CANDY CANE DIED OVERNIGHT!!!

[Joe Tony]

I'm at a loss for words. I bought a host of corals from Aqua SD, and (aside from a few casualties) most of them are doing just fine, including my hammers, pipe organ and SPS. Candy cane has been rocking for a good two weeks. I've been feeding it and it was healthy, large and green.

I wake up today and suddenly it's a skeleton.

I just tested the water and here are the parameters:
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 0 ppm
Chlorine: 0 ppm
Hardness: 150 ppm
Total Alkalinity: 180 ppm
Carbonate: 80 ppm
PH: 8.4 ppm

The alkalinity and ph might be a little high. Would that be enough to actually kill a candy cane overnight? I tried moving it to a lower light area, but I'm not sure it will recover. PLEASE HELP!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

What are you using to test parameters?
Did you make any recent changes to your tank?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm at a loss for words. I bought a host of corals from Aqua SD, and (aside from a few casualties) most of them are doing just fine, including my hammers, pipe organ and SPS. Candy cane has been rocking for a good two weeks. I've been feeding it and it was healthy, large and green.

I wake up today and suddenly it's a skeleton.

I just tested the water and here are the parameters:
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 0 ppm
Chlorine: 0 ppm
Hardness: 150 ppm
Total Alkalinity: 180 ppm
Carbonate: 80 ppm
PH: 8.4 ppm

The alkalinity and ph might be a little high. Would that be enough to actually kill a candy cane overnight? I tried moving it to a lower light area, but I'm not sure it will recover. PLEASE HELP!

Leave it in place as ive seen these come back to life.
Some causes can be low calcium, elevated alk, too much flow, lack of feeding, and even getting stung by a nearby coral. While these are easy care corals, I do see you have a basic tank and I am wondering how its being filtered as this may be a contributor

 

[Joe Tony]

What are you using to test parameters?
Did you make any recent changes to your tank?

No recent changes. I did move some of the other rocks around, but the candy cane has remained in the same spot.

 

[Joe Tony]

Leave it in place as ive seen these come back to life.
Some causes can be low calcium, elevated alk, too much flow, lack of feeding, and even getting stung by a nearby coral. While these are easy care corals, I do see you have a basic tank and I am wondering how its being filtered as this may be a contributor

Elevated alkalinity is a possibility, but I don't think that would cause an abrupt change like this overnight.

I actually don't use a filter for my tank. I will water change, but tbh haven't done one in a few weeks.

You think that could be the issue?

 

[Quietman]

I've never had good luck with candy canes. I love them, but after 3 tries over the first few months and 3 overnight losses like yours, I just stopped. Mine never recovered. Odd because at the time I had Goniopora which is a touchy coral do just fine. Not to say you shouldn't keep trying but I think some tanks just don't do well early on until they mature a bit. If it doesn't return, I'd give it a couple more months to mature. Maybe get a couple fast growing softies (toadstools or finger leather). Put them on their own rock so easy to remove if you go to LPS/SPS heavy.

 

[Reefer Matt]

What lighting is on your tank?

 

[allof fish]

Yes absolutely. If you don’t have a filter and haven’t done a water change in few weeks I have a hard time believing nitrates and phosphates are 0. What are you using to test? How many fish? What other corals are nearby. IMO a water change would be necessary is nitrates are too high and a filter would be a good start to help removing excess organics especially since no skimmer

 

[Joe Tony]

Yes absolutely. If you don’t have a filter and haven’t done a water change in few weeks I have a hard time believing nitrates and phosphates are 0. What are you using to test? How many fish? What other corals are nearby. IMO a water change would be necessary is nitrates are too high and a filter would be a good start to help removing excess organics especially since no skimmer

I use the API tag test kit.

Got 4 fish in the tank, a clownfish pair, a banggai cardinal and orchid dottyback.

Could be nitrates are 0 because of algae growth. I do often see brown algae growing on the walls. I will do a good water change today and invest in a new filter. Any recommendations for a good budget filter for a 45 gallon?

 

[Joe Tony]

Yes absolutely. If you don’t have a filter and haven’t done a water change in few weeks I have a hard time believing nitrates and phosphates are 0. What are you using to test? How many fish? What other corals are nearby. IMO a water change would be necessary is nitrates are too high and a filter would be a good start to help removing excess organics especially since no skimmer

Red monti frag and toadstool leather are the only corals that are nearby.

I have an icy hammer coral that's sitting at the bottom of the tank, about 6-8 inches from it (you can see in the tank photo what the distance is).

 

[allof fish]

Any hang on back rated a bit higher I would say. Or a canister if you want. API test strips or drops. IMO those aren’t super accurate I prefer salifert and Hanna checkers. The algae can be sucking up any little nutrients faster than corals. Having low nitrates can lead to more algae as they will outcompete corals. Those fish won’t pick on candy cane so I would find nitrates and raise them to start

 

[Joe Tony]

Any hang on back rated a bit higher I would say. Or a canister if you want. API test strips or drops. IMO those aren’t super accurate I prefer salifert and Hanna checkers. The algae can be sucking up any little nutrients faster than corals. Having low nitrates can lead to more algae as they will outcompete corals. Those fish won’t pick on candy cane so I would find nitrates and raise them to start

Would peppermint shrimp pick on them?

