my coral wont open

[bill109]

i am seeing al these tanks go from nothing to beautiful and im tryin to get my tank like those!?
my lfs says it (tank) needs to be set up for atleast 3 months b4 you can add good corals. its been 2.5 months n ow and i have one coral but i can get it to open up whats wrong it is day 2 and no progress on it opening up.
it might be a polyp ill take some pics in a munute but let me get this post out on the board
btw im going to the lfs tomorrow so should i buy more lr then wait to put in more corals or buy rock AND corals ive got somemoney for a good amount of stuff

 

[ravechild]

What are your water parameters? Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph, Alk, Calcium, SG? Are you sure that your tank has completely cycled?

 

[bill109]

Originally Posted by RaveChild
What are your water parameters? Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph, Alk, Calcium, SG? Are you sure that your tank has completely cycled?
yeah lol i dont remember my perameters but i know that they were fine and i dont have a test kit for a reef tank all i am doing is soft corals. not hard one so so i still need a test kit for a reef tank?
also my tank has cycled it has been set up for 2.5 months almost 3 so its fine i have had fish in there live sucessful so the perameters are fine so is this normal and take a few days for it to open?

 

[spartanph]

Corals (even softies) need much better water quality to thrive then fish only tanks. You should get good test kits. Unless you post your parameters you can't expect to get good recommendations.
The parameters RaveChild asked about are a good starting point.

 

[puffer32]

Those are button polops. Heres a pic of what they look like open. They are on the bottom, left side.You really do need to get some test kits.

 

[bill109]

ok so i fugure 20 bucks for a reef test kit??
also how long did it take for youts to open i have
2
50/50 130 watt lights this sint the problem is it? i leve them on from 7 am-10pm
everyday i can see they are pregressing little by little but not much at all
BTW what does the test kit for corals test for?

 

[cymbal67]

my tank is only 16 days old and the few corals i have in there are open much wider in my tank then they were in the lfs. it shouldnt take 2 to 3 months before you can put stuff in there. unless it takes that long for the water quality to become good enough for you.

 

[puffer32]

A reef testing kit will have tests for things like ammonia, ph, trates, trites, KH and calcium. Test for all these things.
Yor button polops may take afew days to a week to open, or not at all if your water isn't great, thats why you need to do the tests, to make sure all is well in your water. Don't think your lighting has much to do with them not opening.

 

[bill109]

Originally Posted by puffer32
A reef testing kit will have tests for things like ammonia, ph, trates, trites, KH and calcium. Test for all these things.
Yor button polops may take afew days to a week to open, or not at all if your water isn't great, thats why you need to do the tests, to make sure all is well in your water. Don't think your lighting has much to do with them not opening.
thts good to hear to the reef testing kit will have everything i will n eed for my tank and other thinks like calcium and all that other EXtra SUFF that you need to know for reef tanks and corals?
and how much

 

[puffer32]

This site sells reef lab kits for around 35.00. Or you can buy each test singley, more expensive that way. i would start out with the kit, then replace what i use one at a time.

 

[cyclops]

Bill
Not to rag on you or anything, but before you spend any more money on livestock you should start buying things like a test kit, Refractometer, RO unit and anything else that will help you mantain your tank. If there is ever a problem with my fish or coral first thing I do is check my water levels then heating then lighting then skimmer. You really need to get out of the habit of counting on your LFS to do things for you, Just my opinion
good luck with the Coral

 

[hagfish]

I suggest buying salifert test kits for at least ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and PH. Also, get a decent thermometer and a refractometer. That should be enough for soft corals. A calcium and alkalinity kit couldn't hurt either. Especially if you get any stony corals.
Also, what kind of lights do you have (sounds like PC's)? And how big is your tank? Also describe your filtration (lbs of rock, sand bed or no, protein skimmers, sump, other). And finally, the one thing I would change based on the little info we have so far is your lighting schedule. 7 am to 10 pm is too long (or at least longer than necessary). I would go with no more than 12 hours. In my softy tank I have PC's on for about 10-11 hours and it's a very deep tank and that is plenty of time and light for most softies.

