My first coral!

[aquaman05]

Hello,
I picked up my first corals yesterday and have a couple questions.
I purchased a zoa not sure the name , it's kinda purple with green eye, and some yellow poloyps.
I have a 75 gal with 6-54 watt t-5s. How long should I run the lights a day?

I have read not food is required just water changes,is this true?

Thanks for looking

I'll try to post some pics later tonight

 

[rogersb]

I run my 6 bulb fixture 8 hours a day and no they do not need to be fed, they will get nutrients from your fish

 

[Reef Junkie]

Congratz and welcome.
Give them light for min 8 hours, max 12 hours.
Yes, they only require water changes.

 

[Dave VG]

Congrats on the first coral. Those guys ^^^^ pretty much covered your questions. Although I do feed my tank marine snow and have seen better growth and color in all my corals sense starting it. Good luck to ya

 

[aquaman05]

 

[aquaman05]

Not sure what's wrong with the one on the middle and a couple on the right was open last night but look different today

 

[Zoaman1]

cool looking zoas

 

[Reef Junkie]

Looking good!
They look like they may be Palythoa and will accept small portions of food.
Best way to feed them is with a small pipette and some thawed "enriched" frozen brine shrimp. Soak the shrimp in a little tank water and then suck them up with the pipette. Then spot feed each polyp.

Its also best to turn off the tank pumps and feed right before lights out. That will keep the fish off the food sticking out of the corals mouths, but won't stop the bristle worms. Not much you can do about that, except feed the coral smaller pieces that can be swallowed quicker.

If the coral doesn't accept the food quickly, then I'm wrong and its a Zoanthid.

Cheers,

 

[livingcorals]

Does the middle seem to start turning into like a white tooth paste? Also just a good rule to follow for zoanthids/palys. Ask before you buy the lighting time and setup before hand. They can act finicky in situations like that.

From your photo it seems to be chemical war going on perhaps. You can do an iodine dip.
Common things to look for: bumps, spiders, spots, webbing, algae, tiny nudies/worms.

When you can send ph reading or call me later Greg

 

[aquaman05]

How about frozen brine?

 

[livingcorals]

phyto or zooplank with a turkey baster or meaty foods placed on the polyps should be fine. Supplemental feeding is good to do even more so in a new setup.
Brine will work.

 

[aquaman05]

Ok thanks, I'll let you know later when I get off work.