I'm looking to collect as much info as possible from reefers who have successfully kept carnation coral. I have one that has been in my tank for over 6 months now and I HAVE noticed growth. I'll go into that below. Those of you that have kept these corals successfully for any amount of time please provide how long, if it grew, any notes, if you noticed any of the same things I'm going to list below, what you fed, lighting schedule, etc.
On to my experience. I got mine back in November or December, so I suppose that means I've had it at least 7 or 8 months now, I feed tropic marin phyto almost everyday. I have the coral off to the side of my tank and out of any light, so it is really in the shadows. I have noticed, and I wonder if any others have noticed this, that I find the "bristles", seemingly shedded, lying around the coral as if it slowly goes through them, like shark teeth. Has anyone else noticed this? Also, I have something that I can't really describe unless carnation coral's actually are somewhat photosynthetic, so I hope someone can help me. A little while ago, some people on RC started reducing their lighting cycles to 6-8 hours and noticed spectacular growth and color. Upon looking at the scientific papers, this makes sense, because it turns out that the majority of coral growth occurs 8-10 hours after the sun goes down, or in this case, lights out. Well I tried it in my tank starting about a month or a little more ago, and did experience amazing growth and color among my corals, but what astounded me the most was that my carnation was actually growing. It hadn't grown since I got it, at least not visibly, although it is hard to judge because of the large expanding and contracting of this coral, but now it has definetly grown, which is very surprising because I have yet to see anyone post anywhere about this happening. But yet even more amazing was that the coral was actually leaning and stretching towards the light, similar to photosynthetic corals. I decided to experiment and moved it so that the opposite side was facing the light, and the coral collapsed for a few days and was very limp, not contracted into a tight ball, but expanded and limp. Now it has come back, about a week since moving it, and it has once again started to bend towards the light. Anyone that can describe or relate to either of these two things?
On to my experience. I got mine back in November or December, so I suppose that means I've had it at least 7 or 8 months now, I feed tropic marin phyto almost everyday. I have the coral off to the side of my tank and out of any light, so it is really in the shadows. I have noticed, and I wonder if any others have noticed this, that I find the "bristles", seemingly shedded, lying around the coral as if it slowly goes through them, like shark teeth. Has anyone else noticed this? Also, I have something that I can't really describe unless carnation coral's actually are somewhat photosynthetic, so I hope someone can help me. A little while ago, some people on RC started reducing their lighting cycles to 6-8 hours and noticed spectacular growth and color. Upon looking at the scientific papers, this makes sense, because it turns out that the majority of coral growth occurs 8-10 hours after the sun goes down, or in this case, lights out. Well I tried it in my tank starting about a month or a little more ago, and did experience amazing growth and color among my corals, but what astounded me the most was that my carnation was actually growing. It hadn't grown since I got it, at least not visibly, although it is hard to judge because of the large expanding and contracting of this coral, but now it has definetly grown, which is very surprising because I have yet to see anyone post anywhere about this happening. But yet even more amazing was that the coral was actually leaning and stretching towards the light, similar to photosynthetic corals. I decided to experiment and moved it so that the opposite side was facing the light, and the coral collapsed for a few days and was very limp, not contracted into a tight ball, but expanded and limp. Now it has come back, about a week since moving it, and it has once again started to bend towards the light. Anyone that can describe or relate to either of these two things?
