Can these candy canes be saved?

[beanoil]

Hi,
I'm hoping for some help on saving these:

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p247/beanoil/P1010624.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p247/beanoil/P1010629.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p247/beanoil/P1010627.jpg

This colony grew from a two headed frag to sixty or seventy in two years, plus a single headed frag from the mother grew to twenty in four or five months. The last few weeks they've totally shriveled up and look like they're on death's door. I've read that they don't need feeding, so I've rarely fed them in the two years I've had them, and they've always had full polyp extension and grown well. So, I don't think it's that because increased feeding recently hasn't helped. Other thoughts are that even though my tank appears bright, the bulbs are over a year old (they're 9 or 10 inches under the T5s). Also, I've realized my salt is 16 months old--I change 10 gallons per month, so at the end of the bucket, it's old. Does salt go bad? Like everyone else always says, all other corals and fish are fine. Parameters are as follows:

sg: 1.025
temp: 81.1
pH: runs low at 7.77 - 8.02
alk: 11.04
ca: 440
nitrate: 0
phosphate: unknown
mag: 1320

I'm really hoping to save this colony--any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Grant

[scapes]

they are definately saveable, but they need to be fed! it will take some time and patience, but you must be willing to do this to salvage them.

you said you have fish, so do this. my fish always snatch most of the food from my lps. so, get a clear, soda container, cut it in half and put it on top of the cc. get a turkey baster with some mysis and stick through the opening of the container. do this at nite when tenticles come out. if you've never fed, it may take a few nites, but they should come around within a week and at that time they will eat readily and they will perk up.

i've had much worse come back from the dead, so these are definately salvageable but it is going to take some work on your part. good luck :)

[beanoil]

Thanks for the reply Scapes. I'll definitely continue with the increased feeding (3-4x per week?). I wondered if that was the problem, but I don't understand why they grew and looked so well for 2 years with very limited feeding (basically leftovers) and then declined so suddenly.

Also, what do you think of the fact that the tissue has receded so much in places that it stretches from one polyp over to the next. Can that heal?

[scapes]

your welcome. i'd try to feed everynight if possible. i don't feed mine either, but on occassion at nite, i'll throw in some cyclopeeze for them (turn off skimmer). try cyclopeeze too, that's another option.

i had a candy cane that fell in the back crevices of my rocks awhile back. i knew if was gonna die, but there was nothing i could do about it. i did some rearranging about a month ago and found it. it looked much worse than yours! i mean, barely any tissue, nothing. epoxied it to some rocks and it looks totally different now. so give the receded areas some time. i think you'll find once it gets growing again, it will look much better too!

[beanoil]

Thanks again for the input. I'll post back an update as they improve (thinking positively).

[scapes]

i'd atleast try feeding every nite until you can get it to eat. after that you can slack off again some. hope this is the cause, and thinking positively i'm sure that's all it is.

good luck :)

[iceman79]

try uping your P H to 8.3-8.4 that may also help

[bandr1002]

when i first purchased myne, they looked similar to yours. i do spot feed about twice a month with cyclopees and they are now flourishing. i also read somewhere that they do not need the highest of lights. i have mine under 6 at 54 watt tek fixture, and they are at the bottom of my rockwork.

[LPS_Blasto]

I'd do more frequent water changes too. There's trace elements in the new salt water and it gets absorbed and used by your corals at a pretty fast rate.

This is your 58g tank listed in your signature? Do 5g or 6g water changes every week instead of 10g once a month.

I do agree on feeding them. They will eat any meaty foods. Feed them at night as recommended above. Feed every night until they show signs of improvement and then cut back to twice a week.

I started with a small colony of only 9 heads. Mine are sky blue in color. They were in BAD shape when I bought them for $10 at the LFS. I have had them for a year and have struggled with them. I've moved them from higher flow to lower flow. From high light and then to low light. In the last 2 months I finally found a low light - low flow area where they are happy. They've began splitting and growing new polyps. I'm up to 14 polyps now. For the last year they did pretty much nothing. Now they are growing rapidly and eating twice a week.

They can be saved. It just takes dedication.

Do more frequent water changes. It will replenish the trace elements in the tank. Again, 5g or 6g once a week is far better than 10g once a month.

Just my opinion. Your mileage may vary. :)

[beanoil]

Scapes--ok, feeding every night. They're not wanting to eat much yet but I'll keep trying.

Iceman--I've tried everything I've read to raise my pH. It just won't consistently stay much above 8.0. I've just learned to live with it after learning that many keep successful tanks in this range, as long as it's consistent.

bandr1002--Interesting about the lighting. I just ordered replacement lamps since mine were so old. I ordered two ATI and two UVL. Supposedly these will have much more output than the Current Slimpaqs that I'm using now. I figured more light may help, but maybe in their debilitated state, it may make it worse. Should I lower them in the tank? Should I replace one bulb at a time?

LPS_Blasto--I do monthly water changes because it's just hard to make time every week. I know, wrong hobby, right? How about every other week? Fair compromise? I do understand what you're saying about the importance of the trace elements. BTW, where did you find sky blue candy canes? If you ever frag them, I'd be interested--that is, if I can resurrect these and restore my confidence.

Thanks all.

[LPS_Blasto]

I found them at the LFS one day. Sorry this is blurry. My camera stinks.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/186739IMG_2247.JPG