Claustera or Candy cane coral(Trumpet Coral) as I like to refer to it, is an amazing LPS coral, you won’t go wrong caring for it even as a beginner.
It’s beautifully shaped and colored, and adding it to your aquarium will give it a unique and vibrant texture and bring more life to it. They are one of my favorite beginner corals.
If you’re ready to make your Trumpet coral show off its amazing colors and beauty, then this article is for you.
We will share top tips for caring for Candy cane coral, including maintaining the right water quality, discussing the right lighting requirements, feeding the Claustera, the right placing in the aquarium, and dealing with common problems.
Overview
Candy cane corals are popular reef creatures first because they are beginner friendly and will tolerate your rookie mistakes. Second, they are beautiful, and having them in your aquarium will be the right choice if you had always wanted a hardy and easy-to-care-for coral.
They originate from the Indo-West Pacific region and are found in places such as the Solomon islands, Great Barrier Reef, and the Coral sea.
They live in low-level areas of the sea which are full of sandy substrates and moderate water flow.
Tank requirement
To keep them in your aquarium you should very well try to replicate their natural environment as best as possible. (provide enough sand and moderate water flow)
You might have heard that Candy cane coral is one of the corals that can be put into a small aquarium. While it’s true I wouldn’t recommend it. I believe if you want to experience more of its beauty, you should give it enough space to grow and thrive, you can consider putting it in at least a 30-gallon water tank.
Top Tips for Caring for Trumpet Coral
Tip #1: Maintaining optimal water quality
To keep them healthy and happy you should set them to specific water parameters and monitor their fluctuations regularly.
Here are the recommended water parameters for the Candy cane coral:
- Temperature: 75 – 82°F (24- 28°C)
- pH: 8.1 – 8.4
- Water Hardness: 8 to 12° dH
- Calcium: 400 ppm
- Salinity: 1.023
You should always make regular water testing and monitoring to ensure that these parameters remain stable and within the correct range.
Tip #2: Meeting the lighting requirements
Lighting is very important to the Candy cane coral and corals in general, Cause that’s where they get their essential nutrition from.
Our Candy cane isn’t demanding in terms of lighting, moderate lighting (between 50-70 PAR) is enough for it to live comfortably. You just need to place it in a place where light reaches. You can consider putting it at the bottom of the tank. That’s where people usually put them.
Tip #3: Feeding
Candy cane coral doesn’t require much feeding, it can generally survive with just the photosynthetic it gets from the light.
But it’s always a good idea to feed it from time to time to accelerate its growth.
You can consider giving them small pieces of brine shrimp two times a week or just feeding them the regular LPS pellets. They do great with them. Just make sure you don’t overfeed them (make sure your water nitrate and phosphate aren’t high when feeding them).
When feeding them make sure the food land on each of their polyps as each polyp has its own mouth and will eat its own food and grow independently. If you feed some polyps and ignore others, you will notice the ones that are being fed become fattier and split faster and reproduce, while the others will become skinny.
They are slow-eating animals so expect the food to be there for some time and make sure other fish, if any, don’t steal their food.
Tip #4: Placing
Placement for Candy cane coral isn’t usually considered important but you should consider placing them in a low-water flow spot in the aquarium and away from aggressive fish or corals, they are generally peaceful and will get bullied if placed near other aggressive corals if you have any make sure there is enough space between them.
Tip #5: Dealing with common problems
Although I said it’s hardy and beginner friendly, you still need to take care of it so it won’t get sick.
Sickness and diseases can happen due to multiple reasons and let’s list some of them.
Overfeeding: overfeeding and not feeding are two faces of the same coin. You should always make sure it can get its nutrient at a moderate level. Feeding them two to three times a week should work.
Too much lighting: Yes lighting is important to the zooxanthellae(check the Pulsing xenia article for more details) but it will still damage the polyps if exposed to too much lighting.
Water parameters: The most common problem that faces beginners, is that they mess up with the water parameters and that leads to undesired consequences, the Candy cane coral can deal with these fluctuations but it will still get sick if the change is more than it can handle.
Water flow: Water flow is important, and as I have mentioned before you should put it into a lower flow area in your tank if the flow is not low in your aquarium, they can generally also tolerate medium water flow but t might damage their polyps tissues over time. So on the safe side, you should place it in low-flow areas.
These reasons can cause irritation to the polyps and limit their growth, and intense light can also cause them stress, so be sure to monitor it regularly.
Tips for Maintaining Trumpet Coral Health
There are many things you could do to maintain your Candy cane coral in its optimal condition. I have basically listed many things you could do to prevent disease and keep it healthy.
But there are other things you should be aware of. For example pests.
You probably already know how corals can get easily infected with pests. So if you want to introduce a new coral to your aquarium be sure to execute the proper “ritual” cleaning before putting them in.
If you notice anything wrong or that your coral is showing signs of a disease infarction you should put it in quarantine before treating it if it lives with others.
Finally, it’s important to have the right equipment and tools on hand, such as a protein skimmer, powerhead, and thermometer.
Conclusion
Caring for the Candy cane coral may seem a little challenging but it’s actually very easy compared to other LPS. At least you can easily start taking care of it even if you are new to the hobby. There are several other corals that need so much care that any small mishap will kill them. That’s how delicate they are.
On the other hand, our Candy cane will seem as hardy as other hardiest.
Even the Pulsing Xenia from the soft coral family can be a bit challenging to keep if its invasive trait isn’t properly dealt with.
By following the top tips I have provided, you will be able to care for your Candy cane coral and help it stay healthy and happy.
If you have experience keeping them or would like to add some tips from your personal experience, feel free to leave a comment below so other people in the hobby can read it too.
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Happy reef-keeping!
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