what do these corals need?

1sttimer

Member
Got them last week and it seems that the zoa isn't as bright and the star polyps used to be purple.
Not enough light? Need to feed them??

 
They are unhappy about something, light could be possible.
I am no coral-expert at all but I guess you should move them up if you think it is the light.

The star polyp (Briareum or Pachyclavularia? Pachyclavularia makes tubes for the polyps, Briareum is more flat) has not been scientifically recorded as capturing food particles from the water column so it cannot be about feeding that one :) A hobbyists rumour is that it does better with nitrates than with zero nitrates.

The zoa I think you can target feed (just speaking from memory, I think they are actually a kind of colony dwelling tube anemones and have a central mouth you can offer seafood to!)

Zoas of the Palythoa types have very potent poison, so remember to treat it all like you are shaking hands with some monsters from space and you are not entirely sure that you trust them :)
 
My fixture is a current USA orbit marine.
I have it on coral acclimation setting which is 60% intensity I think.
Been like this for a week. Should I increase it to 100% ?
 
How old is the tank? If I had to guess I would say it's the wrong light Spectrum. Usually when a coral wants more light it will "reach". Yours are not doing that, they appear to be turning brown.
 
I'm no expert either, but here goes: Could be lighting, could be the water. I have the same corals (and others) and the same light fixture. My tank is shallow (12 inches deep), so keep that in mind. I run 100% blue and 60% white, and the corals are doing well. I have a monitpora that's grown huge in the time I've had it.

That said, I've read that the current orbit marine LED isn't the best on the market. I'll probably upgrade soon; don't know to which light, though.

If you ramp up lighting, go slow and not all at once.
 
Blue light is strong light. Raise that button polyp to the top level by stages (every few days.) The gsp looks happy enough: do NOT let it onto your main rocks: it can take over. Keep it on a moveable rock by itself.
 
All in all your tank looks a little raw, the lights might be a little on the underside, I'm sure they would all be happier with a little phosphate in the water, but you're Coral look fine. My first year in the hobby I had a hard time keeping color in a lot of Coral. The more you read and the more experience you get ,the better things will look.
 
I moved the button polyp and clove polyp a bit higher and increased the light intensity. We'll see how they react to it.
 
The tank is 2 months old. Maybe I should increase the white?

You need to slow down. Two months in and you haven't hit the "ugly" tank stage yet. Your tank will go through many changes between now and a year. Be patient and don't make any sudden changes. Focus on maintaining stable water parameters and keep a log to record any changes.
 
I use that same light on M1 - try that - my corals look ok as far as I can tell. I think that setting is more for acclimating corals.
 
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