New Corals

[MarkW19]

As some of you know, I have a 10G nano which I've added some corals to, 2-3 weeks ago.

I have 3.5WPG of CF lighting (2 white and 1 actinic in the middle), pH is (now) a stable 8.0/8.1 at night, temp has a swing of ±1°C and averages 25°C (77°F). SG is 1.024, and ammonia=0, nitrites=0, and nitrates=~3ppm. I need to get myself a calcium/alk test kit, but I replace 30% of the water every 2 weeks with good salt (Seachem).

I drip acclimated them all over 2 hours.

The corals I added were: small toadstool leather (towards the bottom of the tank but getting lots of light as it's directly under one of the whites), double toadstool leather (same position), pink short-tentacled plate coral, yellow polyps, and a green brain/maze coral.

The small single leather sometimes extends its polyps, and often not. It's very erratic, and looks pretty bad sometimes, others it looks a lot better. It's shed it's "skin" once so far - when I initially put it on, it looked awesome for 3 days, then started folding up/changing colour and refused to extend its polyps for days. Then, it finally shed, and started looking a bit better, and now doesn't look all that bad, but not exactly "thriving". Its polyps remain in a lot of the time.

The double leather sometimes looks great, and often looks awful - the left one shrinks right down practically daily and changes green (from yellow). This has also shed it's skin once (it looked terrible for a week before this, then MUCH better a day after it shed. Now, it's slipping back again).

The plate coral looks pretty good, although I think it's lost a bit of its pink colour since I got it (turning more brown/grey now), but it extends its tentacles fully dailly, and I've seen it inflate/move a few times, so it seems to be doing ok. This is of course on the bottom of the tank on the sand, so the overhang of the rocks blocks some light, but it does seem to be fairly happy with the tentacles/inflating. Often I see some stringy mucus/film or something stuck to it, that my powerhead finally works free. This is probably every 4/5 days. It also seems to like to perch one side on a little bit of rock (just above the sand), rather than being fully flat where I placed it. It's moved a couple of times, but seems to go back to this position.

A lot of the yellow polyps have died, some have really shrunk in size, others have strangely turned translucent, and others just don't have as much colour. I'd say that 80% of them have died or withered away They're close to the bottom of the tank, but again directly under one of the white lights. They don't get THAT much light, but I didn't think they needed it? Disappointed with these as I was expecting them to be easy to keep!

And, finally my brain coral is my favourite. It's placed the highest in the tank, directly under a white light, and fairly close to it. It's far enough away from the other corals so that its sweeper tentacles can't reach them, and it seems to be getting a lot of light. Its colour is still very bright green, which fluoresces under my actinic light. Its sweeper tentacles don't come out every day at night, and sometimes only a few are out - sometimes a couple of really long ones, some very short/bunched up ones that seem to be all messed together, and sometimes a good number of long ones. Some days they won't come out at all. The first 3/4 days, they were out every night, quite long, and thicker than they are now! Also more defined, as I said a lot of them seem very short and bunched up now. Does that make sense? Anyway, as its colour hasn't changed at all since I got it, I was wondering how I can tell how this coral is doing? What are the signs its not getting enough light etc.?

I also got a large red/brown feather duster, which has moved a bit since I got it, and firmly anchored itself in place. It stays open probably 75% of the time, and only stays in for a bit when it goes in.

As far as food goes, I always feed my fish at night, when the tentacles of most of the corals are extended, and put a bit more in (smaller particles) of frozen food so that some can hopefully make its way near the corals. I also feed a small amount of DT's Live Phytoplankton weekly, trying to aim it towards the corals (although my powerhead quickly pushes it all around the tank).

There are a few pics at:-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidw49/sets/72157602267042537/

I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts, or advice?

Thanks.

 

[lando]

The pics look good.
I would consider moving the brain to the substrate. They seem to be the most happy there.
Yellow polyps do require the occasional target feeding of cyclop-eeze. This may help them come back.

 

[Innovator]

In their natural habitat Platygyra spp. are commonly found within the rock structures rather than substrate where sedimentation can prevent tissue expansion. Usually coming from deeper water, I'd place this coral more vertically.

 

[lReef lKeeper]

some sound advise so far ... lets go a little deeper here.

as for the toadstools ...
it sounds like when you say ...

