Carnation Coral/strawberry coral not opening??

[helitaiwan963]

Hey guys,

I bought a strawberry coral this past weekend from a lfs and It's been going on 2 days now and it's still not fully opened. There are 2 small stalks and one large on on the rock Now i've seen one of the smaller ones open up it's polyps but then to see it all closed again 10 minutes later.

Should i be worried? If it doesn't open tomorrow, i'm thinking about trying the tupperware container method I read in the sticky above... or is that something i should be doing now instead of waiting more days?


Thanks
Eric

 

[glparr]

Strawberry?, i.e., Dendronephthya? Scleronephthya? What are your water conditions? What kind of flow do you have? What are you feeding it? Is it opening at night and you aren't there to see it?
Gary

 

[CuttleKid]

The Tupperware method is only for Azoox LPS corals, Mainly tubastrea.

 

[slapshot]

Strawberry?, i.e., Dendronephthya? Scleronephthya? What are your water conditions? What kind of flow do you have? What are you feeding it? Is it opening at night and you aren't there to see it?
Gary

What Gary asked.

 

[helitaiwan963]

Hmm, I'm gonna have to get back to you on specific species. It was listed as a strawberry coral at the lfs. It was an impulse buy so I've got my flame suit on. Now I'm catching up on research.

Anyway, my parameters are good. All the other coral and anemones are doing fine. Today, I noticed the little purple stalk opening up a lot more periodically. But the largest stalk still isn't opened... I may try a direct spot feed tomorrow. Also, as far as flow goes, I've got about a lil over 800gph in my 29gal the nps is in. It's not in any direct current or anything.

I've been feeding daphnia so far but I did get a stick of cyclopeeze at the lfs as well to get a mixture of foods for the coral. It's my first nonphotsynthetic.

Also, as far as night, the little purple stalk is opened again right now (11:03pm central) but the rest of them still are not opened. When opened, it reminds me of Kenya trees if it helps identify. I believe live aquaria had a picture to it's carnation coral and looks pretty similar to what I have, just different coloring.


Thanks
Eric

 

[helitaiwan963]

So have this:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+600+645&pcatid=645
it's a Dendronephthya.

It's in a low flow area right now... should it be somewhere with higher flow? I just woke up and checked and the little purple stalk is opened again, but no such luck with the large stock or the other smaller one.

 

[uhuru]

These corals require dedicated systems to even attempt success. The amount of food they require far exceeds anything else I've ever tried keeping including other azoox corals, besides possible the blueberry gorgonian. The type of food they require is several orders of magnitude smaller than what you are using. Think 0.5 - 1 micron size foods. Cyclopeeze is 1000 - 2000 times that size. This is like you trying to eat a whole cow in one bite. In addition to this once they start to catabolize, which can happen for a variety of reasons besides lack of food, it becomes a gradual decline in health that we still dont know how to correct under captive conditions. They are truly one of the most challenging corals to keep. Hope that helps!

 

[helitaiwan963]

These corals require dedicated systems to even attempt success. The amount of food they require far exceeds anything else I've ever tried keeping including other azoox corals, besides possible the blueberry gorgonian. The type of food they require is several orders of magnitude smaller than what you are using. Think 0.5 - 1 micron size foods. Cyclopeeze is 1000 - 2000 times that size. This is like you trying to eat a whole cow in one bite. In addition to this once they start to catabolize, which can happen for a variety of reasons besides lack of food, it becomes a gradual decline in health that we still dont know how to correct under captive conditions. They are truly one of the most challenging corals to keep. Hope that helps!

omg, seriously? The guy at the Lfs told me they were fairly easy and it should eat the cyclopeeze and daphnia... So should i be looking into some phyto?

The lfs is a pretty reputable one in the midweset... MCF is their initials as i'm not sure if i could post their name. but damn... Could i have mis-identified it? It was only 45 dollars, i would think such a difficult coral would cost more?

So i am basically screwed with this coral? I only have softies and 2 nems in my tank...


Thanks
Eric

 

[uhuru]

They are commonly available because they are so beautiful so that is the average price. Your LFS owes you a refund.

 

[Glazner]

your link shows expert only=dies easily.... I would see if the store will let you trade it back in. Beautiful coral, but almost impossible to keep alive IMO

 

[helitaiwan963]

Hmm, I'll be giving the lfs a call after classes today to see what they will be willing to do...

Darn, that lfs is a LONG drive too