Candy cane coral brittle?

[absaltproject]

Hello! We are new to reefing and our tanks has been up and running for about 2 months now! We just picked up a green candy cane coral the night before last and being so new, I was wondering if the “stalks” are typically quite brittle?
It was a decently sized bunch all together so I actually just attached it to a larger piece of rubber with an elastic band (temporary until we sort out where we want it) as it didn’t come on a frag plug but just seemed broken off and this bunch attached to the base. A couple little heads broke off while I was dipping and cleaning off whatever I saw. Last night our Halloween crab was just picking at all the algae and whatever else he could find at the base and this morning a large chunk had fallen apart from the “main stalk” where the hermit was pickin’ at. The polyps themselves look untouched. Then I tried attaching the piece that had broken off to another piece of rubble and the “stalk” was so brittle it broke apart again! I’ve again managed to attach them to some larger pieces of rubble with an Elastic as I couldn’t use epoxy as it kept crumbling and have no glue.
Is this normal? I guess I was expecting it to be a little stronger than it seems to be.
pictures of when we first put it in just a couple nights ago and right now, broken apart but put back onto rubble and placed together.
Looks healthy as far as I can tell but this is our first time so I could totally be out to lunch.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hello! We are new to reefing and our tanks has been up and running for about 2 months now! We just picked up a green candy cane coral the night before last and being so new, I was wondering if the “stalks” are typically quite brittle?
It was a decently sized bunch all together so I actually just attached it to a larger piece of rubber with an elastic band (temporary until we sort out where we want it) as it didn’t come on a frag plug but just seemed broken off and this bunch attached to the base. A couple little heads broke off while I was dipping and cleaning off whatever I saw. Last night our Halloween crab was just picking at all the algae and whatever else he could find at the base and this morning a large chunk had fallen apart from the “main stalk” where the hermit was pickin’ at. The polyps themselves look untouched. Then I tried attaching the piece that had broken off to another piece of rubble and the “stalk” was so brittle it broke apart again! I’ve again managed to attach them to some larger pieces of rubble with an Elastic as I couldn’t use epoxy as it kept crumbling and have no glue.
Is this normal? I guess I was expecting it to be a little stronger than it seems to be.
pictures of when we first put it in just a couple nights ago and right now, broken apart but put back onto rubble and placed together.
Looks healthy as far as I can tell but this is our first time so I could totally be out to lunch.

Depending on the particular coral, yes they can be quite fragile.

They look quite healthy to me.

 

[absaltproject]

Depending on the particular coral, yes they can be quite fragile.

They look quite healthy to me.

Thank you!!
Ok. I did assume it was just my lack of experience. I’ve never even held these sorts of things until recently. Fragile is definitely the word I’m looking for! I feel awful I further broke it apart trying to secure it, it was so beautiful as a big bunch. I moved the Halloween crab across the tank as well so it would stop picking at the goods. Here’s hoping it thrives and I’ll have a few lovely bunches down the road rather than just one ‍

 

[SimonMo]

Coral skeleton can be more fragile when in the previous tank was lack of some elements e.g. strontium,calcum, low pH. Maybe in your tank after time it will become less fragile.