The small single leather sometimes extends its polyps, and often not. It's very erratic, and looks pretty bad sometimes, others it looks a lot better. It's shed it's "skin" once so far - when I initially put it on, it looked awesome for 3 days, then started folding up/changing colour and refused to extend its polyps for days. Then, it finally shed, and started looking a bit better, and now doesn't look all that bad, but not exactly "thriving". Its polyps remain in a lot of the time.

The double leather sometimes looks great, and often looks awful - the left one shrinks right down practically daily and changes green (from yellow). This has also shed it's skin once (it looked terrible for a week before this, then MUCH better a day after it shed. Now, it's slipping back again).

it sounds to me like they need to be moved up onto the rock work in the tank, because they are not getting enough light. i would move them at least half way up in the tank and see if that doesnt do the trick for you.

The plate coral looks pretty good, although I think it's lost a bit of its pink colour since I got it (turning more brown/grey now)

sounds like this coral is not getting enough light either. most LPS corals will not thrive under such low WPG (bad way to judge lighting) of PC lighting.

A lot of the yellow polyps have died, some have really shrunk in size, others have strangely turned translucent, and others just don't have as much colour. I'd say that 80% of them have died or withered away Sad They're close to the bottom of the tank, but again directly under one of the white lights. They don't get THAT much light, but I didn't think they needed it? Disappointed with these as I was expecting them to be easy to keep!

these polyps have to be spot fed at the very least every other day to thrive in a captive system. without spot feeding very often, a lot of times they will just wither away and die. kind of like humans if we do not eat.

And, finally my brain coral is my favourite. It's placed the highest in the tank, directly under a white light, and fairly close to it. It's far enough away from the other corals so that its sweeper tentacles can't reach them, and it seems to be getting a lot of light. Its colour is still very bright green, which fluoresces under my actinic light. Its sweeper tentacles don't come out every day at night, and sometimes only a few are out - sometimes a couple of really long ones, some very short/bunched up ones that seem to be all messed together, and sometimes a good number of long ones. Some days they won't come out at all. The first 3/4 days, they were out every night, quite long, and thicker than they are now! Also more defined, as I said a lot of them seem very short and bunched up now. Does that make sense? Anyway, as its colour hasn't changed at all since I got it, I was wondering how I can tell how this coral is doing? What are the signs its not getting enough light etc.?

this coral will do much better on the sand bed, but i dont think that you have enough lighting to sustain LPS corals that need to be placed low in the tank. i would suggest returning this coral and the plate coral to where you got them and getting some more low light LPS corals like candy canes, frogspawn, torch, hammer (all should be placed high in the tank), or something like anthelia, xenia, or green star polyps. i am not trying to "bash" you in any way, just trying to help.

 

[MarkW19]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll try moving my two leathers higher up the tank.

I wasn't aware that specifically yellow polyps needed to be spot-fed, so my mistake. I thought they were just like most other polyps. If I fed them cyclop-eeze, would I have to target feed? Also, as a lot of them have withered away now and turned translucent, will feeding cyclop-eeze hopefully bring them back? Or am I better starting with some more?

The plate coral - I thought that the inflation, and the way its tentacles are out every day (and look very healthy/uniform), was a good sign? The only "bad" thing is that it is losing a bit of its colour.

The brain coral - this does look the healthiest of the bunch, by far. But, how can I tell if it's doing well, or if it's not? What are the signs?

Also, I thought 3.5WPG was considered "moderate" lighting, particularly in a small nano set up?

 

[lReef lKeeper]

The plate coral - I thought that the inflation, and the way its tentacles are out every day (and look very healthy/uniform), was a good sign? The only "bad" thing is that it is losing a bit of its colour.

you are right on the tentacles, however the color lose is usually a sign that it is not getting enough light. since they are photosynthetic feeders ... light is required to keep the healthy.

I wasn't aware that specifically yellow polyps needed to be spot-fed, so my mistake. I thought they were just like most other polyps. If I fed them cyclop-eeze, would I have to target feed? Also, as a lot of them have withered away now and turned translucent, will feeding cyclop-eeze hopefully bring them back? Or am I better starting with some more?

the polyps should make a fairly fast come back with regular spot feeding. a lot of people do this little trick to keep the fish from stealing the food.
take a 2 liter bottle and cut off the top 1/3 of it (leaving the neck and spout in tact). rinse it out well, and place it over the polyps and into the sand bed. do your feeding through the spout. if you have fish trying to get in the spout you can put the cap back on it.

