Orange Carnation, need some more info

CrabberGrabber

New member
So i just picked up an orange carnation and need to know more about them. was told they eat plankton, like good light moderate flow and were difficult to keep. anyone have anymore info? thanks.
 
1) noone knows what they eat
2) they likely need very strong, laminar flow- but noone knows
3) they are 99.98% impossible to keep alive in captivity. If you know it was difficult, why did you buy it before researching?

I suggest returning it. If thats not an option, I suggest reading THIS entire thread, and cross your fingers. Good luck with it- hope yours is one of those exceptions.
 
carnation

carnation

I new they were a hard thing to keep but am up to the challenge, my reef has several other things that i was told would be hard to keep. well I only paid a few dollars for it. Out of all the specimen's that came in on our shipment this one was the best. i'll keep posted on my progress.
 
Virtually noone is up for that challenge; even those with hobby experience know its pretty well off limits unfortunately. Id be more concerned with killing an animal than losing a few dollars. Suggest you ask the people at the store you work at to hold off on ordering them- bad for the animals, and frustrating for the customers who buy them, just to watch them wither away and die (which will also reflect poorly on the store). Not trying to sound like Im lecturing or anything, its just that these corals are a favorite of mine- but I respect them enough not to be greedy about keeping them.
 
Its not that theyre a challenge, its that people who are keeping them alive dont know how theyre doing it. However these people also have established tanks. If it survives it isnt because you arose to the challenge, its because you were lucky enough to have whatever it eats. Also, the lack of research prior to buying this animal reflects very poorly on your keeping of these animals and is a very irresponsible practice.
 
OK, well we've all made impulse buys. Live and learn.

Most of what I've read suggests that they feed on plankton, and that this food must almost always be available in the water column. Therein lies the problem: you could feed enough to keep them alive, but your nitrates would shoot through the roof. Maybe a slow, steady drip of plankton-rich topoff water?
 
Live and learn, chances of the animal he just bought dying are just shy of 100%, Im all for helping out and giving advice but this type of behavior should be scolded and looked down upon, not given an "Oh well, sh*t happens". This is no less of an animal than a dog or cat, just because it doesnt greet you at the door doesnt mean it isnt alive. What would your reaction be if he brought a puppy home even though he was unable to feed it and didnt even know how?

That being said, as stated previouslyl these animals have a very poor survival rate in captivity, and are certainly not fit for a mixed reef environment. The only real chance it has of surviving is being placed in a well matured species specific system. And again, this hobby requires responsibility and research, its bad enough were taking animals from the reef to begin with, lets no condemn them to certain death as well, do your homework before buying.
 
I have had good luck with carnations.

I put them under low light and high flow. I feed Dt's and hae a refugiums and a well established pod population that helps out.

JME

Also sometimes newer speciments do best if mounted upsidedown.

HTH
 
why do people on this forum always feel like it is there job as reefing parents to scold someone on what they are doing with their tank. you can say that purchasing that coral was probably a bad idea without being as rude as possible in the process. reefcentral is notorius for this.
 
I don't seem him coming across as scolding him at all. Yes we all make impulse buys but if we do not buy the stuff (carnation coral) let it die in there system and they live and learn, don't order it. He is passionate about the hobby understandably. We don't go out and buy a tank worth of SPS if we are running just PC's, reasearch first and then make a decision, regardless if it was free or a $1000 dollars.
 
I dont feel its my job as a "reefing parent", I feel its my responsibility as a hobbyist who would like there to be a future in this hobby, and there wont be if people so casually continue killing livestock. Ive seen tanks that look different every week because animals keep dying and new ones are bought to replace them. Theres a wealth of information available and it is easy to educate yourself in this hobby, so ignorance is not a good excuse. If you cant provide a suitable environment for an animal dont buy it.
 
I got a carnation from my LPS without knowing their requirements.
So far, I placed upside down (hanging) and under the shadows of live rock. I try to spot feed it everytine I feed the tank.

It seems to be ok after a month, but I'm still concerned about its future.

The true is, we are just gambling with this coral. If I would've known (or my LFS take it back), I wouldn't bought it.

I wish luck to the both of us.
 
Yeah. RC is notorious for people who let their opinions override the "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" maxim. There's always a way to say something politely. It's infuriating to me. Sometimes I wonder why I continue to come back....

When I started in this hobby, the arrogant "advice" from an online forum, as well as the patronizing and demeaning attitude of a local LFS staff nearly made me quit. But whatever....
 
The real world doesnt revolve around ths "If you dont have anything nice to say" principle, if you need life to be candy coated move to Disney Land.
I agree that people who have been in the hobby often sometimes become arrogant, not realizing time in the hobby and knowledge gained are not necessarily proportional. However, the only arrogance in this thread is assuming you can keep a coral in an environment that is not remotley suitable, where pretty much everyone else has failed. Would you be nice to someone who left their dog chained up outside in the winter with no food? I see no difference between this situation and that. And this is not an uncommon story, search dendronepthya on google and see how often this happens.
 
The fact that he found a forum and is trying to make things better is good. Most people with aquariums don't even try to research or learn; I applaud Crabber for asking questions and trying to learn. I've done a few dumb *** things unintentionally; I'm glad people tried to help instead of bash.

...anyways, he hasn't been on this thread for days (gee, can't imagine why).
 
My opinion is that they are not really ideal for tanks, they need alot of nutrients in the water and unless you spot feed them with an inverted soda bottle or something your tank is going to go downhill..........

That garf website had a pretty good article about keeping them.
 
I think we as hobbyists should use RC in order to educate others on being responsible hobbyists because there are hundreds of people out there buying carnation corals, orange spotted filefish, and other marine life that are deemed almost impossible to keep alive thinking that they will be the one that proves everyone else wrong and keep these animals long term. I stress the word long term because one of the biggest problems that I see on RC are people who jump on here raving how they have successfully kept hard to keep animals when if fact they have only maintained it for 6 months or so.
CrabberGrabber,

A few things that you need to consider when buying non-photosynthetic corals that require a constant supply of planktonic food is the tank basically has to be flooded not stop with food and if read other threads on this subject you will see that people are having difficulty with managing their water parameters when doing this so if you have other more delicate corals like SPS and LPS you may sacrifice their health for the Carnations and still not be able to keep the carnation alive long term.
 
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