dead candycane...

[dpotts]

I think my candycane has died.:confused: This week I've had to move a few corals around because my bubble coral has gotten so big. Well I moved it a few times and once it fell over but all seemed well until this afternoon. It was opening up this morning but now it looks like...well dead. It has little holes in it, it's totally deflated and it's not soft to the touch anymore ( I was trying to see if it would contract if I touched it). I did notice one of my peppermint shrimp kinda picking at it this morning (has never happened before) and was wondering....Did I kill it my moving it so much and the shrimp was just cleaning up or did the shrimp kill it? Should I remove it or leave it in my tank (the candycane)?
For those wondering, all other livestock and corals are doing great.
Ammonia-0
nitrate-0
nitrite-0
SG-1.025
Temp 78.2
pH-8.2
kH-8
Ca-360
Phos-0.5
Mg-1240
29g BC

[justahobby]

They can look like that when they are pooping (have you fed recently) and if oo much debris gets on them, they cant exactly shake it off. I haven't seen a candy cane die, but all other corals deterioate when dead. You will see pieces come off if it was dying.

[dpotts]

I don't spot feed my corals and it's in a good flow area so it wouldn't be debris.

[SaltyJim]

If there is any flesh left on the skeleton, then there is a chance that the head will regrow. So, I'd leave it in there.

As to the question of which came first, the shrimp was most likely just doing a cleanup job. Did you accidentally come in contact with the bubble when you were moving it? My CC and trumpets tend to "fight" when the colonies get larger. My CC will send out sweeper tentacles that reach across to the trumpet, and I usually lose the head after just a short contact.

[jrsatx20]

if it still has flesh it probally will make its not dead until only skeleton is left but even then there have been reports that they can still come back. ca is a little on the low side also. that can be the problem also. do water change to add new elements to the water.

[Bill S]

They damage VERY easily. If you think it's probably not going to make it, it won't hurt to dip it in 4 drops of Lugols's iodine in a liter of tank water for 15 minutes. My LPS and softies - in particular my bubble coral - seem to really like that. My bubble coral is 1) ugly and 2) world class size (basketball when fully inflated).

[dpotts]

I was really careful not to let the bubble and the CC touch so it's not that. I do a 10% water change every week and I am dosing Ca.. it's usually 420 so I did dose this am. It still has 90% of it's flesh. It's still a bright neon green just small and deflated.

[FireWater]

Both my green and ice blue CC will do something similar to what you are describing from time to time. Just give it a while to adjust and it should be fine. The little holes might just be pigment changes that appear different due to them being closed up.