Bubble Coral placement & flow (video)

[bohlke]

I am having trouble finding a location in the tank for my new bubble coral that has moderate to low flow. I dont know exactly how to determine how much flow that is. Currently its on the bottom of the tank, here is a pic.

I know its hard to tell but is this too much flow (ignore the kids in the background). Video

If not is it better to move it high in the tank and have low flow or low in the tank and high flow?

 

[donald altman]

Mine started out like that and after no time is betwee vollyball and basketball size when fully inflated which is often.
He has gone from white to green and has a mouth that is several inches long. I would say he is in moderate to high flow which most people say isn';t great and he is very close to the top within about 3 inches of 4 96 pc 10000, 14000 and actinic lights.

go figure. I feed it a krill about once a week the rest of the time it gets light and indirct marine snow.. it is able to catch brine on its own which it does alot. let me find you a picture of it in the tank.

 

[donald altman]

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/irrelevant2003/detail?.dir=28a9scd&.dnm=42aascd.jpg
is tank shot here is a closer picture.. this tank is 5 foot long for comparison and 20 inches tall. This is just after lights on and it isn't fully inflated just yet. If you notice the 2 pumps on the left side one is a 350 gph the other is a 250 on the far right int he corner sits a 800 gph all. It moves in the current a good bit.

here is a picture of it a little closer up. It's very happy.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/irrelevant2003/detail?.dir=28a9scd&.dnm=9e4bre2.jpg

 

[ACBlinky]

Mine is exposed to quite a bit of current, more than I ever thought it would like. Since I increased the amount of flow in the tank the bubble is growing even faster (these guys can grow from babies to monsters in no time) and has started attaching to the surrounding LR. I no longer spot feed mine, it catches loads when the fish eat and doesn't seem to need more. If your choices are either very high or low flow, I'd choose low, but don't be afraid to let it move in the current a bit. Like other LPS, a bubble will quickly let you know if it doesn't like the flow -- you'll see it retract into its skeleton and stay there, until the flow lessens and then it'll come out again.

 

[bohlke]

Ok so I wont worry as much about flow as I have read about. So too much light wont hurt the bubble?

 

[donald altman]

Mine is the highest thing in the tank.. take a look at my pictures.
It always has been that close and always done really well.. on the bottom it just never seemed happy.

 

[bohlke]

Cool - well I will have to move mine to a better spot now that I dont need to worry about flow as much. Will it attach itself to LR or should I find a place where it can sit firmly?

 

[donald altman]

placement

placement

need a place it can sit firmly.
I mine has a pretty substaintial skeltal base I just set it on the rock I wanted it to sit... it can move a little but not much. bit it doesn't.. I put it in kinda a hole so it doesn't get knocked over.

 

[ACBlinky]

Mine is also the highest thing in the tank -- keeps him out of the way so he can't sting anything else. I agree you want your bubble to be firmly seated (wedged into the rockwork or glued). I have an urchin, so everything in my tank is epoxied to the LR -- if I don't cement corals in place, he knocks them over. He's even taken frags and worn them as a hat! My bubble is now growing over the skeleton base, over the epoxy, and has started to attach flesh to the surrounding rockwork. Make sure you're happy with your bubble's location; before you know it you won't be able to move it without a lot of work.

 

[The Saltwater Kid]

Mine is in what i would call a moderate flow zone. I have two Hydor FLO units on my MJ900's so the flow isn't constant but more of a circular motion. As you can tell from the pic it is on the bottom and seems very happy.

 

[The Saltwater Kid]

Here is a pic of mine with just the blue actinics on just before nighty, night time.

 

[bohlke]

I moved mine to the top, Ill post pics later today. If it likes it up there I will glue it.

 

[bohlke]

Here is a pic of the bubble in the new location. There was a flat spot on the exoskeleton that looks like it was the bottom, however this makes the bubble grow out horizontal, I am assuming it is better for it to be veriticle? I plan on moving it to be more veriticle like it was before if the rock allows for it. Here is a pic in the new location:

My concern is that it wont get enough light on all of the coral, is the coral supposed to grown veriticle?

 

[bohlke]

Well it looks like the bubble jumped (or was it pushed) to the bottom of the tank. I am going to leave it there for now until I figure out where it should go. It doesnt appear to have been damaged during the fall.