[ladydragon55]

OK I have a ton of questions. The LFS where I have bought everything from tank to water is starting to confuse me more and more. So I bring it to you the guru's of reef.

#1 - Saturday I went to the store and they sold me a carnation coral. They said it was easy to take care of and healthy. Well, I went online and this looks nothing like anything I have found, and any info on carnation corals say they are far from easy. I know it says low light so I placed it under a shelf, other than that I am lost.




#2 - The finger leather coral they sold me is wonderful, but does not seem to be happy where I placed him. He is tilting himself sideways. Does he need more flow? He was my husbands choice, and this is the first time he has shown a interest in what I put in the tank. I want to make sure to keep it happy!!!




#3 - My star polyp seems to be dividing. He was one solid block and now, as the picture shows, he is coming off his rock and a piece is coming down. Can I take this piece and move it to another rock, or will that hurt it? Should I just let it hang and it will come off on it's own and then move it? I have placed it where it gets good light and a lot of flow.




#4 - OK I am confused about something are zoos different than polyps??? They look the same in pictures but the polyps seem to have stalks where the zoos don't. Can someone clear this up for me? Thank You.


#5 - This one is more about water. I made my starting water with instant ocean and had no problems. I did a 15 gallon water change last week using real ocean that I purchased at the LFS. Now my salt level is at the peak of the high range. Is this the usual with real ocean? Could this be why my corals don't seem as happy?

You folks are great. You put up with the dumb questions we starters ask and don't make us feel like real idiots. Thanks for the support! My tank can thank you for survival!!

[Krazy]

Here's my thoughts...

Question #1 :
That looks like a red/orange tree sponge (which always seem to die in home aquaria) and if it is a sponge and was exposed to air, it will die much quicker, just kinda melts away..

#2: The finger leather is nice, it should do fine from the bottom level in the tank to mid/high depending on what you have for lighting, medium flow is fine for that coral.

#3: for your star polyps, you can most defiently take the hanging piece off and rubberband it or superglue the underside to another rock, it will take fairly quick with either method

#4: Zoa's are the real name or Palyzoas, Palys are the larger of the zoo's, polyps are pretty much the same as zoo's zoa's, Everyone calls them something different, I'm no expert on this one but it sounds like I'm at least half way right

#5: I'd use RO/DI water and make the salt mix your self with the instant ocean or whatever other salt brand you like. RO/DI filters can be purchased from The Filter Guys

When your salinty gets high, you can do a 1 gallon replacement with some RO/DI non salt water, always top off with fresh RO/DI and not salt, or you'll end up with high salinty...

1.024-1.026 is what I aim for and try to maintain my tanks at...

Hope the answers helped some for ya...

[c-c]

Answers and more answers from some helpful web sites, you may have read already. First one on coral compatibility:

AquariumFish.com :: Aquarium Fish International :: The monthly magazine for both novice and expert aquarium hobbyists.

Second source on chosing coral:

AquariumFish.com :: Aquarium Fish International :: The monthly magazine for both novice and expert aquarium hobbyists.

This second source says stay away from the Dendronephthya coral as they are almost impossible to maintain. The carnation coral would fall into that category. Even though they are the most colorful and beautiful soft corals, they are also the most difficult to keep. They seem to need strong alternating currents. Dim light better as bright illumination may be harmful. Need to be fed heavily as they lack zoozanthellae. Benefit from phytoplankton additions; do best in tanks with well- developed sand bed infauna that produces small invertebrae larvae.

After a water change, they will often bud up, Sit it on the bottom, in between two power heads so it gets both currents from opposite directions. If it buds up and exposes its white polyps, turn off filter and skimmer and target feed phytoplankton with a turkey baster. Mine has lasted about 4 months so far. Current is important.

[mtfabel]

My opinion only differs on one question. I think the coral in the first picture is a chili coral.

Chili Coral (Nephthyigorgia sp)

Chili Cactus Coral

[c-c]

Thanks Mike for those sites.
Those pictures made it very clear...
My reference book does not name it chili coral but instead devil's hand.
I couldn't find anything called "carnation coral"

[c-c]

Here is a pic of my "chili cactus coral" -Nephthyigorgia.
It hasn't pumped up it's polyps for several days now.
I'll try to send another pic when it does.



Scopus tang checking out the color



Cactus coral on far left bottom,
hanging out along with the other "bottom dwellers"
(Christmas tree coral, orange cup corals & plate (tongue)coral



I took these pictures at night...
notice tiny snails on glass?, (a night time phenomena)

[c-c]

The charming "Prince Scopus" wakes up the "sleeping beauty Chili coral" with a kiss...











After "sleeping beauty" lies dormant for 3-4 days, Prince Scopus gives the TLC to his tankmate, then commands his head servant, (this writer) to do a 10% water change, and gently puff some clean water over the sleeping beauty to clean off the old mucous and stimulate polyps expansion...
then give squirts of diluted zooplex and phytonplankton directly to the polyps. while shutting down the water circulation for a few minutes.
Applying afterward a moderate to strong flow from two power heads in opposite directions. This cycle repeats itself weeklyLadydragon55, I hope this encourages you to keep trying. If it has slimed over you may need to do more frequent water changes...also be careful of it's effect on the other reef mates if it begins to fail?

[c-c]

Ladydragon,
How is your tank doing? Did your Red "Carnation coral" or chili cactus coral of #1 question survive...

[ladydragon55]

Originally Posted by c-c

Here is a pic of my "chili cactus coral" -Nephthyigorgia.
It hasn't pumped up it's polyps for several days now.
I'll try to send another pic when it does.



Scopus tang checking out the color



Cactus coral on far left bottom,
hanging out along with the other "bottom dwellers"
(Christmas tree coral, orange cup corals & plate (tongue)coral



I took these pictures at night...
notice tiny snails on glass?, (a night time phenomena)

I love these pictures. Mine looks nothing like those, it would I guess if it was healthy. I will try and take some more pictures of it today. Your tang is wonderful. I already have yellow tangs in my tank so I can't add one of those...darn. I guess I need a new tank! Here is a shot of what mine looks like today.



Now that I see what the chili catus coral could look like I think it was on its way out already at the LFS. I may have to go purchase another one and add it to my tank. I really love the color. Thanks for the info

[c-c]

dragonlady55
Super tank...lots of light... I thought I saw some anemones and bubble tip corals. Your finger leather coral is thriving wonderfully in the good light...front and center.

It seems I can't keep bubble tips alive...
(I have a 65w "sunpaq" dual actinic (420nm & 460nm) and one 65w "sunpaq" dual daylight (6700K & 10000K) with 2 lunar lights) ...
and with a 2 foot deep 65 gal tank, I am putting in more bottom/cave dwellers that don't like intense light...but instead thrive in dim light.. like the cactus chili coral, christmas tree coral, orange tube and the tongue plate... picture of 24 inch depth.





I'm thinking of getting a clip on hallide...at the lfs they are giving me a $300.00 price.
I'm thinking ...but not sure if it will "burn out" the bottom dwellers...
they might have to go deeper into a cave... Do you have caves to protect those that require dim light?