New Chili Sponge Coral

[canada911]

I just bouth a Chili Sponge Coral, I just wanted to have advice on it from members that has experiance with it.

Mine seems like Gelly all the day, The finger of the coral falls down and he seems not having any consistancy.

BUT, during night he is BEAUTIFULL! He gains 3 times his size and the finger pups up and all the white polyps goes out too cash food.

Why is he like that during the day?

I putted it in a shadow and high flow spot in the aquarium. I feed it 3times/week with PhytoPlex.

Should I suspend him upside down to stop the finger to fall down like gelly in the day?
what is the ideal water temp?
How often should I feed him?

Here is my stats:
No2=0
No3=0
NH4=0
Calc=350
PH=8.2
temp=78
SG=1.025

Thanks!

 

[steve-s]

The bigger they get the harder it is for this type of coral to stay upright. Hanging them is generally recommended but not required. If you can do so without placing it in direct light or dragging on the substrate, it would be a plus.

As far as the night appearance is concerned, the chili coral is a strict filter feeder so it is more reactive to no light than less light. As far as feeding is concerned, you really don't need to add foods more than 2x a week and sparingly at that. Fish waste and other organic compounds withing the ecosytem will also feed it unless the tank is very new or minimally stocked.

Normal reef temperatures are fine, preferabley 78-80°.

Cheers
Steve

 

[canada911]

Thanks alot Steve!
Yesterday I hanged him upside down and now he seems way better!
I will follow youre suggestion.

An other question, is this coral also called "Carnation Coral" and "Strawberry Coral" ???

 

[steve-s]

I have heard it refered to as a strawberry coral (Alcyonium sp) but a carnation coral (Dendronepthya sp) is a different coral altogether.

Try to get in the habit of using latin names once you figure out what they are, it greatly reduces confusion even if it's only the genus.

Cheers
Steve