My first NPS

[jonewald]

Just wanted to share a couple pics of my first NPS, a dendrophyllia that my LFS just got in last week.

Kind of a bad pic with actinics and flash.

It looks much brighter than my cell phone camera shows.

Any suggestions on how to mount it on some live rock?

 

[uhuru]

Thats a beauty! I mounted mine just as I mount anything else, with epoxy and super glue. Just don't put pressure on those coral heads you can crush the skeleton easily.

If its not opening yet you might want to wait to mount it in case you have to resort to the tupperware method.

 

[jonewald]

Thanks for the tip and kind words, uhuru.

It hasn't opened up yet but I did see just a couple tips of tentacles from a couple polyps this morning. If the polyps haven't opened by Wednesday evening, I plan to try the tupperware method to feed them.

 

[jonewald]

Used the tupperware method last night, and managed to feed about a dozen or so of the polyps. Most of the ones that opened stayed opened for a little while after being placed in the tank.

Should I be using the tupperware method this evening to try to feed the polyps that didn't feed last night if they aren't opened in my tank? I don't want to accidentally overfeed the polyps that did eat last nite, but also want to get some food into as many polyps as possible.

 

[happysak]

Wow, beautiful animal. Yes, go ahead and feed again.

 

[flying_dutchman]

that's a beautiful specimen! It will look awesome when open

 

[jonewald]

Thanks for the help guys! I may not post much, but I have been reading as much as I can about NPS lately. Hope to have some new pics up this evening while feeding.

 

[jonewald]

Feeding went much better last nite with just about every polyp opening at least somewhat during tupperware time. I even had some polyps stay open when moved back into the tank!

Here's a few pics from during and after feeding.

 

[uhuru]

Looking good! It takes some work at first but it will be very rewarding once those polyps start coming out all the way.

BTW if you ever see polyps open while in the tank go ahead and feed again. Even if you just fed them in the tupperware container.

Do you ever look at your tank after the lights have been off for a few hours?

 

[donkeys4hire]

I have 3 different dendros. I have moved them around to try to get them to open more. i have concluded they don't like to be in the sand.

 

[jonewald]

I have 3 different dendros. I have moved them around to try to get them to open more. i have concluded they don't like to be in the sand.

Thanks for the advice! I do plan to mount my dendro onto a piece of liverock and not leave it on the sand. Since I've been having to feed it in tupperware, I haven't mounted it to rock yet. I'll mount it on rock once I get it eating in the tank.