The brain coral - this does look the healthiest of the bunch, by far. But, how can I tell if it's doing well, or if it's not? What are the signs?

usually you will see the tissue receding around the base of the skeleton or bleaching all around the coral.

Also, I thought 3.5WPG was considered "moderate" lighting, particularly in a small nano set up?

IMHO, it is the TYPE of light. PC lighting is really only good for soft corals.

you could have 250w of PC lighting and only keep soft corals or you could have 250w of Metal halide and keep anything. they halide penetrates the water with a much greater par than the PC's will. if it were MY tank .. i would add at least another of the same fixtures to the tank and you MIGHT be able to get away with LPS.

 

[MarkW19]

Thanks again for the help.

Does it have to be cyclop-eeze that I target feed the polyps with? What about live phyto, or just some small brineshrimp etc.? Are other types of polyps not this requiring?

Tissue receding around the base of the skeleton, what will this look like? At the moment, it has defined channels of bright green, surrounded by "walls" of brown. If it's not doing too well, how will these change?

 

[lReef lKeeper]

Does it have to be cyclop-eeze that I target feed the polyps with? What about live phyto, or just some small brineshrimp etc.? Are other types of polyps not this requiring?

No, it does not have to be cyclopeeze. i use to feed mine the blender mush that i make every 10-12 months. between the fish feedings i would just feed them Mysis shrimp. Brine shrimp have very little nutritional value to our fish and would suggest switching to Mysis. i alway soak my Mysis in garlic extract also, but that is not really necessary for corals. polyps like zoanthids, palythoas, buttons, ect. do not require feeding, but because the sun polyps are NON photosynthetic they DO require constant feeding.

Tissue receding around the base of the skeleton, what will this look like? At the moment, it has defined channels of bright green, surrounded by "walls" of brown. If it's not doing too well, how will these change?

Receding tissue will look like the tissue is just peeling away from the skeleton, actually revealing the skeleton underneath.
it will start to loose its coloring and stop extending it tentacles if it is not doing well.

 

[MarkW19]

Looks like I'll start feeding then, I assumed they were photosynthetic.

There is a tiny part of the brain that fades slightly to white, but this was there even in the LFS, and hasn't got any worse in my tank, it may have even got better.

The colour has also not changed, very strong colour. But, the tentacles don't seem to come out at much, and when they do, only a few do...

 

[lReef lKeeper]

normally the tentacle should only be visible after the lights go out or you are feeding the tank. try feeding the few that come out with cyclopeeze and see if the others do not come out right after that. in the wild the tenacles come out at night because the fish are usually asleep and there is less chance of being eaten then.

 

[kay-bee19]

...these polyps have to be spot fed at the very least every other day to thrive in a captive system. without spot feeding very often, a lot of times they will just wither away and die.

Looks like I'll start feeding then, I assumed they were photosynthetic.

Yellow polyps (parazoanthus sp.) are photosynthetic. There are a few non-photosynthetic varieties from what i understand but I'm not sure how common or available they are in the hobby.

I rarely feed mine (i.e., a few times a month and not all of them) and they're spreading fast. I have a large colony of them (dozens) which originated from just a handful of individual polyps). They will eat (anything from cyclopeeze to larger foods like brine shrimp and even mysis shrimp), but placing them closer to the light will help as well.

However based on how fast I've seen them spread and multiply you may want to keep them where they're at and feed 2-3 times a week (if placed on the top of rock in your tank, they're capable of colonizing the majority of it).

 

[MarkW19]

Cool, good to hear, thanks. I'll turn off my powerheads then, and feed some brine shrimp directly to the polyps a couple of times a week. I guess I just try and let it fall on top of them? This could be difficult as a lot of them are shrunk/bent over anyway

EDIT: Well, the brine shrimp I have is too big for the polyps, it just don't get anywhere near them. I've just put my weekly live phytoplankton in (which smells DISGUSTING!), and again it's hard to ensure any gets down to the corals! I guess the best thing is just to leave the powerheads on and let it circulate normally round the tank.