 

[Sawacoral]

I've never had good luck with candy canes. I love them, but after 3 tries over the first few months and 3 overnight losses like yours, I just stopped. Mine never recovered. Odd because at the time I had Goniopora which is a touchy coral do just fine. Not to say you shouldn't keep trying but I think some tanks just don't do well early on until they mature a bit. If it doesn't return, I'd give it a couple more months to mature. Maybe get a couple fast growing softies (toadstools or finger leather). Put them on their own rock so easy to remove if you go to LPS/SPS heavy.

Agreed. I've tried keeping them several times and they all die. Weird.

 

[Joe Tony]

I've never had good luck with candy canes. I love them, but after 3 tries over the first few months and 3 overnight losses like yours, I just stopped. Mine never recovered. Odd because at the time I had Goniopora which is a touchy coral do just fine. Not to say you shouldn't keep trying but I think some tanks just don't do well early on until they mature a bit. If it doesn't return, I'd give it a couple more months to mature. Maybe get a couple fast growing softies (toadstools or finger leather). Put them on their own rock so easy to remove if you go to LPS/SPS heavy.

Yeah what's so weird is several of my SPS, and my hammers are doing just fine in a tank that (currently) doesn't even have a filter. But it's the candy cane that dies over night. I thought those corals were supposed to be super hardy!

 

[Joe Tony]

Agreed. I've tried keeping them several times and they all die. Weird.

So weird.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Elevated alkalinity is a possibility, but I don't think that would cause an abrupt change like this overnight.

I actually don't use a filter for my tank. I will water change, but tbh haven't done one in a few weeks.

You think that could be the issue?

Very possible and how are you testing water?
With no filter, there is potential for spikes and lack of water movement. I encourage use of a hang on Filter or preferably hang on refugium and even a hang on protein skimmer such as IceCap k1-50

As for candy canes, been one of my easiest and my daughter set up a tank about 3 months ago and is her healthiest specimen, even hammers doing excellent.

One of mine:

 

[Fish Fan]

Hardness: 150 ppm
Total Alkalinity: 180 ppm
Carbonate: 80 ppm

I use the API tag test kit.

I'm sorry to read about your candy cane, sometimes this kind of thing happens in this hobby

It's probably just me, but I'm not understanding what your test results are here, and I think you may be using test kits for freshwater, or at least conflating freshwater parameters with saltwater parameters.

I also don't know what an API "tag" test is, would these be a type of strip you dip in the water? If so, those are not very reliable in my experience.

In saltwater we don't typically talk about general hardness vs. carbonate hardness, we typically test for carbonate hardness only and it's most commonly expressed in units of dKH, which means degrees of Karbonate hardness (though it can be expressed in ppm too). The "k" instead of the "c" is from the German language where they don't have a "c" like in English. Many of the traditional principles of fish keeping came from Germany years ago.

If you're not already, I would advise using test kits specifically for saltwater aquaria, and I would advise not to use testing strips, which are often rebranded swimming pool tests, not even loved by swimming pool owners such as myself. Most members on R2R don't give a lot of love to the regular API kits, but if you have access to to them go for it, they will be better than a test strip for sure. If you have to order something, look for the Salifert brand test kits that are inexpensive, reliable, and for the most part easy to use and read.

https://www.chewy.com/salifert-aquarium-carbonate/dp/379741?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=22429708310&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22433258830&gbraid=0AAAAADmQ2V065zlF-0B2-g4D9X4E_x5Qi&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjIyzmZm4kAMVpVtHAR1gFRyZEAQYASABEgL1QPD_BwE

I hope this helps and good luck!

 

[jimk60]

Would peppermint shrimp pick on them?

It's definitely possible for a peppermint shrimp to pick at it. I've seen them tear into corals to get to food after spot feeding the coral

 

[Joe Tony]

I'm sorry to read about your candy cane, sometimes this kind of thing happens in this hobby

It's probably just me, but I'm not understanding what your test results are here, and I think you may be using test kits for freshwater, or at least conflating freshwater parameters with saltwater parameters.

I also don't know what an API "tag" test is, would these be a type of strip you dip in the water? If so, those are not very reliable in my experience.

In saltwater we don't typically talk about general hardness vs. carbonate hardness, we typically test for carbonate hardness only and it's most commonly expressed in units of dKH, which means degrees of Karbonate hardness (though it can be expressed in ppm too). The "k" instead of the "c" is from the German language where they don't have a "c" like in English. Many of the traditional principles of fish keeping came from Germany years ago.

If you're not already, I would advise using test kits specifically for saltwater aquaria, and I would advise not to use testing strips, which are often rebranded swimming pool tests, not even loved by swimming pool owners such as myself. Most members on R2R don't give a lot of love to the regular API kits, but if you have access to to them go for it, they will be better than a test strip for sure. If you have to order something, look for the Salifert brand test kits that are inexpensive, reliable, and for the most part easy to use and read.

https://www.chewy.com/salifert-aquarium-carbonate/dp/379741?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=22429708310&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22433258830&gbraid=0AAAAADmQ2V065zlF-0B2-g4D9X4E_x5Qi&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjIyzmZm4kAMVpVtHAR1gFRyZEAQYASABEgL1QPD_BwE

I hope this helps and good luck!

I'll look into Salifert.

 

[Joe Tony]

It's definitely possible for a peppermint shrimp to pick at it. I've seen them tear into corals to get to food after spot feeding the coral

Is there a way to prevent this? I try to feed all my critters every day, including pellets, flakes and frozen food.