Caring for a pink "Flower Tree" coral

[droog]

Hi,

I have a soft NPS Coral that was sold to me by the LFS that helped me setup the tank at the beginning of the year. Recently identified this as Scleronephthya.

The Coral is beautiful when polyp's are extended (see happy.jpg) but often times it seems to expel water and looks more like the "sad" picture. Any advice on how to care for and feed this guy? Should I be able to keep it looking like the happy picture 24x7?

Thanks for any info/suggestions

-droog

 

[Trichome]

From what i know its is a filter feeder that requires foods like phyto , reef roids or Fauna Marin Ultra SeaFan Coral Food. I have never had the chance to observe them in the wild so i dont really know if they normally stay open all the time in the wild or not.

 

[GreshamH]

All you seek is in past threads in this forum. With a little leg work, you can answer your own questions.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/search.php?searchid=14529136

http://reefcentral.com/forums/search.php?searchid=14529146

 

[noy]

The longest I ever kept one was about 12 months. They started to decline when I wasn't able to keep up the target feeding regiment.

You should be able to keep it inflated in the "happy" state with polyps extended and capturing food particles. Try moving the coral to a position with some flow to it.

There are different views on water quality and some say you need low nutrient (ULNS) type conditions. That hasn't been my experience (but then I only kept it for about a year).

I think the key is to make sure the coral is getting food/nutrition. People generally use a combination of dry (reefroids, coral frenzy etc.), frozen/refrigerated (oyster feast, cyclopeez). If you can raise live rotifers - all the much better.

When you target feed - watch the polyps to see if you get a feeding response (polyp capturing and consuming particles from the water column.

I have a video of a dendronephtya feeding.

<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/QVcZMKjl5CI?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/QVcZMKjl5CI?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

 

[droog]

From what i know its is a filter feeder that requires foods like phyto , reef roids or Fauna Marin Ultra SeaFan Coral Food. I have never had the chance to observe them in the wild so i dont really know if they normally stay open all the time in the wild or not.

Thanks!

I just started dosing Tropic Marin Pro-Coral Phyto, it seems to inflate in response so will keep that up. I have some reef roids on order. This hobby is a challenge in Shanghai because a lot of the live foods are unavailable here...

-droog

 

[droog]

All you seek is in past threads in this forum. With a little leg work, you can answer your own questions.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/search.php?searchid=14529136

http://reefcentral.com/forums/search.php?searchid=14529146

Thanks GreshamH. I did search on this topic, some results were useful, others very broad in scope. I read some very detailed threads on growing live plankton, which were interesting - but more complex that I can handle as a beginner.

These links don't work for me (perhaps search IDs are unique to each account?) but I take you point.

-droog

 

[droog]

The longest I ever kept one was about 12 months. They started to decline when I wasn't able to keep up the target feeding regiment.

You should be able to keep it inflated in the "happy" state with polyps extended and capturing food particles. Try moving the coral to a position with some flow to it.

Thanks. I moved him last night to an area with more flow, and am adding PH's to the tank also. He stayed sad, but woke up to my feeding.

There are different views on water quality and some say you need low nutrient (ULNS) type conditions. That hasn't been my experience (but then I only kept it for about a year).

I'm at 5 months with this Coral, over time I have noticed that he seems happiest when the water is quite dirty. At first I though the problem was lighting related, only just learned this is a NPC.

I think the key is to make sure the coral is getting food/nutrition. People generally use a combination of dry (reefroids, coral frenzy etc.), frozen/refrigerated (oyster feast, cyclopeez). If you can raise live rotifers - all the much better.


When you target feed - watch the polyps to see if you get a feeding response (polyp capturing and consuming particles from the water column.

I have a video of a dendronephtya feeding.

Thanks. I got reedroids on order and will try to get this guy thriving. Cool video, I love the music

-droog