liverock surprise

[metree7]

I bought a piece of lr yesterday and to my surprise, i saw these things. What are they?

 

[pat8you]

zoanthids. It's a coral. That is a very good live rock surprise.

 

[thincat]

Yes, good score and I see a mini-duster as well. Nice...

 

[metree7]

Thanks for the ID. Now I have to find out everything about zoanthids. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I have only had my tank set up far about five weeks, and I dont think I am experienced enough to get into corals, and I dont want them to die because of my inexperience. I am worried that because its a new tank, that my conditions arent stable enough. What do you all think?
And yes, Thincat, the rock had lots of mini-dusters on it, and thats why I bought it in the first place. But I didn't know that the backside of the rock had the zoanthids.

 

[pat8you]

Well lucky you zoanthids are pretty much bullet proof. I accidentally forgot some on a piece of rock in my sump with no light at all for a couple weeks or more and they were still alive and came back. If you just google search zoanthids there will be a bunch of information for you.

 

[metree7]

ok, I have been reading about them online. As with alot of things, I read so much that I get all kinds of different information on the kinds of conditions they like and what to feed them. I'm trying to keep things simple, and have the advice of people who have these in their own tanks. I have some frozen krill and I also have frozen red plankton. Can I just smash some of that up and feed it to them with a pipett?About once or twice a week?

 

[mr_X]

you don't have to feed them anything. they are photosynthetic. those you have there will not take meaty foods.

 

[metree7]

Thats good to know that I dont have to feed them. I have them on the bottom of my tank, so I will place them on some of my othe base rock, so they are closer to the lights. I read that I should do it in stages. For example, put them about halfway up the tank and see how they do for a few days, and them move them closer to the top, where they can have more access to light. If they dont seem to do well at the top, then I can gradually take them back down to a place where they appear to be happy. Hows that sound?

 

[mr_X]

sounds good to me. what kind of lighting are you using?

 

[metree7]

mr x,
I am not quite sure what kind of lighting i have. I bought a used 55g tank, with a hood. It is actually two hoods, and it has two lights. I looked at the light bulb and this is what was printed on it: Eclipse, Natural daylight F15T8 by Marineland. I dont know what the numbers mean. Is this a good bulb? Should I get new ones, since I dont know how old these are? What kind do you suggest for zoanthids? I went to the lfs today and was interested in getting some more zoas.

 

[mr_X]

that's not enough light for photosynthetic creatures. you might want to look into more intense lighting if you plan on keeping corals. T8 lighting is common lighting for a fish only tank. i would look into individually reflected T5 lighting, or metal halide for a coral tank. what are the dimensions of this tank?

 

[thincat]

F15T8, means that the light is flourescent...15 watts...T-8 bulbs or 8/8 or 1" diameter bulbs. not nearly enough for anything but a fish only tank.

 

[lisaz]

That is very pretty.

 

[metree7]

Can I just buy different light bulbs that will fit in the same hood, or do I need another type of light set up?

 

[mr_X]

you need a completely different fixture if you want to keep corals.

 

[Tank2379]

Nice Zoanthids... It's always nice getting corals on your live rock...

 

[cabezon]

You could get a par LED lamp and have a spotlight on your one coral. 8^)