Out of nowhere, my Candy Cane corals look dead!?

[mrg02d]

Hello all,
Out of nowhere yesterday, my candy cane coral took a turn for the worst. It receded down to the bones and has stayed that way since. I havent done anything to it, nor is there any obvious stressors. The rest of my tank is doing great. They were fine yesterday and then they just "deflated". I can see their skeleton clearly. They still have their pretty blue-green color, but look like something sucked the life from them. There is no brown jelly or anything out of the ordinary. Do they do this for normal reasons? Nothing bothers them (that I see). I have had them for a few months.

I figured that if this lasted more than a day, Id ask...Funny thing is, they are still extending their tenticles at night...
Matt

 

[Mitchell0605]

Do you target feed them? If you don't try giving them little bits of mysis for a couple of nights and seeing if they look better.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

LPS - at least in my tank - seem to always go through a "funky" stage every once in a while. I've never been able to put my finger on the cause, but they always seem to come out of it with a growth spurt. My guess is that they are conserving their energy - the energy they'd normally use to expand their tissue is being used to lay down new skeleton, or ready themselves for more growth.

LPS can suck down pretty tight to their skeletons and look pretty scary, but still be healthy. Hopefully, that's all it is in your case. As long as you can't see anything obvious causing the problem, all you can do is keep the water in good shape and let it be. If it's feeding at night, that's a good sign. Agree with Mitch... a little mysis when its tentacles are out never hurt!

 

[mrg02d]

Hello,
thats such a relief! They have been busy lately. Went from 2 heads to six in a couple of months.
Thanks!
Matt

 

[Mitchell0605]

Nice growth.

 

[mrg02d]

Hello,
Well today, it looks like my candy cane coral is back to normal! Well, except for now it looks like a new head has appeared!?

Maybe corals go sickly looking before splitting?
Matt

 

[Mitchell0605]

Conserving energy before the split by not expanding maybe?