Problem with candy canes

[NWDiver]

I am having an issue with one of my candy cane corals.
I added two frags off a single colony 6 months ago and they have grown like crazy. About a week ago I noticed that one of the new colonies was not looking all that great. I didn't worry at first. Now I see a fair bit of white flesh and many of the heads are not opening to feed. The problem coral is about 24 inches from the other which shows no sign of stress. I will add a picture tonight.
The problem coral is not close to any other coral.
My parameters are spot on (I test weekly), and I have not added anything to the tank for about 2 months.
The tank is a mixed reef, of about 150 total gallons.
The sps and other lps all look fine.
No real changes to the tank recently.
I have only 4 fish: 2 clowns, a small hippo, and a sand sifting goby.
I have not noticed any of the fish near, or bothering the coral.

 

[Faciosity]

Have you changed the direction of flow at all? Try putting them in a different spot. More or less light?

 

[egunman]

Taggin along as I have something similar happening.

 

[mojoreef]

Dont be fooled by how far apart they are, I had one that would send out a 4 foot runner to get after other. Candy cane can be susceptable to a couple of issues, one is boring bug/snails, so check the stock to see if you can find any holes. The other is a type of white/transperent fungus that attacks those types species, so do another examination on that.


Mojo

 

[NWDiver]

Faciosity> It is on the bottom and always has been, so light (change) should not be an issue. The 250hqi bulbs are 7 months old.
Flow is variable (apex) but has not changed to any great extent where that guy lives. I move the powerhead aim on two of the pumps every two days and have done so for several months.
It is in a light flow area, but the water is still moving pretty good there.
No additions and no major changes, thats why I'm confused.


Mojo> Good info. what am I looking for with the fungus? is it obvious? What are the treatment options for either problem?

 

[mojoreef]

Yea it looks like a transperent white, fungus, smooth looking. I ahd a picture but I cant find it now. Usually its large enough to see pretty easy. Treatment wise I will do an internal search and see what I can come up with..

MOjo

 

[mojoreef]

Oh and it could also be the brownish version of it to, so anything that looks like a jelly substance on it. Got a pic??

Mojo

 

[mojoreef]

Found a pic at central that has both types

 

[tat2z_21]

I had something similar happen to mine and it was the flow that caused the guys to stay closed up. If your others are not showing any symptoms to a fungis, or boring bugs then the chances are slim that the infefction zone is in that one area. Not saying that it is not still a possibility but I would check the flow as well. Try moving them next to a rock with indirect flow.

 

[NWDiver]

Mojo> Thanks for the pic! None of the brown jelly, I'll look closer for the white when I get home. I will also post a picture. I know, really tough without one

Tatz> It is not just that they are closed, they have more white (smooth looking like the skin is pulled back) than normal. I'm not sure which way to change the flow. they have a nice easy flow now, increase or shelter? The flow has been pretty consistent strength wise for many months.

 

[mojoreef]

The coral in the pic is at an advanced stage of the issue, I just wanted to give you an idea of the look. When you are looking look for very small patches. Alot of times they can retract for quit awhile just from being pissed off.

 

[Faciosity]

Mojo> Thanks for the pic! None of the brown jelly, I'll look closer for the white when I get home. I will also post a picture. I know, really tough without one

Tatz> It is not just that they are closed, they have more white (smooth looking like the skin is pulled back) than normal. I'm not sure which way to change the flow. they have a nice easy flow now, increase or shelter? The flow has been pretty consistent strength wise for many months.

Sounds like flow issues to me, I had the exact same thing happen recently. As the polyps grow and expand, the flow obviously affects them more since they have a larger surface area to gather the flow. What this does sometimes, is pulls/pushes the polyp so hard that it looks like they are shriveled up and showing skeleton, even though they are trying their hardest to plump up. (almost looks like the flesh is going to tear right off sometimes!)

I'm just hoping for your sake that it's the easy solution, and definately worth a try if you don't see any signs of infection. Move them to where they have fairly gentle indirect flow, nothing pushing straight against the polyps. Or like you mentioned, you can kind of shelter them with rocks around it.

 

[NWDiver]

Hmmm, perhaps.
When they are open, they don't look like they are getting pushed too hard, but I will protect them a bit more to see if that helps.
I will do a close inspection tonight and take some pictures so you guys have more to work with

 

[tat2z_21]

again not saying that it is not what MOJO is talking about, but with no visual indicators that would be my first guess.

 

[Faciosity]

Hmmm, perhaps.
When they are open, they don't look like they are getting pushed too hard, but I will protect them a bit more to see if that helps.
I will do a close inspection tonight and take some pictures so you guys have more to work with

Cool, pictures will help. Hope they do better, but I know people sell/trade them a dime a dozen if they go down hill. One time I had a frag of deep green ones with 6 heads, and after having them for a couple months the heads started falling off one by one. Never found out why, but all the pink ones I had just a few inches away stayed healthy and fine. Corals are weird.

 

[NWDiver]

Thanks Tatz! Not dismissing your idea by any means, just giving more info to help you help me!

Faciosity> Yeah, I know they are cheap, but in nearly a year I have not lost a coral, so I want to know what went wrong! I have a bunch of inexpensive sps doing great, growing pipe-organ so fast that it is becoming a pest and all of a sudden I'm killing a "beginner" coral!
I know I'm a newbie, but most of my coral have not figured that out yet

 

[NWDiver]

So here are two photos, let me know if there is something you need to see more clearly.

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[mojoreef]

Yea you can definately see the tissue receding and in some spots flaking off. Its a tough call at this point, you can let it ride and see what happens or you can try to effect some kind of cure, although the cure might hurt it. I would do a good comparison to the other colony and if you see a good amount of degredation I would proceed with a cure.

What I have done to help this is to create a solution of iodine and SW and then do a good dip of the coral. Now this can also create more stress and might not help it. But it will kill any fungus or similar on it. But again its a tough call.


Mojo

 

[NWDiver]

Thanks Mojo, it looks worse in person.
I will do the dip and see what I get.
There is no comparison between the two, the "good" coral has no resession and is plump and healthy.
Should I remove the sick coral to prevent the issue from spreading?

 

[egunman]

Any pics of the boring bugs?