velvetelvis
Active member
I'll start off by saying that I'm no expert, as I've only kept these corals for about a month. But I thought it would interesting to share my experiences with anybody else who's keeping them.
First off, tank stats: 34G Solana, 150W/14K MH lighting w/two actinics (have to check the wattage). Photoperiod is about 8 hours. Current is provided by two Vortech MP10s set on "Lagoon" at 1/2 speed. I dose the tank daily with phytoplankton and a two-part calcium and buffer supplement, and do weekly water changes of about 10%. I also feed oyster eggs or rotifers a few times a week. The tank is currently skimmerless--not by design, but because my Sapphire skimmer quit working and I haven't found a suitable replacement.
I have three color varieties of the photosynthetic Stereonephthya aquacultured by DFS and offered on LA and DD: a light purplish one with tannish-gold polyps, a white one with gold polyps, and a pinkish-lavender one with light-gold polyps. I also just ordered a bright pink one from DD--looking forward to getting it and seeing if it does as well as the other three.
I've noticed a few things about these corals. For one, they seem most responsive to current, rather than light cycles. I finally seem to have achieved optimum placement with mine, which is in a spot where they are ruffled by the current without receiving it head-on. They don't care for still water and will remain closed-up in response, but deflate and go limp (though without closing up as much) if they're hit with too much flow. They definitely appreciate some turbulence, though. On the other hand, they don't seem as responsive to lighting--they inflate and polyp out at (seemingly) random times whether the lights are on or off. Because they are consistently open about an hour after the lights cut off, I suspect that they may do more of their feeding at night, so I feed phyto, oyster eggs, and/or rotifers after dark.
Secondly, their colors seem to vary widely depending on their environment. My first and favorite colony, which I purchased as a WYSIWYG from DD, almost looked candy cane-colored in the photo--white with pinkish-purple polyps. A couple of weeks after it settled into my system, it began to turn a light pinkish-lavender color, and the polyps turned light gold (much prettier, IMO!). The other two are newer (and the fourth hasn't arrived yet), so I'm interested in seeing how their colors develop over time.
Finally, they're tough! The white-and-gold coral came off its plug in shipping and rattled around in my tank for a few days until I wedged it between the two branches of a small piece of LR rubble and set it in my rockwork. It polyped out later that night, and began attaching within a few days. Another frag detached from the light-purple colony (whether the parent colony dropped it like a capnella would, or if it just came loose, I don't know) and simply settled down and began attaching where it landed in my LR.
I'm really enjoying these corals, and hope they continue to do well in my tank. I think they're a great thing for aquarists who, like me, love the look of Dendronephthya and other NPS nephtheid corals, but don't have the setup (or the confidence and experience) to attempt them. Comments and advice from more experienced keepers are welcome and appreciated.
First off, tank stats: 34G Solana, 150W/14K MH lighting w/two actinics (have to check the wattage). Photoperiod is about 8 hours. Current is provided by two Vortech MP10s set on "Lagoon" at 1/2 speed. I dose the tank daily with phytoplankton and a two-part calcium and buffer supplement, and do weekly water changes of about 10%. I also feed oyster eggs or rotifers a few times a week. The tank is currently skimmerless--not by design, but because my Sapphire skimmer quit working and I haven't found a suitable replacement.
I have three color varieties of the photosynthetic Stereonephthya aquacultured by DFS and offered on LA and DD: a light purplish one with tannish-gold polyps, a white one with gold polyps, and a pinkish-lavender one with light-gold polyps. I also just ordered a bright pink one from DD--looking forward to getting it and seeing if it does as well as the other three.
I've noticed a few things about these corals. For one, they seem most responsive to current, rather than light cycles. I finally seem to have achieved optimum placement with mine, which is in a spot where they are ruffled by the current without receiving it head-on. They don't care for still water and will remain closed-up in response, but deflate and go limp (though without closing up as much) if they're hit with too much flow. They definitely appreciate some turbulence, though. On the other hand, they don't seem as responsive to lighting--they inflate and polyp out at (seemingly) random times whether the lights are on or off. Because they are consistently open about an hour after the lights cut off, I suspect that they may do more of their feeding at night, so I feed phyto, oyster eggs, and/or rotifers after dark.
Secondly, their colors seem to vary widely depending on their environment. My first and favorite colony, which I purchased as a WYSIWYG from DD, almost looked candy cane-colored in the photo--white with pinkish-purple polyps. A couple of weeks after it settled into my system, it began to turn a light pinkish-lavender color, and the polyps turned light gold (much prettier, IMO!). The other two are newer (and the fourth hasn't arrived yet), so I'm interested in seeing how their colors develop over time.
Finally, they're tough! The white-and-gold coral came off its plug in shipping and rattled around in my tank for a few days until I wedged it between the two branches of a small piece of LR rubble and set it in my rockwork. It polyped out later that night, and began attaching within a few days. Another frag detached from the light-purple colony (whether the parent colony dropped it like a capnella would, or if it just came loose, I don't know) and simply settled down and began attaching where it landed in my LR.
I'm really enjoying these corals, and hope they continue to do well in my tank. I think they're a great thing for aquarists who, like me, love the look of Dendronephthya and other NPS nephtheid corals, but don't have the setup (or the confidence and experience) to attempt them. Comments and advice from more experienced keepers are welcome and appreciated.
