Added First Corals, What to look for?

[brittonv]

Ok I added my first corals to my tank. I got some Zoas, Montipora, birds nest, and some other stuff...

Now, I have already spotted some Aiptasia, but I think I got that taken care of...

What should I be looking for in these other corals? I understand Polyp extension is a big one, but I dont' really know what an extend Polyp vs non-extended Polyp looks like.

I will be closing monitoring my Calcium and ALK to figure my dosing requirements over the next week or so to keep my Calcium at 420ppm and Alk at 9dKH. I have my ligthts set on 50% on the xr30 and 60% on the XR15 and it doesn't "Look to bright" but how can I judge that lighting level based on Coral reaction to it?

Also any assistance with my Lighting Profile would be greatly appreciated

 

[MondoBongo]

what is your light acclimation strategy?

did you dip or otherwise quarantine the incoming corals (you should be)?

for the Zoas, they should be happy and open.

what kind of monti is it? the type dictates what to look for. some will have slightly larger polyps that you can see, others will not. should have a nice coloration though, not pale, not bleaching, and in most cases should have a growth edge.

birds nest, again depends on the type, but should have good polyp extension, it shouldn't just look like a white/pink stick.

some other stuff? depends on what other stuff.

 

[whosurcaddie]

Don't forget about magnesium. It should be around 1300.

 

[brittonv]

Light Acclimatization strategy, Keep the light at a lower level (50%) monitor for __________ OR if you suggest a better lighting profile I am ALL ears.... As this is all net new, I can do anything that is recommended.

Yes I did dip the corals. My intention was to add these and inverts then no fish for 72 Days to remove all chances of ICH. I don't have a QT Tank with coral Friendly Lightning.... Yet!

The Zoas are all open and happy.

Truth is I don't really know. I went to the LFS with my bride and 2 kids... Buying may have gotten a little out of hand.

Here are some Pics. Nothing is glued down as I don't know where each should be in my tank.

Zoa's

Birdsnest Frag

I think this is a Larger Birdsnest? And It does have some damage... Should I let it heal or clip off the dead parts?

Dunno 1

Dunno 2

Dunno 3

 

[Navgamma]

Dunno 3

Dunno 3

I have that "dunno 3" too, what is it? some kind of trumpet coral?

 

[ryeguyy84]

I could be wrong but some kind of favia

 

[BigCountry74]

1, 2 and 3 are all brains *favites/favias* (be patient, these frags grow very slow in my experience). in a few days try to zoom in with your phone/camera and get a good look, for these frags your looking for that "meaty" look etc. if they look dried out and hard to the touch your in trouble. by "meaty" your after something like this:

the birdnest will be the most difficult to get up and growing for sure. that one requires some pretty strong lighting and water flow. me personally i have never had any luck with those and LED.

the zoa colony looks great and you should be fine with those.

work the birdnest up to the top of the tank. the favias would be in the middle (or if your light is strong towards the bottom) and the zoas you can put middle as well

 

[brittonv]

Thanks I am not looking for rapid growth necessarily, just healthy.

Funny how a plan can fall in line. Both the birdsnests are in the upper 1/3'rd of the water column very near to the MP10's on each side of my tank. The others are looking for homes not sure where I'm going put them but mid tank sounds about right.

My home was to keep the Zoa's on the floor of the tank, basically where they are now. What should I be looking for in Zoas to determine if they are getting enough/to much light?

SO my existing lighting profile of 50% intensity at 14K is ok?

 

[JammyBirch]

I'm not sure you have to turn your lights down at all but you should start everything low in the tank. The brains are the ones to watch out for they are aggressive. you'll see long sweeper tenticles come out of them when the lights go out. I have Dunno2, it's on an island so it can't reach anything else.

Also realize the birdsnests are sps stony corals, the brains are lps stony corals and will require cal, alk and MAG to be maintained. SPS usually require higher light and moderate to high flow. My brain doesn't care where it's at, it's really hardy.

Cal = 420, Alk = 9dKh, Mag = 1350max the mag is just there to keep the other two in check, if your mag is low it's hard to keep calcium and alk at constant levels, if they can't drift too much or the sps will let you know.

Start the birdsnests low in the tank and raise them up maybe every week a couple of inches until you find a spot where they are colored up nice and look good in your tank.

PE is often talked about like it's bad if you don't have it all of the time, not true, you don't have to see PE every second of the day to have a happy coral, as long as you see it happen, especially at lights out. Look for encrusting to tell you your corals mood...if it's base is starting to cover the rock it's on it's happy.

The biggest tip i can give you for sps, and i'm no expert, is target feed them. It's actually pretty fun. About an hour after lights out when PE is going on, get a "Sea Squirt" or equivilent and mix up some coral food. I use Reef Roids, mix it up into some water, suck it into the Sea Squirt and dust the food over the corals. I do this twice a week and found a significant increase in growth and color.

I feed all of my corals, lps, sps and zoas too...

Those corals look sweet, good pick up man...

 

[MondoBongo]

the one you have labeled as a "larger birdsnest" might actually be a Monitpora Digitata. do the polyps appear bright orange?

a little hard to tell from the picture for me, but i am leaning towards M. Digitata

Zoas will close up, or bleach if they're not happy with the light levels. keep an eye on them to make sure they're not going translucent or staying closed all the time.

 

[JammyBirch]

Thanks I am not looking for rapid growth necessarily, just healthy.

Funny how a plan can fall in line. Both the birdsnests are in the upper 1/3'rd of the water column very near to the MP10's on each side of my tank. The others are looking for homes not sure where I'm going put them but mid tank sounds about right.

My home was to keep the Zoa's on the floor of the tank, basically where they are now. What should I be looking for in Zoas to determine if they are getting enough/to much light?

SO my existing lighting profile of 50% intensity at 14K is ok?

I can't speak to the light amount, mine don't require much i have them low in the tank. What is or can be the trick with zoas is the flow, mine like low flow. i had them the longest with little to no change in growth over three months. I moved them to a low flow area and they have tripled in size in two months.

 

[brittonv]

What do you do if your coral doesn't look "Meaty"?

 

[MondoBongo]

Sometimes it's normal, sometimes it means they're not happy with something. Depends on the coral and the length of time it spends like this.