Yumas and their requirements

[Bayinaung]

Hi,

I have been trying to do research on this coral since acquiring one recently. There are a lot of conflicting information on this coral.

Lighting - some say low, some say high. How can this be?!
Water quality - I have read that for some, it should be clean, while others have said they like "dirty water", ie nitrates and nitrites in the water.
Water change - once a week, some have said once every three weeks. OMG
water flow - low or medium (how low is low?)

Right now I have it right at the top about 5 inches from water surface, and 15 inches from lights. My tank is a 10 gallon nano.

My lights are two par 38s, one royal blue and blue, the other is full spectrum with most royal blue LEDs, some white, and red.

I would say light intensity is moderate to moderate-low, with some exposure to diffused morning light.

My water right now is slightly dirty, with nitrates at 5-10ppm. ph is 8.2-8.4, the others are at 0.

There is no fish. snails, one emerald crab, and one BTA.

 

[Noturaveragereefer]

Does it look happy?

 

[Bayinaung]

haha I don't know what happy looks like.

when I bought it, it was growing on a small rock, and looks kinda torn. the guy told me it's splitting and being a nub I believe him. It is kinda hanging by a thread on that small rock which I then attached to the top of a rock in my nano. The piece is all twisted, and before putting it in the tank I tried to gently untwist and it doesn't seem to untwist. I was afraid if I forced it the thing might get ripped from its rock and I don't know how to attach yumas to a rock.

This is what it looks like. I used a gel glue to glue the small 1.5" long rock to the live rock I have and put a rubber band in place so hermit crabs wont knock it off while feeding. the big piece is sorta waving in the water. But that's how I got it. the picture seems to look greener on my laptop than on my regular monitor so I don't know how it's going to come out on your screens. The yuma's underside is BRIGHT florescent green the kind U of O ducks used to wear that made you gnash your teeth but on a coral was amazing and that's why I bought it. the tips are like orange with bluish veins underneath. AMAZING eh?

 

[Bayinaung]

One more piece of info - the place I bought it from, the guy was keeping his mushrooms and the yumas in a very low light shallow tank. I don't know why. I may need to tone down the light till it gets used to a "higher" light in my tank. Though compared to other tanks I've seen, my two part 38s on this nano does not produce intense or even "bright" light. The compact flourescents I was using before the par38s was even brighter than the LED Pars.

I have confidence in these LEDs coz all the established corals I've had in this nano are doing better since their installation. the Yuma is a new acquisition.

 

[aadair22]

you were trying to twist it open..? rule #1, don't do that. lol. let it open on its own... I am assuming you acquired this recently.. Give it some time to open up, it should be fine.

On a side note, where did you get your par38 bulbs?

 

[Bayinaung]

Yeah.. well do you see how the splitting mushroom is all twisted? and the underside is still exposed?

I might subscribe to the theory that its splitting coz, do you see that small bit of green on the edge of the rock? I have read that when it splits it leaves babies behind...

anyhow my concern is not knowing its real lighting and water requirements. the previous owner had it in low actinic light only tank, mine's moderate light tank..

I do have GSP growing at similar light position and they are doing fabulous.

I got the pars from a guy who had them mailed in from the US. I understand they were custom ordered for the combination of lights.

 

[aadair22]

yes I see what you are talking about.. Like I said, give it a couple of days to adjust to the new set up.. Generally they will be a lower-moderate light coral so you will be fine with the bulbs you have.. As for flow, if it is able to lay flat when it expands, you will be ok..

The only suggestion I have is maybe moving it down closer to the bottom and see how it goes from there.

 

[Bayinaung]

yeah that's what I'm thinking.. I initially stuck it up on top when I read so many people and sites saying high light and considering how bright the location of some people who had it "lower" in their tanks, I put mine up top.. gonna move it down... hope it works. are they ok on sandbed?

 

[daney90]

Nice yumas btw Bayinaung that name sounds soo familiar. Are you a member of other forums?

 

[Holygral]

I have had a tank full (125 g) for years and they tend to stay near the top of the tank around 6 inches, under 500 MH. But I also have them growing on the bottom of the tank, but in general they like the bright lighting

 

[Bayinaung]

Nice yumas btw Bayinaung that name sounds soo familiar. Are you a member of other forums?

Thanks daney. Yeah I'm from Toronto too, in the GTAA forum.

 

[Bayinaung]

I have had a tank full (125 g) for years and they tend to stay near the top of the tank around 6 inches, under 500 MH. But I also have them growing on the bottom of the tank, but in general they like the bright lighting

Hey Holygral, thanks for that input. boy ok. this is what I meant - seems people have had success either with low or high light and that's what got me confused.

I got a small flat piece of rock and put the yumas on the bottom at the corner with the least light. It seems to open up a bit better there. Since the place I got it from had low light I htink the dark corner will be fine and I'll move it to brighter locations eventually. I do want it on a bright rock location since, well, it's the brightest thing in my tank LOL.

 

[daney90]

LOL yeah i'm on gtaaquaria too LOL

 

[Bayinaung]

yuma twisting on itself

Here's a pic of the yuma on a flat live rock on the sandbed. It does seem to be twisting on itself. Just an hour before this shot, it looked like three mushrooms with one that's upside down. then I came back an hour later and it looks like this - not as wide open (might be due to brighter lights) but you can stil make it how it's twisting on itself.

It looks like the yuma is trying to split into three. do I help it along (which is what fragging is right) or do I leave it alone and let it split by itself? I'm so tempted to help it split. It doesn't seem to have attached itself to any rock. What do I do?

 

[aadair22]

Leave it alone.. Sometimes keeping your hands out of the tank is the best thing to do

 

[Bayinaung]

So I had the mushroom in a corner.. today I found one piece, looking like a completely whole mushroom, in the front of my tank, nicely open. and the other ones are all in a long stringy mess, twisting on itself, after splitting into, from what I can see, two more pieces. It's rather late now so I can't take photos anymore but I'll post them tomorrow. I don't know if yumas live on sandbeds without attaching to anything...