Please help! - Established Candy Cane Coral Receding

[insanelogic]

Hi all. I have this candy cane coral. I have had it since mid-December, and it always opens up during the day, and everything looks good. The problem is visible when the lights turn off, where you can see in the picture that it has receded. This picture is from a little while ago. It has since receded all the way to the point where some polyps are beginning to show a white skeleton. I have tried peroxide dipping, feeding with mysis shrimp, feeding with reef roids, dosing amino acids, dosing Brightwell Aquatics Restor, and most recently I have tried iodine dipping because I could see some sort of worm-like thing on the base of it (I think Vermetids?). I have given it time in between all of these attempts and it always seems to keep receding. Any ideas?

Most recent parameters:
Calcium: 400PPM
Alkalinity: 7.5DKH
Magnesium: 1350PPM
Phosphate: 0-0.25PPM
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0-0.25PPM
PH: 8-8.2
Salinity: 1.025PPM
Temperature: 79

I do know that some of these are not perfect, specifically nitrate being low, but from my knowledge, nothing is out of range enough to kill off something as hardy as a candy cane, especially because it is being fed. For the most part, all of these have been very stable for at least the last few weeks, yet it is still continuing to recede. On top of this, all of my other corals (2 leathers, 1 GSP, and a hammer coral) have all been doing fairly well, and the softies are even growing quite well, which just adds to my confusion.
Any and all suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Tahoe61]

What type of lighting and intensity please?

 

[insanelogic]

What type of lighting and intensity please?

I do not have a PAR meter, but I am using one 24" Current Orbit Marine LED Light set to the recommended manufacturer's settings for corals. This is a 30-gallon tall tank, so the light fits perfectly. - Seen in the photo is the night setting, it is brighter and more white during the day.

 

[KrisReef]

That, is how LPS polyps progress over time. That old dead skeleton just gets left behind as the polyps lay down new calcium, divide and produce "new" heads, and eventually grow into a nice broccoli-shaped colony. When I was young I could not stand the site of the b-vegetable, those woody stems and horrible tasting crowns. As I got older I realized the beauty of broccoli, it grows just like a coral in the ocean and there is no explanation for it.

 

[insanelogic]

That, is how LPS polyps progress over time. That old dead skeleton just gets left behind as the polyps lay down new calcium, divide and produce "new" heads, and eventually grow into a nice broccoli-shaped colony. When I was young I could not stand the site of the b-vegetable, those woody stems and horrible tasting crowns. As I got older I realized the beauty of broccoli, it grows just like a coral in the ocean and there is no explanation for it.

They are dividing, but every single polyp has receded quite a bit, even the newer ones, especially since this photo was taken. Some on top are getting to the point where I can see skeleton appearing under the flesh. I can understand that being for a polyp or two once in a while, but they are all doing that. Is that normal?

 

[Tahoe61]

I do not have a PAR meter, but I am using one 24" Current Orbit Marine LED Light set to the recommended manufacturer's settings for corals. This is a 30-gallon tall tank, so the light fits perfectly. - Seen in the photo is the night setting, it is brighter and more white during the day.

I would suggest that the coral needs more light. The fixture is only 27 watts, and your tank is tall. The chemistry is in line, the coral looks otherwise healthy and you suggest a slow decline.

 

[insanelogic]

I would suggest that the coral needs more light. The fixture is only 27 watts, and your tank is tall. The chemistry is in line, the coral looks otherwise healthy and you suggest a slow decline.

That sounds good, thanks! I will bump up the light a bit and see if that helps. It is definitely a slow decline, over the course of about 2-3 months from when I started to notice it slightly. - I am going to either buy or rent a PAR meter to figure out the lighting once and for all.

 

[Shirak]

That sounds good, thanks! I will bump up the light a bit and see if that helps. It is definitely a slow decline, over the course of about 2-3 months from when I started to notice it slightly. - I am going to either buy or rent a PAR meter to figure out the lighting once and for all.

bump as much as you can but a 27w led on a 30g tall tank is not going to work long term even at full power. You need something around 100w. Something like a Nicrew gen 2 100w You could even go upwards of 200w without a problem and have some extra power if you need it.

Also yes low nutrients could cause corals to recede. If they are not getting enough nutrition. They get most through the water and some through catching food. You can make up for lack of nutrients in the water to some degree with target feeding. But even with good nutrients if the light is too low they can't really utilize it properly.

 

[insanelogic]

bump as much as you can but a 27w led on a 30g tall tank is not going to work long term even at full power. You need something around 100w. Something like a Nicrew gen 2 100w You could even go upwards of 200w without a problem and have some extra power if you need it.

