Question on Blastos and Candy Cane Corals

kolokele · Apr 1, 2024

I need some advice on Blasto and Candy Cane Corals.

1 - I have a beautiful Blasto coral—just one polyp/frag. It has only been in my tank for two mos., but I noticed some darkness on the edges and a black spot or hole last week. I dipped it and a few days later tried to feed it, but it looks the same. I have tried to look up this issue but have not seen anything about it. Although I saw something about black spot disease. It looks like it is losing flesh on that side, but when I dipped it, I saw nothing like a snail or sponge. It is hard to get good pictures, but I am attaching a couple. Any thoughts? I heard they were hardy, and I hope to save it, but I am concerned it is headed in the wrong direction. I have a small colony of Blastos that are about 1 month old and look ok so far, but I think I need some tips to keep them healthy.

2- Also, I have Candy Cane corals. The first (reddish) candy cane I bought, which I have had for over two years, looks okay—but not full and puffy; it is alive and seemingly ok. It survived a massive five-day blackout last winter, so it is hardy but not getting larger or spreading. I recently bought another set of green, puffy, and healthy frags from my LFS. They are doing fine but I think they a bit smaller. You can see them under the toadstool. Any tips to keep them happy and healthy?

My tank parameters are stable, but I did have a couple of weeks where my alkaline rose more than planned from 9 to 11, and I had refractometer issues, so the salinity shifted a bit. You can see from the pics that I have a lot of soft coral—leathers, zoas, etc. These are the last readings from before the weekend: Salinity 1.025, Temperature 79 degrees, pH 8.1, Phosphate .06, Nitrates 14.6, Magnesium 1430, alkaline 9.9, Calcium 440.

Thanks for any advice!

homer1475 · Apr 1, 2024

Hard to say, but it looks like too much light to me.

The dark spot is where the flesh has died off and is receding. The actual dark spot in the middle is its skeleton. It looks as though it's mouth is gone, which means it's not long before the whole coral dies off.

kolokele said:
My tank parameters are stable, but I did have a couple of weeks where my alkaline rose more than planned from 9 to 11, and I had refractometer issues, so the salinity shifted a bit.

This could have been the issue. This unfortunately is not stability. What mishap happens today, may not show the effects on the coral for weeks to come.

kolokele · Apr 1, 2024

homer1475 said:
Hard to say, but it looks like too much light to me.

The dark spot is where the flesh has died off and is receding. The actual dark spot in the middle is its skeleton. It looks as though it's mouth is gone, which means it's not long before the whole coral dies off.

This could have been the issue. This unfortunately is not stability. What mishap happens today, may not show the effects on the coral for weeks to come.

Ok thanks. I meant more stable in that the tank has been established for over 2 years. I typically don’t have swings but the last month I had those issues. I feel terrible about but trying my best. Thanks for the response. I was afraid it was not going to make it. Do I remove it now? I had it very low in the tank almost under a rock. If lighting was the issue should I move the small colony of blastos to a darker area? I have a low light pico tank for a few mushroom corals. I could move there but phosphates and nitrates are a bit higher there.

homer1475 · Apr 1, 2024

If the middle(the mouth) is gone(hard to tell from the pic, but it looks so), then the coral is a goner. Very rarely do they grow a new mouth before they perish. I personally would leave it be. It may recover.

Mr. Mojo Rising · Apr 1, 2024

I would guess too much or too little light, but slowly wasting away makes me think too little light? High light will kill corals very quickly, or make them recede very quickly, so again it makes me think low light.

Slow waste away can also happen from leather toxins, and I see a few large leathers in there. I've had lps slowly waste away from leather toxins, it happens. If you are not running carbon then maybe try that.

Cell · Apr 1, 2024

Alk swings can be real damaging. You may not notice a slow decline until weeks later.

kolokele · Apr 1, 2024

Mr. Mojo Rising said:
I would guess too much or too little light, but slowly wasting away makes me think too little light? High light will kill corals very quickly, or make them recede very quickly, so again it makes me think low light.

Slow waste away can also happen from leather toxins, and I see a few large leathers in there. I've had lps slowly waste away from leather toxins, it happens. If you are not running carbon then maybe try that.

I am running chemi pure - do you know often I should replace with the large leathers?

kolokele · Apr 1, 2024

I am seeing that. I tried to microdose kalkwasser but it caused a surge. My LFS did not think 9-10.8 would cause an issue, but I think it did since it happened within a couple of days. Will not do that again!