sps corals and no light

clownfish18

New member
Hi guys i am 3 weeks into my cycle and i got these to sps corals for free but my leds dont arrive for another 2 weeks what should i do. The corals have been in the bucket for 2 days now
 
You don't have any sort of light you can toss over the bucket? They will not survive for 2 weeks without light I don't think.

If you don't have any sort of light you can use I would ask on my local reef forum if anyone will let you borrow one.
 
i have no friends that are into reefing. I was thinking of putting them in the sun . I live in Saskatchewan. The only thing i have is a cfl bulb which is i think 13w. i tried the cfl bulb and one of the sps had polyp extensions but the other one didnt
 
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Just use a CFL or LED bulb over them for the time being. The PAR38 LED bulbs from HD actually put out quite a lot of light.
 
Good morning Bill is there any pet shop there that you can bring them to? They are not going to survive in a bucket. Maybe someone in the next provenance you got a get then out of their. Phil
 
Where did you get them? The person could not hold on to them for a few weeks? You don't have any kind of local shop? You need to get some flow to them. They may be better off in the highest part of your tank with a cheap clip on flood light then they are in a bucket. Any pics? This may be a lost cause.
 
Without sounding to arrogant.

WHY the **** did you get the corals? You don't have a tank yet (else fill it up, and put the corals in the tank. Corals can survive some time without light, but flow and stable water is something really needed.

Two weeks is quite long, still stable water and good flow might do the trick. Also open the window might let in enough light to keep the corals alive (they will only brown up).

Get them into a decent aquarium asap, either a friend, local reefer (who you don't know yet ) the LFS etc etc.

It would be a mirracle if they are still alive when the weekend hits (actually it would be a miracle if they are still alive by the end of tomorrow).
 
OP: SPS corals will only survive upto about 5-7 days without light. I’ve covered my tank in the past for a 7 days continuous before (whilst fighting Dinos). At the end of the 7 day period, most of the acros become quite pale. Some started to STN at the base.


Now if you can place them in the sun in a bucket, then that will keep them alive (have a pump etc and ensure the water temp doesn’t rise too high).
<O:p</O:p
If you can SAFELY place any household Fluorescent bulb over the corals then that is an idea rather than putting a bucket out in the sun which can cause the small volume of water to heat up fast.
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In future, avoid buying/taking freebies of ANY living creature unless you have all the right equipment to take care of all their needs. :)<O:p</O:p

If you can pass them onto a friend/LFS to look after the corals for the time being that would be the better option.
 
I'm confused, you say your in the middle of your cycle, but all you have for light is a CFL bulb. Is there not lighting on your tank? Float a Tupperware container with water from bucket and the coral to take advantage of your tanks light and temp! Just top off as needed.
 
Your tank will probably cycle again after you put light on it... dinos, film, etc. It is part of it.

This is going to sound horrible, but they are probably 90% sure to die anyway. In a bucket, no light, going into a newly half cycled tank = no bueno for SPS. I hope that they live, but don't count it against you too much if they don't.
 
well the sun is pretty bright out so far and i have been putting them out in the sun. With a powerhead and a heater that makes the temperature not go under 78 degrees farenhiet i think they will make it. Oh and by the way i am only a 15 year old kid and have no job, my parents dont pay for anything because we have financial issues. i sell my stuff just to buy stuff for this hobby. thats why i took the free corals. :angryfire:
 
well the sun is pretty bright out so far and i have been putting them out in the sun. With a powerhead and a heater that makes the temperature not go under 78 degrees farenhiet i think they will make it. Oh and by the way i am only a 15 year old kid and have no job, my parents dont pay for anything because we have financial issues. i sell my stuff just to buy stuff for this hobby. thats why i took the free corals. :angryfire:


Save the killing of corals. Don't try to get into this hobby until you can afford to.

Get a job, save up $1000.00 and put it into a bank account. DIY everything you can, and save the rest for upkeep (salt, primarily).


Otherwise it's like having a cat before you can afford to feed it.
 
Don't know if the OP is still workin' this issue or not, but there is a simple solution if this ever comes up again. Just hang a $5 grow bulb over a bucket with an air pump and change the water every other day. Keep the room at 74 degrees and you're good to go for a couple weeks. Not saying the corals would be happy, but I've kept corals in a tub with simple grow bulbs on numerous occasions.


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. . i am only a 15 year old kid and have no job, my parents dont pay for anything . .


Let me start this over . . .


Welcome to RC :celeb3:

Congrats on starting your first reef!!!

What are the dimensions of the tank you are starting? What kind of reef do you want to have? What equipment do you need still? Is this in your bedroom if so is noise a problem? Can you take a picture and post it?

I may have some old equipment to donate that might work on your tank depending on what you have already ;)
 
i am starting a 30g long reef. Its going to be in the living room. i am going to put them in the tank tomorrow.


if you have no good comments please to leave.
 
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