Speaking of Candy Cane Corals

[T8T]

I wanted to post a pic of the one I have that looks to be close to death.
Water parameters are as follows:
Alk=2.2Meq/l
Ca=460
Ph=8.2
NH3=0
NO3=0
NO2=0
SG=1.025
Temp=82
5 gallon RO/DI water changes every Saturday.
20 gallon tank... 10gallon sump. 2 Maxijet 1200 w/flow ratators.
130w PC lighting and about 40lbs of Live rock.
I don't have a skimmer... or room for one for that matter.

The Coral is up in the middle part of the tank with moderate flow.
Is there anyting I cn do to save this?

 

[erock]

What type of lighting do you have?

Candy Cane's typically like more subdued lighting and light to moderate flow so I'd try moving it to the bottom of the tank. I like to keep mine at the base of my live rock with the bottom slightly pushed into the sand bed. I find mine open up the best when they are slightly under an overhang in my rockwork, kinda like they are stretching to get to light.

These corals are resiliant but if you decide to move it find a good location and then leave it alone for about 48 hours to see how it reacts. Also, make sure it is not close to other corals that may sting it.

Good luck.

 

[erock]

Oh, one more thing, even if a head or two dies it will not lead to the death of the colony so don't give up on it unless all of the heads die off.

 

[T8T]

Thanks for the info. I am kind of heart broken right now. It used to be so bulbous. I moved it down last night into the sand bed. I guess I'll need to make an overhang of some sort. No other corals are near it nor were they in it's previous location. I am relieved though that all hope is not lost for it. My ligthing is a lunar aqua light 130 watt PC fixture. 65w 10K and 65w actinic. Lighting schedule is: Actinic on at noon 10K on at 2pm. 10K off at 5pm actinic off at 7pm. LED's on all the time.

 

[erock]

If I'm reading your lighting schedule correctly you are not providing enough light. It sounds like your tank is only getting 3 hours of full spectrum lighting. I run a dusk/dawn setup with my actinics as well but keep my full spectrum lighting going for much longer. Here's my schedule:

Actinics on from noon-10pm
Whites on from 1pm-9pm
LED moonlights on all time

This schedule gives my tank 8 full hours of full spectrum lighting and another 2 hours of blue spectrum lighting. I'd recommend you increase your full spectrum schedule to at least 8 hours to promote the best coral health.

 

[Gant]

@erock wrote:

I agree with erock in that you probably need more light. Not only are your candy canes not getting enough light, you are depriving other inverts that synthesize light, which affects your overall tank (which doesn't show up in the common parameters).

Because of room constraints, I've had to move my candy canes several different places with respect to light and current. Unless they are getting stung or assaulted (e.g., by a #%*^@ decorator crab), they do ok. They are also tough little suckers. Mine have gotten thrashed before (by a #%*^@ decorator crab) and have fallen over, damaging some soft tissue. They put off some goo, look like crap for a few days, and make a full recovery.

Oh yeah, those increases in lighting should be GRADUAL.

 

[Kay]

My candy cane does great anywhere in the tank, either right under the metal halides or at the bottom. It is a resilient coral. It's taken lots of falls.

Kay