiality shaded under a overhang to see if they recover .

Thanks for the reply! when I put it in, the heads looked like they do now, kinda' shriveled but there were more green heads than there are now. As far as test kits, I use the red sea kits for ammonia, nitrate and nitrite and use Hanna for Alk, pH and Calcium. So far the only thing in the tank are 2 baby clown fish (that came in the same delayed order - they are doing great) and some snails (which have consumed ALL of the algae I had). It is possible the tank is too new - the red sea cycling system is supposed to be a 21 day cycle and I am on day 30 - as it cycled it appeared to go through all the spikes that I'd expect to see - but maybe it was a mini cycle... The one thing I worry about is the amount of rock I have in there - as you can see it is kinda' sparse, but I used live sand so I am hoping I have enough places for bacteria to hang out. It seems curious to me that 4 turbo snails can consume all the algae I had, and I had alot, and keep it in check in just over a week (maybe I shouldn't complain about NOT having algae!).
I chose the candy cane because it is said to be hardy and a good starter coral. Last night I moved it down to the sand thinking maybe the flow was too much for it at mid tank. I will continue to give it TLC with the reef chili. Right now I am using water from my local fish store - next week my RO/DI system will arrive and I have the Red Sea coral Pro salt ready to use - maybe that will give it an extra bump in nutrition Thanks again for the reply and tips - fingers crossed

 

[GoVols]

I bought this on line and it was shipped via fed ex to be delivered last Saturday - fed ex being fed ex didn't get it delivered until Monday. Here are my water parameters:
Nitrate 5
Nitrite .05
Ammonia 0
Ca 509
All 9.6 dkh
pH 8.12

This is a new tank that has been cycled using the Red Sea mature reef program.
I have attached some picks so you can see where it is in relation to the lights as well as the light settings. You can see some of the heads are dead and the others won't open. I have been feeding the fish mysis and I Ed using reef chili on the candy cane, but it just keeps dying more and more. Is it something I am doing or is it because it was in a box for 3 and a half days? Thanks for your help - I am a newbie to this

When you got the candy cane did you dip it in coral dip?

 

[cjd]

I would Turn down the white lights while you wait to see if it recovers . Coral demise from too much light is quicker than not enough light. Light flow is a great idea as they do not like to be blasted by water . I wouldn't worry about feeding them at this stage as they wont take anything in and you may end up just polluting the tank possibly causing ammonia spikes , obviously leading to the coral suffering.

 

[cjd]

from the picture there is about 4 heads that look ok .......just really unhappy . low flow , less light and leave them be .

 

[GoVols]

from the picture there is about 4 heads that look ok .......just really unhappy . low flow , less light and leave them be .

+1
And dip it.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/8-oz-coral-rx.html?gclid=CL6kkdXO6tMCFQcwaQod6VsFMg

I always dip my corals when they come home and it's always a good thing to have coral dip around the house, just in case...

 

[brownerd]

+1
And dip it.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/8-oz-coral-rx.html?gclid=CL6kkdXO6tMCFQcwaQod6VsFMg

I always dip my corals when they come home and it's always a good thing to have coral dip around the house, just in case...

Before putting it in the tank I did use the Bayer method for dipping. I have been reading too many stories about bad things coming in on coral and live rocks

 

[GoVols]

Before putting it in the tank I did use the Bayer method for dipping. I have been reading too many stories about bad things coming in on coral and live rocks

Corals can also already have bacteria infections when you buy them.

I've had great success with the Divers Den (WYSIWYG) corals.

 

[brownerd]

from the picture there is about 4 heads that look ok .......just really unhappy . low flow , less light and leave them be .

OK - I will reduce the amount of white light (UV is at 25% and white is at 31% - you think the UV is okay?) and leave it down at the bottom. I will quit trying to force feed it
I did notify saltwaterfish.com and they will replace it, but now it is a challenge to see if I can get it to live and eventually thrive

 

[cjd]

OK - I will reduce the amount of white light (UV is at 25% and white is at 31% - you think the UV is okay?) and leave it down at the bottom. I will quit trying to force feed it
I did notify saltwaterfish.com and they will replace it, but now it is a challenge to see if I can get it to live and eventually thrive

31% is a lot of white light ..... turn them down in the 10 to 12% range . People may argue but that's a lot if the coral is not acclimated slowly to that level. Everybody experience with leds is different , I used to run two aqua illumination sol blues and anything over 15% white nuked everything in the tank. Leds are like laser beams and that coral might be getting a direct shot of light directly from above just toasting it .

 

[brownerd]

31% is a lot of white light ..... turn them down in the 10 to 12% range . People may argue but that's a lot if the coral is not acclimated slowly to that level. Everybody experience with leds is different , I used to run two aqua illumination sol blues and anything over 15% white nuked everything in the tank. Leds are like laser beams and that coral might be getting a direct shot of light directly from above just toasting it .

OK - turned down the white to 10% - do you think the UV will be okay at 25%. For what it's worth the tank has 2 of the Aquatic Illuminations Hydra 26 HD. I guess the only way to know for sure if the lights are too bright is to use a PAR meter which I don't have, but I think the coral store in town will rent one out... might be worth looking into. Thanks for the tips, it is really appreciated!

 

[cjd]

Uv ... it wouldn't hurt if you at least halved that for the time being. my sols didn't have a UV channel . it was just royal blue , light blue and white . Its been awhile but I think my settings were 45% royal 30% light blue 15% white mounted probably 16 inches of water line. I see people on here posting light schedules and intensity and I have no idea how some get the numbers so high .

previous tank :