Also yes low nutrients could cause corals to recede. If they are not getting enough nutrition. They get most through the water and some through catching food. You can make up for lack of nutrients in the water to some degree with target feeding. But even with good nutrients if the light is too low they can't really utilize it properly.

Yeah, that seems to be the consensus - I'll look into some new lighting. This specific coral prefers a PAR of around 50-75 from what I can find online. Is a light like the Nicrew too powerful, or is that good for this?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I agree it needs more light, the sand looks very clean, to me it means the light is not strong enough for photosynthesis on the sand level. Move it up, or turn your lights up IMO

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I didn't read the thread all the way through lol. I have a 100 watt nicrew on my 32 gallon, 18" depth set at 75% and it grows anything, I'm sure it will work on your tank too.

 

[insanelogic]

I didn't read the thread all the way through lol. I have a 100 watt nicrew on my 32 gallon, 18" depth set at 75% and it grows anything, I'm sure it will work on your tank too.

Lol all good... That sounds good. I just ordered a 150-watt nicrew at a $70 discount with the controller, so that should be more than I need, but I'll have plenty of room to grow into it in the future if I go with SPS. It feels like a waste getting rid of my Current Loop light, but I guess that's what happens when buying cheap lol. I'm also planning to rent a PAR meter to make sure everything is in a good place with the new light.

 

[insanelogic]

Hi all. I have this candy cane coral. I have had it since mid-December, and it always opens up during the day, and everything looks good. The problem is visible when the lights turn off, where you can see in the picture that it has receded. This picture is from a little while ago. It has since receded all the way to the point where some polyps are beginning to show a white skeleton. I have tried peroxide dipping, feeding with mysis shrimp, feeding with reef roids, dosing amino acids, dosing Brightwell Aquatics Restor, and most recently I have tried iodine dipping because I could see some sort of worm-like thing on the base of it (I think Vermetids?). I have given it time in between all of these attempts and it always seems to keep receding. Any ideas?

Most recent parameters:
Calcium: 400PPM
Alkalinity: 7.5DKH
Magnesium: 1350PPM
Phosphate: 0-0.25PPM
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0-0.25PPM
PH: 8-8.2
Salinity: 1.025PPM
Temperature: 79

I do know that some of these are not perfect, specifically nitrate being low, but from my knowledge, nothing is out of range enough to kill off something as hardy as a candy cane, especially because it is being fed. For the most part, all of these have been very stable for at least the last few weeks, yet it is still continuing to recede. On top of this, all of my other corals (2 leathers, 1 GSP, and a hammer coral) have all been doing fairly well, and the softies are even growing quite well, which just adds to my confusion.
Any and all suggestions are appreciated!

Hi all - quick update on the light. I got my hands on a PAR meter. Sure enough, the PAR is wayyyyy too low in most areas of the tank with the Current Loop light. In the area of this coral, about 25-30 PAR. A far cry from the 50-75 required.

I have a new light on the way and all should be good once that arrives. Thanks everyone for the help!!

 

[BryanM]

I bought this from amazon:

Amazon product

 

[insanelogic]

I bought this from amazon:

Amazon product

Hey that’s exactly what I got! - I wanted to rent from my LFS but they are not well enough equipped for that unfortunately. The Vabira was the next best thing to check both cost and accuracy. Works great so far!

 

[sherry_cash]

Yeah, that seems to be the consensus - I'll look into some new lighting. This specific coral prefers a PAR of around 50-75 from what I can find online. Is a light like the Nicrew too powerful, or is that good for this?

I lost a lot of coral with week lights and I went with smatfarm 95 on my 29 g and it turned things around tremendously. But agree light to week. These lights aren't terribly expensive a lot of bang for ur buck

 

[insanelogic]

I lost a lot of coral with week lights and I went with smatfarm 95 on my 29 g and it turned things around tremendously. But agree light to week. These lights aren't terribly expensive a lot of bang for ur buck

Yup - it looks like my candy cane is going to make it. A few polyps have bailed out but the rest are going strong. Although, I have lost a hammer, but that was kind of expected because it wasn’t doing so well to begin with. I also found that my API testing kit was so far off that I was overdosing alkalinity. The joys of buying cheap lol. The light definitely makes a huge difference

 

[sherry_cash]

Yup - it looks like my candy cane is going to make it. A few polyps have bailed out but the rest are going strong. Although, I have lost a hammer, but that was kind of expected because it wasn’t doing so well to begin with. I also found that my API testing kit was so far off that I was overdosing alkalinity. The joys of buying cheap lol. The light definitely makes a huge difference

Also what helped turn mine around i done half recommended dosage red sea ab+2×s week and corals love it