Plate corals

[roktsintst]

I got a plate coral about two weeks ago from the LFS out of the bag. I have it on the sand of a 60g tank but it wont do anything. no polyps or anything. I have tried different spots with no luck. i have one 96 watt dual actinic PC and one 96 watt 10000k. I have a colt coral and toadstool mushroom that is barly polyping but crocea clam and frogspawn are great. also waiting for berlin protien skimmer to arrive to finnish my sump. i have two emperor 400's now. any ideas?

 

[IslandCrow]

I'm no expert on plate corals, but I think they need more light than that. I know I've stayed away from them at this point because I've heard they're pretty hard to keep successfully. I know the guy at the LFS I usually go to doesn't seem to be able to keep most of his alive for more than a couple months. I think he just banks on being able to sell them by then. You'll probably want to post some water parameters as well as how long you've had the tank up and running.

 

[organism]

plates usually do very well in captivity, but the first thing is that it sounds like you're kind of rushing things in your tank, that lighting is not going to do it for most of those corals, especially the clam, which shouldn't be in a tank that is under 6 months old or has less than metal halide lighting, if you leave it under the lighting that it's under now, it will definitely not make it. as for the plate, usually they need to settle in, moving it around will stress it out more, don't forget that they can move themselves, and will pick a spot they don't like if they're unhappy

 

[lizardking38]

What type of plate is it? Long tentacled plates are a little harder to keep, but in general, plate corals do well with moderate flow, medium to intense light and I like to spot feed mine. I have had one for over a year now and it is about 6" in diameter when expanded.

Your lighting may not be intense enough to support the plate without spot feeding meaty foods.

Keep us updated.

 

[Sk8r]

Kind of watch the flow direction, too. Softies are chemically aggressive and inhibit a stony that's downwind of them.

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7136729#post7136729 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by organism
plates usually do very well in captivity, but the first thing is that it sounds like you're kind of rushing things in your tank, that lighting is not going to do it for most of those corals, especially the clam, which shouldn't be in a tank that is under 6 months old or has less than metal halide lighting, if you leave it under the lighting that it's under now, it will definitely not make it. as for the plate, usually they need to settle in, moving it around will stress it out more, don't forget that they can move themselves, and will pick a spot they don't like if they're unhappy

What he said

 

[BLockamon]

I have to disagree with the clam lighting. You do not need metal halides to keep a clam. I have a crocea that I've kept for about 1.5 years under VHO lighting. It's doing fine (knock wood) and has is growing (added three ridges to his shell since I've had him). I do, however, keep him on one of the highest rocks in the tank. Granted his green highlights would probably come out more with more intense lights.

That said, I do think that 2x96W PC is a little too dim for a 60 gallon tank. I'd recommend immediately moving the clam to the highest rock (if he isn't there already). I'd also recommend that you consider adding a little more light in the near future.

As for the plate, is it a short or long tentacle?

 

[dermer]

i also have a plate and i have yet to see it move but it does streach its tentacles out and eats well i have coral life 20,000k HQI haldi and i love it i also have a bubble, blue mushroom, and red pipe coral that all seem to be doing good