Toadstool Lighting

*reefermadness*

New member
I picked up a dying toadstool today from the LFS, he said if i think i can save it then I can have it. I had seen it three days before, and told them I was very interested. It was a nice green color, and about 6 inches across at the crown. I've currently got it in a QT tank with a powerhead and a daylight spectrum CFL. My question is, will that light be enough for photosynthesis or do I need to bump it up? Im on a budget, so money is tight. Also, what is the best setup for a QT tank? How often should I change water, filtration, all that jazz. The QT tank is only a 5 gallon, will that matter?
 
How big is the CFL? Is that one of those fluorescent lights that screw into an incandecent socket? If so, you definitely need more light. For recovery it might be ok cuz you dont want to burn the coral while its week...but why was it dying? I'm assuming not lack of light because they'll show signs of that for months before they die. I'd say the bigger issue is making sure that everything as far as water params are in check.

But to answer the question, it will need more light in time. PC's at the very minimum, but leathers are my favorite and i've tried all sorts of things with them, and i've found that the brighter the better. They do great in the type of light that sps requires. I switched from pc to t5 and the difference was night and day with my leathers.

As far as changing water....IMO you dont want to do that too much with a dying coral if at all possible. Obviously if there is amonia and lots of nitrates and that sort of thing in there, you gotta do it...but if the water tests good, dont touch it. Stability is the name of the game with dying corals. Changing water all the time runs you the risk of altering something in the water, ESPECIALLY in that small of a tank....stuff can change fast there.

As far as filtration, you shouldnt need much being that its only one coral in there...the corals dont really add to the bioload, and dont really produce waste...i've gotten by with nothing other than sand in coral tanks, but a chunk of live rock might be beneficial. Make sure you've got good flow. Toads love higher flow, but be careful when its weak...wait till it starts recovering before you bump it up too much.

and no it shouldnt matter that its only 5 gallons...other than stuff can change fast in that little of water, so be careful like i said.

Sorry if that was a lot of typing...i tend to get sidetracked and type faster than i'm actually thinking lol ;)
 
sir_dudeguy
Yep, its a 5500k 13w CFL that I was planning on running over my refuge/sump. Thanks for the info, I'll test the water tomorrow to check for any elevated levels, and I've got a 250w halide on my main tank, but Im not looking to add a weak coral to my tank. I will see if anyone in my area has a better light setup that i could borrow/buy.

I'll see how it does in QT and when/if it gets doing better, I will move it to the main tank. I've currently got a koralia 1 on the coral now, not blasting it, but getting decent flow. There's still good structure to the coral, and visible polyp nodes, if thats what to call them? But it has really deteriorated from what it looked like 4 days ago. I am feeding DTs to help with the recovery process; is there anything wrong with that?

And also, does anyone have any ideas as to what would have caused such a rapid deterioration in condition?

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.
 
I wouldnt feed anything to it. That will just build up waste in the tank and toadstools dont really eat anything. They're fine with just light. I've had them grow for 6 months with nothing other than water flow and light and they do just fine (in a coral tank that i never fed). So ya...i wouldnt worry bout it.

As far as why it deteriorated...there are several reasons. Could have been stung by another coral at the shop, could have been picked at by a fish, or (probably more common for toads from my experience) i could have been in too little of flow and had waste/food/etc sitting on it...after a while it will cause the coral to rot right there where it sits, and it can get worse.

The polyps are still extending though? If so, thats a good sign. Toads can be picky and close up for days, but if its still opening thats a good thing. And like i said earlier, till it recovers the light you've got on it will prob be fine. Its only a 5g... Just make sure to start it in a shady area when you put it under the halide
 
got my toadstool as a 1" x 1" frag 1 year ago under PC lighting. its now about 6" x 6".. so basically pc,t5,mh any of those will work.
 
I have a pink TS from my brother that has already grown from a nickel size crown to over a fifty cent piece in less than a month under my 250W odyssea MH.
 
toad stool

toad stool

putting it in a QT is a smart move,lighting in the qt is probably not that important just give lots of flow if you have lighting to spare give it to it slowly and move it up after a few days.Toad stools love light and flow,we keep ours in about 300 par and blast it with flow.It can't get enough of it.Good luck
 
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