ID Request: Is This NPS?

[Yedgy]

Hello everyone,

I have no experience with NPS corals but I think I may have come home with one from the LFS. It was described as a "chili leather coral." The LFS assured me it was photosynthetic, but I have my doubts, as it stayed tightly closed during the day (it looked like a colony of raspberries) and opened up nicely at the end of the photoperiod after I had fed the tank a small serving of Reef-Roids.

After lights out it ballooned up to about 4 or 5 times its daytime size and extended its polyps. It's beautiful and the polyps have extended a bit more since I took the photos. It's currently high up in the tank directly under an AI Sol Blue at 50% power, so it's getting a lot of light. Should I move it to the sand and out of the bright light?

I'd like to keep it unless it's hopelessly difficult to maintain.

Thanks!

 

[Yedgy]

OK, let's try this again. I can't seem to view my own attachments, so here goes:

 

[slapshot]

A very nice Chili Coral. Likes the shade, lots of flow and prefers to be mounted upside down but not necessary. Lives cyclopeeze.

 

[Yedgy]

Slapshot, thanks for the info. This is exactly the type of advice I need. Hopefully I can shade the chili with a nice toadstool or montipora before it gets too stressed by the light.

Should I try feeding more than once per day? Currently the chili closes up fully during the day and won't respond to Reef-Roids unless it's after dark.


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[slapshot]

..............

 

[slapshot]

Slapshot, thanks for the info. This is exactly the type of advice I need. Hopefully I can shade the chili with a nice toadstool or montipora before it gets too stressed by the light.

Should I try feeding more than once per day? Currently the chili closes up fully during the day and won't respond to Reef-Roids unless it's after dark.


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Your best bet is to feed it hourly. That not usually possible without a full blown Azoox system you best bet would be to feed it before you go to bed and when you get up in the morning. They are one if my favorites and can be kept for quite a long time...... In Azoox terms anyway.

 

[Yedgy]

HOURLY??? Egads, what hath I wrought?

Is a hybrid NPS/softie tank even possible? Time to evaluate my nutrient export capabilities. I have lots of GAC and GFO and a greatly oversized skimmer, but I'll need a full-blown carbon dosing regimen to keep up with the nitrates and phosphates. I was planning to get a kalkwasser reactor but I may need to repurpose it to deliver food on a near-continuous basis. At that point I will have to seriously reconsider my stocking plans.

I'll have to ponder the pros and cons of committing to NPS husbandry. I can't thank you enough for your help!


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[Yedgy]

So far, so good...for the most part. I've been feeding the chili frozen Cyclop-Eeze 3 to 4 times per day and it stays open far longer than it used to, and continues to spend more time with polyps extended. Nitrate and phosphate levels continue to stay low but I've seen an explosion of green and brown algae. I've been cutting down lighting intensity and photoperiod to keep it from being too stressed, and I've moved the light fixture away from the chili as much as I can. I've also quadrupled carbon and GFO (used passively in one of the Elos sump's reaction chambers). I've held off on buying a biopellet reactor because I'm not sure how big I should go.

Meanwhile, I've been reading up on NPS husbandry as much as I can, but I'm finding the overall lack of reference material daunting. I mean, I can find any number of good books on Amazon about keeping SPS but I can't find any comprehensive guides to setting up an NPS tank. Can anyone recommend one?

I have pretty good equipment--for a softie tank, anyway--but I know I need less light (and more concentrated in the center, where my light-loving corals are), more flow, and WAY more nutrient export capability. A feeding system is also a must, but a real challenge as my tank is also "furniture" and can't be surrounded by a retinue of sumps, refugia, and other vessels.

I'm hoping to find a way to keep the photosynthetic corals I have now (a yellow Fiji leather, some mushrooms, and a gorgonian) under sufficient light while building out the rest of the tank with NPS corals (most interested in gorgonians, sea fans, crinoids, and leathers--not so much interested in the LPS, although I will keep a few).

A (crummy) iPhone photo of the chili hanging out after dark with its best buddy:

I find myself being seduced by the dark side...

 

[slapshot]

Excepting my sea apples chili corals are my favorite. Your gorg is photosynthetic so for now just spot feed the chilli. Try feeding less to help with the algae issues. Most crazy Azoox tanks are just azoox corals. It allows them to keep the light levels relatively low.

I'm with you, and did it the hard way. Keeping a mix. It can be done but your nutrient export has to be high. As far as the pellets go they are a God send. If it helps, I run a full 1000 ml for almost 600 gallons of water but only 150 gallon display. Keeping feathers will require pellets as they are very sensitive to nitrates. DO NOT get the red ones. Although spectacular, they have proven to me impossible to keep.

 

[Yedgy]

Keeping feathers will require pellets as they are very sensitive to nitrates. DO NOT get the red ones. Although spectacular, they have proven to me impossible to keep.

Are you referring to Dendronephthya? I've heard those are very difficult to keep.

Thanks for the hint in bio pellet sizing. I have a ~200 liter system so I should expect to eventually use something like 500 mL of pellets.

Thanks!



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[slapshot]

No, I was referring to the feather stars. IME all Dendronepthyas are equal hard to keep. I have kept them for 9 months but then had a battle with some manjos and got some Kalk solution on it and it vanished that night. To me 9 months is not a victory although a personal best. As painful as it is I have swore off of them until we know more about them. They are by far the most beautiful corals in the world and fortunately they are maricultured now but I just don't have the time now required to keep them. The two I kept for 9 months took a ton of work.