CANDY CANE DIED OVERNIGHT!!!

[jimk60]

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

Keep the shrimp well fed. Most corals will not need daily feeding. Once a week if fine. I almost never spot feed them

 

[Reefer Matt]

What lighting is on this tank?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I would focus on filters/filtration and reliable test kits. Additionally, take a water sample to a store that does not use API test kits and see what they come up with for ammonia-nitrate-ph

 

[Joe Tony]

Keep the shrimp well fed. Most corals will not need daily feeding. Once a week if fine. I almost never spot feed them

Normally I throw a bunch of pellets in every night/other night. The shrimp gobble it up (and also nassarius snails and hermit crabs). I wonder if that's sufficient.

 

[BryanM]

Normally I throw a bunch of pellets in every night/other night. The shrimp gobble it up (and also nassarius snails and hermit crabs). I wonder if that's sufficient.

overnight issues are disheartening, and I just had to toss another medium size multihead torch due to BJD this morning. Mostly joy, but dang, the losses stink sometimes.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I'll look into Salifert.

Look into salifert Red Sea or Hanna test kits

 

[exnisstech]

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

Ive found most shrimp will steal food from lps, my cleaners were the worst. I used to placed a cut off 2 liter bottle over the coral when I target fed.

 

[jordanart225]

I never keep my nitrates at zero, but if your other coralz are fine, then it might have been your shrimp or something else eating it.

 

[Joe Tony]

I never keep my nitrates at zero, but if your other coralz are fine, then it might have been your shrimp or something else eating it.

It also just happened over night.

Like, the candy cane was just fine for weeks, and then over night it lost all of its flesh.

 

[Joe Tony]

Ive found most shrimp will steal food from lps, my cleaners were the worst. I used to placed a cut off 2 liter bottle over the coral when I target fed.

But have you seen them actually eat the coral flesh?

 

[exnisstech]

But have you seen them actually eat the coral flesh?

I have kept cleaner shrimp and currently have blood red fire shrimp, coral banded, and peppermints and I personally have never seen a shrimp eat coral flesh.

 

[Dogeatbird]

Yes, Peppermint shrimps will, do, and have been seen eating coral. Personally I have seen them eat a variety of different types, healthy, diminishing, recently deceased.

Hammer corals are aggressive. Although it does not appear to in your photos, they can and do produce sweeper tentacles that can extend easily 6-12” from there location, especially down current.

Do verify that your test kits are for a marine environment. It is an easy oversight. Salifert are nice. Hanna Checkers are also nice. A simple video search can allow you to decide which will be easiest for you to use. Basic kit needed is Alkalinity,Nitrate, Phosphate. Calcium and Magnesium do not need to be tested as frequently but if you are planning on keeping corals; then plan on at least Calcium.

Filtration is more of a personal choice. Generally most have some form. At a minimum I would say a hang on the tank skimmer, sized for your system. The simplest test for if my system needs filtration consider the white bucket test.

In a 5 gal white bucket can you see water discoloration, as compared to, clean tap water in said white bucket.

Other thing I would mention is familiarity with saltwater. I am not criticizing but it seems that your experience level may be new. Below is a link to the free pdf of a book that explains the modern methodology of saltwater aquaria. It is almost thirty years old. A lot has advanced in that time, but the core knowledge about fish and invertebrate husbandry remains poignant. Every hobbyist began somewhere and I also began Illiterate. I hope this helps and also success with your tank.

The Reef Aquarium Vol 1. J. Sprung J Delbeek

 

[Dogeatbird]

Another great Volume of books is:
The Modern Reef Aquarium Vol. 1-4
Nilsen & Fossa

Again both volumes; Delbeek & Sprung, Nilsen & Fossa are thirty years old but cover core knowledge on husbandry, system design. What has changed is the use of Lightng technology(LED) and parameter recommendation for Nitrate, Phosphate.

 

[Fishy888]

Candy cane corals like detectable nitrate levels. Please get reliable test kits as mentioned by several others. You should get phosphate and nitrate tests at a minimum. Neither should be zero. Nitrates at 5 to 10 ppm, phosphates at 0.05 to 0.1 ppm should be your goal.

If everything else is in order like having the lighting just right and having your parameters good and stable, you’ll only need to feed candy cane corals once a week at most.

As mentioned, sometimes, even when you’ve done everything right, corals can just die on you anyway. All we can do is to provide the best care we can muster and be as informed as possible.

 

[vetteguy53081]

But have you seen them actually eat the coral flesh?

I have 3 shrimp and none of them care less about my coral in which tank is LPS heavy but rather hide most of the day