So, I can't really get to the polyps to target feed - I'll try moving them up the tank to see if they do better nearer the light.

I may get a better light in future, like this Haqos 150w metal halide one, but it won't be for a while as I'm short of cash at the mo:-
http://hellesdonbarnaquatics.net//product_info.php?products_id=582

But, with 150w over such a small tank (10 US Gallons), won't it be too much?! Particularly for corals placed higher up the rock? And, what about the extra heat that the light will generate, and algae problems?

The bulb it comes with is 20k, I want a nice bright white light with a hint of blue/actinic, to bring out the fluorescent greens etc. Will 20k be a good colour?

 

[Innovator]

Although debates always arise from lighting questions, halides are definitely overkill and not needed at such shallow depths. My old 10g had a Coralife Aqualight 1x96w and was able to keep virtually anything under the sun, sps and clams included. Exactly what fixture do you have (link please)?

Majority of the yellow polyps available to hobbyists are indeed misidentified Parazoanthus sp: "Parazoanthus gracilis." Most of the spp. of Parazoanthus respond to feeding; however, "P. gracilis" seems rather arbitrary and may not accept any feedings yet still colonize.
Platygyra spp. can be more sensitive and bleach due to stress. If the coral begins bleaching at the top of the mound, then that is usually a sign of too much light; otherwise, a multitude of stress factors could be at play; although, being a new addition I'd allow the coral to adjust and see where it takes you.
Your Fungia sp., for the most part, come from shallow water zones and because of their mobile abilities, care must be taken to keep it from venturing into other coral residences. Most I've kept do appreciate feedings such as mysis or other small meaty items.

 

[MarkW19]

I have 3 of the 11w Arcadia Arcpods (2 whites and 1 actinic), actually designed for FW:-

http://www.arcadia-uk.info/product.php?pid=46&mid=10&lan=en&sub=&id=4

I've moved my yellow polyps further up the tank, so I'll see how they do.

The Platygyra I have is an odd shape, with several bulges. None of the bulges on its body show signs of bleaching or losing colour. But, around the extreme edges of the coral in a couple of places, there are small patches of white, but these don't appear to be spreading, and I know of at least one that was there when I bought it (the others may also have been, I just recently moved it so I can now see more sides of it). Its sweeper tentacles do come out daily, but only a few of them - many tiny ones, and a few longer ones.

The tentacles on my Fungia also appear to extend more just after I've fed my tank with mysis/brineshrimp etc., so it looks like it's getting food too. It does inflate quite a bit, and this morning I noticed it had turned through 180° during the night. It is just turning a bit brown in some of its 'channels'.

The leathers, strangely, are the worst. Very erratic, and mostly stay in. They develop random white/brown patches throughout the day, and change colours, folding in and shrinking down.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Do you run activated carbon in your tank? Just curious. Maybe your leathers are experiencing some sort of chemical warfare issue?

My yellow polyps took off when I added them to the top of the tank under HO T5 lighting. They really looooove light.

 

[MarkW19]

Yep, I have 2 small internal filters (one at each end), and each has a little basket filled with Seachem Matrix Carbon.

Good to hear about your polps, hopefully mine will start coming back with them being closer to the light now.

No idea with the leathers, it's so annoying! Feels like they'll never be right.

 

[Lance M.]

For the yellow polyps put them up near the surface of the water. I have mine placed high in the tank so that some of them are almost touching the surface of the water directly under 65watts pc lighting.

For the carbon, you should replace it about once a week, past that and it's really not that effective.

 

[MarkW19]

I've moved them up, so fingers crossed!

The carbon in matrix carbon, which seachem claim will last between 2-6 months, depending on load/tank size etc.

I've decided to change mine every 3 months. I do trust them - after all, they'd want to sell more carbon to you by telling you it needs replacing every 1-2 weeks!

 

[MarkW19]

Live Aquaria suggest feeding the yellow polyps with "microplankton". Is my DT's Live Phytoplankton classed as this?

 

[MarkW19]

Can anyone confirm that my yellow polyps should feed on DT's Phyto if I target feed the heads with it? I've tried brineshrimp, but it's just too big so the pieces just float off!