Colt Coral Light Question

[sov82]

I have a 90 gallon w/ 3" Sand Bed.
My lighting is a 2X175 MH 6X65PC combo
I have 2 Powerheads and a Fluval 404 doing flow...its about 1100gph.
I added a colt coral about a week ago.
At night, he stands straight up when either no lights or 2 PCs are on. In the morning, when only 6 PCs are on, he opens up for feeding by spreading himself out.
During the day, I have all the lights on. He was originally located on the bottom left hand side of my tank in the sand. The MH lights are positioned more towards the center of the tank. When all the lights were on, he was flipping himself onto his side and pointing himself towards the light. So today, I moved him over almost directly under the MH lights. Yet, he is still flipping himself over and reaching more towards the middle.
Is he looking for more light? Or is he flipping himself onto his side because it puts him lower in the tank to avoid some of the light.
I am dosing the tank with Zooplankton, Calcium is 550, PH is 8.2, Salinity is 35ppt, 0 Ammonia...haven't tested for nitrates/nitrite in 5days but they were fine 5 days ago.
Attached are some pictures...

 

[sov82]

Here is a picture showing the location of the MH bulb in comparison to the Colt.

 

[cayman isl]

Hi sov82,
Colts don't need much light. I only have 5 - 40 watt NO bulbs on my 55 and have already had to frag my colt. (see "Fragging the Beast" thread).
Not sure why yours is leaning but I don't think it is trying to get MORE light. It may just be acclimating. Give it time and it will look like an oak tree before you know it!

 

[beth]

I agree, this guy does not need to be centered for direct hits by MHs. Save that spot for your hungry light-loving stony corals. Take this coral out of the sand however.
What is that coral attached to? I ended loosing my colt I believe because my clownfish hosted on him and he just didn't like it. What I have found, though, is that they need to have a strong stready base to attach to to, and expand on. This one looks like he is lacking that. Find a nice rock for him and he'll attach more. Then leave him alone.
I'd be interested in status report on this one, though.

 

[sov82]

Ok...he is attached to a small piece of rock. I actually tucked another piece behind him incase he wanted to grab that. Instead, Ill toss him up on some of the rock in the tank.
Thanks.
Matt

 

[chris17]

could I put a colt coral in my 10g with 60watts of PC??

 

[cayman isl]

Hi Chris, I wouldn't recommend it. Colts get very big, very fast! 60 watts may be enough light being that close to the coral, but it will take over the majority of your tank and there won't be room for anything else. I suggest you wait until you get your next tank for the colt. I put one that was only 7 to 8 inches across and 8 inches tall in my 55 gallon 6 months ago and it grew to 15 inches by 15 inches in that time frame. In fact, after fragging the thing, the 3 pieces are easily 8 inches wide by 8 inches tall already!
By the way, I'm a Chris also......

Matt, great idea, tuck him in between some rock and he will adhere to one of them. If you look at the "Frag the Beast" thread I noted that the plan was to cut 3 pieces off the main colt, but he had already attached to one of the rocks I was going to use for the third frag. So I left the main "trunk" alone.
Good Luck!!

 

[chris17]

Hi chris ,lol that sounds weird lol..........anyway ya I kind of figured I would prob. be fraging it alot due to how fast it would grow.........not a prob. for me........I appreciate your comments an concerns!!:joy: