Got my first few corals.. few questions!

[Leighton79]

Long polyp stoney and short polyp stoney.

 

[Jlsardina]

ya those are the one's lol what do they stand for.

Large Stoney polyp and small Stoney polyp. Lps don't require as much light or perfection of water as SPS (but there are some harder Lps to care for of course)

 

[scottayy]

Okay, well the nem's not looking so hot. I have fed him twice with formula one cubes, about 1/8th of a cube each time, minced up in a syringe with an ounce of tank water. He gobbled it up.. but still not looking hot. He also moved to an area with low flow. What should I do for him?

And the xenia, is this bleaching on the tips of the left one? And also is the sea cucumber reef safe? LFS said it was back when I bought it. I know about it being potentially toxic when it dies but that's not what i'm talking about. Will it harm my corals?

The GSP appears to be doing really well. Haven't fed the gsp or xenias with plankton yet.

 

[xxStLxx]

Try feeding the nem silversides. It's a little more substantial and then you only have to feed them once every couple o days. The Xenia is like the gsp as far as light and water flow. So try moving it up and into a medium light and water flow area. If not med-high water flow. The cucumber is reef safe but if they die or become powerhead food they'll crash your tank. Just like if your nem dies or becomes powerhead food it will crash your tank.

 

[scottayy]

Okay thanks. Should I try to move the anemone to a higher flow area or leave him where he's at?

 

[Jlsardina]

Okay thanks. Should I try to move the anemone to a higher flow area or leave him where he's at?

They will move to where they want.

 

[xxStLxx]

+1 to they'll move where they want. They go to where ever in the tank they feel like they get the best water flow and light. Just think of them as another fish

 

[scottayy]

Cool, good to know. Just gave it a piece of silverside and it's chowing down. I think it might be too large for him (about 1/2 of a 4" silverside).

We'll see what happens.

 

[xxStLxx]

Ya that might be a little big. Try 1" pieces until he gets bigger and can handle more. I always would by the smallest bag of silversides I could find because 1 silverside is a weeks worth of food if you feed every other day

 

[scottayy]

Yeah I bought a four ounce bag. I think it'll last a long time!

Today I'm going to chop off just a head (about 1") and feed it to him. Overall though he is looking better and the other corals are doing great too.

So happy!

 

[xxStLxx]

Good to hear everything is going well. Did you ever move your xenia up on the rock into more light and water flow, how is that one doing now?

 

[scottayy]

No I didn't move it. I think it's doing pretty well!

 

[Buffy]

Glad to hear they are doing well , question for you thiough. How the heck do you feed a coral? I tried to put food in the seasquirt and it just plugged it. Also what is a silverside?

 

[xxStLxx]

Soft corals live off of their zozanthellea algae that lives in side them through photosynthesis as do all corals. The zozanthellea however feeds of of micro plankton in your water. So depending on the mouth size of your coral depends on what you feed them. Take example of softies and zoas will more than likely eat phyto feast made by reef nutrition and sps will eat oyster feast by the same company.

Silversides are small fish 4-6" fish that can be fed to carnivorous fish and nems as a food source instead of live foods

 

[BallinCrew10]

Not ALL corals are photosynthetic. There are some that need to be fed. Though, most just need good lighting and get fed from the water column.

 

[xxStLxx]

I was just going from a general stand point. I don't know many newbie reefers that are into NPS corals and the constant feedings that have to be done to keep them, besides Georgians they seem to do good without constant feeding.

 

[BallinCrew10]

I was just going from a general stand point. I don't know many newbie reefers that are into NPS corals and the constant feedings that have to be done to keep them, besides Georgians they seem to do good without constant feeding.

I agree, just didn't want him to think every coral is photosynthetic and then get a NPS and have it die. That's all.

 

[xxStLxx]

I see where your coming from. Good point.

 

[ColBen112]

torch coral would that be considered a nps

 

[Jlsardina]

torch coral would that be considered a nps

Torches are an LPS. But benefit from target feeding. Need moderate flow and light.