Tubastrea micrantha dying slowly!
Tubastrea micrantha dying slowly!
Ok, I'm a new member and I have been reading everything online that I can find about my Tubastrea micrantha and nagging everyone at my LFS about it. I've had it for about three months and it is slowly dying. I did the Tupperware method for a while and when that baby finally started putting out its polyps it was a joyous sight! But my LFS guy was horrified that I was doing this and told me to stop. He sod me one of those long tube things and told me to feed each head daily using it. He also told me about cutting the bottom off a coke bottle and putting it over it when I fed it and to put it underneath other coral to give it shade. So ... I can't feed every polyp with it under an overhanging rock, nor can I put a coke bottle over it in this position! Now I'm reading to put it on the substrate but to give it good water flow. How do you give it good flow on the bottom? My fan, protein skimmer and bio wheels are at the top of the tank. And I decided that feeding each polyp each day was WAY too high-maintenance for me. So, now, it's starting to turn white and I can't make the polyps extend at all. One day, in frustration, I took frozen mysis shrimp and smeared the ends of the tubes with it trying o force feed it! LFS guy said not to do that again. I went back to Tupperware feeding it but no results this time. Paid $69 for it and hate to lose the money and hate watching it die. Main fish guy wasn't there when we bought it so we weren't warned about any of this. Any suggestions? Everyone else in my tank is very happy, I've gotten rid of all the cyano algae and all the hair algae and just have a lot of the good purple algae.
So here are the questions I have:
1. On the ground with low water flow or higher with more flow?
2. Under an overhang or out in the open?
3. When people say shrimp do they mean live shrimp or frozen cubes?
4. Tupperware feed or don't even touch it?
5. If yes to Tupperware, how long do I leave it in?
6. Someone said they let it float in a bowl in the tank. What do you mean?
7. I'm not going to feed it at night. It's going to hae to eat during the day or die. Schedule is too irregular to train it with a regular feeding time. Suggestions?
8. What do I do about all the food in the Tupperware bowl? Fish loved having it dumped back in, but my purple algae did too d became a nuisance. Yes, I have an adequately sized protein skimmer.
In other words, I don't want it o ie but have very limited time to devote to it. Never would have bought it if I'd known how much work it would be.
Help?? Thanks!
Tubastrea micrantha dying slowly!
Ok, I'm a new member and I have been reading everything online that I can find about my Tubastrea micrantha and nagging everyone at my LFS about it. I've had it for about three months and it is slowly dying. I did the Tupperware method for a while and when that baby finally started putting out its polyps it was a joyous sight! But my LFS guy was horrified that I was doing this and told me to stop. He sod me one of those long tube things and told me to feed each head daily using it. He also told me about cutting the bottom off a coke bottle and putting it over it when I fed it and to put it underneath other coral to give it shade. So ... I can't feed every polyp with it under an overhanging rock, nor can I put a coke bottle over it in this position! Now I'm reading to put it on the substrate but to give it good water flow. How do you give it good flow on the bottom? My fan, protein skimmer and bio wheels are at the top of the tank. And I decided that feeding each polyp each day was WAY too high-maintenance for me. So, now, it's starting to turn white and I can't make the polyps extend at all. One day, in frustration, I took frozen mysis shrimp and smeared the ends of the tubes with it trying o force feed it! LFS guy said not to do that again. I went back to Tupperware feeding it but no results this time. Paid $69 for it and hate to lose the money and hate watching it die. Main fish guy wasn't there when we bought it so we weren't warned about any of this. Any suggestions? Everyone else in my tank is very happy, I've gotten rid of all the cyano algae and all the hair algae and just have a lot of the good purple algae.
So here are the questions I have:
1. On the ground with low water flow or higher with more flow?
2. Under an overhang or out in the open?
3. When people say shrimp do they mean live shrimp or frozen cubes?
4. Tupperware feed or don't even touch it?
5. If yes to Tupperware, how long do I leave it in?
6. Someone said they let it float in a bowl in the tank. What do you mean?
7. I'm not going to feed it at night. It's going to hae to eat during the day or die. Schedule is too irregular to train it with a regular feeding time. Suggestions?
8. What do I do about all the food in the Tupperware bowl? Fish loved having it dumped back in, but my purple algae did too d became a nuisance. Yes, I have an adequately sized protein skimmer.
In other words, I don't want it o ie but have very limited time to devote to it. Never would have bought it if I'd known how much work it would be.
Help?? Thanks!
