Getting into coral

[Shilpan]

Ok so a little update on my 400L reef tank.
The macroalgae and purigrn have been working so well with feeding and water changes, that my nitrates are 5-10ppm now. All the GHA died by the way, it all turned brown and the snails and brittle sea stars are eating them up.

So I bought a test kit, dosing ingredients and a few corals. I've decided I'll add fish a bit more slower.

So I had one leather. I added one more and it was great!

Now yesterday I bought a large 10x20cm colony of GSP. The thing was infested with random stuff. So I first freshwater dipped it for 2 minutes and all these bristle worms scurried out. I then used Sea chem reef dip. Finally I broke it into smaller pieces to get out the last few tiny bristle worms I could find and then freshwater dipped it again to make sure nothing scurried out.

Finally I left it in a bucket with a heater and powerhead for a few more hours to observe it again to see if I could find more stuff, but couldn't find any other hitchhikers.

So I added it in to the tank now. Now I've researched and I've seen the mat is still purple after a day, and that means it's alive. Also I've read people dipping it in freshwater for up to 5minutes and it says fine. And I heard it can stay closed for a few weeks sometimes (which I'm expecting because I traumatized it I'm sure).

My question is do you guys reccomend keeping flow On it to remove crud settling on it? Or will that delay opening? I've read mixed reports.

 

[2quills]

Sounds like it's pretty crud free already lol.

Stick it in a moderate flow area for a few days and don't mess with it and it should open back up. That stuff is pretty resilient.

 

[lmforbis]

Mine is in a very high flow area of my tank. It seems to like it.

 

[Shilpan]

Ok thanks guys I'll go for moderate to high flow then.

Its interesting, with only 2 (+1 closed) soft corals in the tank, the calcium and alkalinity is being maintained by water changes alone. I feel like I wasted money on dosing chemicals, but maybe they'll come in handy later.

And hahaha yeah someone on another forum said he left his GSP overturned for 2 weeks while on vacation, and then he righted it, and it re-opened in 3 days and preceded to take over his tank. Hahaha...

 

[lmforbis]

I wouldn't expect you to need to add calcium or alk with only a couple soft corals. Water changes with a good salt should be more than enough until you have a lot more coral in your tank.

 

[Shilpan]

I see thank you!
I think I just got conned by the LFS,
"No no you need to dose for softie tanks too, if it's too low then they won't grow".

Appreciate all the help guys, I think you guys have saved me a lot of hassle, worries and money.

 

[lmforbis]

That doesn't mean you shouldn't test for them. Just never add anything to your tank with out first testing and knowing you need it. I have a lot more coral some SPS and some LPS and rarely have to dose. I still test weekly.

 

[Shilpan]

Oh yes I have the test kit

I just meant I bought 4L of reef fusion 1 and 2 cause it wasn't on special for half price hahahaha.

 

[Shilpan]

Hey another question,

I put the green star polyp pieces in 4 different spots in the tank. I plan to see which is best to get them opening and then move all the frags there and isolate the GSP tothat rock.

Now I understand that it's invasive as hell once it gets going and needs to be isolated. Is what I'm doing ok? Or do I need to have it isolated before it open so up so it can't spread?

 

[lmforbis]

I put a chunk in my tank last spring. I know it is invasive but I really like the way it looks. I put the frag on the bottom of the tank and it opened and seemed quite happy. It didn't get bigger but it never looked bad. It was near another rock, a centimeter or so away, and one day in August I noticed a purple mat on that rock near the star polyps. I kid you not over the course of about 3 weeks the little bit that spread to the other rock had grown to 2 times the size of the original colony. I guess what I am telling yo is make sure the rock they are on is isolated from the rest an any thing else it can grow on. Min is sitting on the bottom of my tank so it is in a lower light area but flow is high.

 

[florida joe]

Just my .02 Lugols dip for corals works great. But it’s expensive. Now for us cheap old school guys. Povidone-iodine that comes in 8 oz bottle for about $4. 00. Mix it in the amount of saltwater you are using for the dip until it’s the color of strong tea. 2 to 5 minutes rinse in fresh water and you are good to go

 

[2quills]

It will open and grow pretty much anywhere you put it. The only thing I've found that it doesn't like is getting blasted by too much constant linear (one way directional) flow. Like right in front of a power head. But that can be said about all corals.

 

[florida joe]

It will open and grow pretty much anywhere you put it. The only thing I've found that it doesn't like is getting blasted by too much constant linear (one way directional) flow. Like right in front of a power head. But that can be said about all corals.

Just off the top of my head white star polyps, Pulsing xenia and all Montipora like high flow areas.

 

[2quills]

Just off the top of my head white star polyps, Pulsing xenia and all Montipora like high flow areas.

IME, all corals like some flow but this probably all depends on what ones interpretation of flow rates are.

I've tried gsp, xenia and other polyps in what I'd call high flow areas and they'd typically stay closed up. I currently have a pipe organ and I keep it at the bottom out of direct flow.

But I also have the ability to push 75x turnover in the tank if I wanted but genrally stay between 20-30. So my definition of low flow is probably higher than most.

Anything that will cause them to sway gently back and forth from the flow is good for them. But not too low where detritus accumulates for any length of time.

 

[Shilpan]

Ok thanks for the tip so guys!

I'll keep them in one place from the start then. I have a nice isolated rock structure in my tank for it.
Day 3, still closed...the wait is on.