 

[bill109]

29 gal
30 lbs of ls
about 24-25 lbs of LR
protein skimmer
and i was looking for recomendations on a test kit so i knoew before i go to the lfs

 

[1journeyman]

Bill, things like test kits are often much cheaper on sites like this. Of course, if you are getting your LFS to test your water for free then you should probably buy your test kit there to support their efforts.

 

[tx reef]

Originally Posted by cymbal67
my tank is only 16 days old and the few corals i have in there are open much wider in my tank then they were in the lfs. it shouldnt take 2 to 3 months before you can put stuff in there. unless it takes that long for the water quality to become good enough for you.

First off....bill109

:hilarious
Second, I don't care who you are, your tank is not ready for coral after 16 days. When a tank is first set up it will go through many ups and downs before it stabilizes. There is a lot of biological growth and establishment going on in a new tank. In my opinion, most tanks should be set up for 6 months before adding coral; 3 months if you are dedicated and have researched and know what you are doing. A good coral to start out with is mushrooms.
I know it can be difficult to have patience and wait, but it is a must in this hobby.
Please don't post about how good your coral is doing in a 16 day old tank as if it were a success. It will only encourage others to do the same. Besides, I saw the picture of your brain coral in your thread and it doesn't look good.

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by TX Reef
First off....bill109

:hilarious
Second, I don't care who you are, your tank is not ready for coral after 16 days. When a tank is first set up it will go through many ups and downs before it stabilizes. There is a lot of biological growth and establishment going on in a new tank. In my opinion, most tanks should be set up for 6 months before adding coral; 3 months if you are dedicated and have researched and know what you are doing. A good coral to start out with is mushrooms.
I know it can be difficult to have patience and wait, but it is a must in this hobby.
Please don't post about how good your coral is doing in a 16 day old tank as if it were a success. It will only encourage others to do the same. Besides, I saw the picture of your brain coral in your thread and it doesn't look good.

 

[puffer32]

Originally Posted by TX Reef
First off....bill109

:hilarious
Second, I don't care who you are, your tank is not ready for coral after 16 days. When a tank is first set up it will go through many ups and downs before it stabilizes. There is a lot of biological growth and establishment going on in a new tank. In my opinion, most tanks should be set up for 6 months before adding coral; 3 months if you are dedicated and have researched and know what you are doing. A good coral to start out with is mushrooms.
I know it can be difficult to have patience and wait, but it is a must in this hobby.
Please don't post about how good your coral is doing in a 16 day old tank as if it were a success. It will only encourage others to do the same. Besides, I saw the picture of your brain coral in your thread and it doesn't look good.
I am so glad someone else said something, I was wanting to, but every time I post on one of Bills threads I get in trouble, so had to bite my tongue on this post

but you are sooooooo right

 

[cymbal67]

why am i reading when a brain does that, it is healthy? not sure if its right or not. i will be the first to admit it seems kinda strange that my tank has cycled unusually fast, and on other posts i have stated that i shouldnt be telling someone their's will do the same. i was very fortunate. i have tested my water for almost everything and levels are right on. 3 lfs said the same thing when i brought my water to them for testing after cycle completed (and it spiked hard). the coral specialist that set my tank up, said the way he did it, i would be able to put corals in within 3 days. i waited 12 to be sure. against everything i was hearing and reading. i have seen pics of tanks he has set up before and they were incredible. i will let you all know if i have been misled....but so far....its amazing, i put a coral in the tank that i have seen at the lfs for weeks....once in my tank...opens up way more than i have seen when i saw the same coral in lfs (even at different times of day). i have learned to not post on here my success this early, because it does seem unbelievable and i am getting flamed for it. but thats ok, i didnt believe this guy either. no more posts from me until time has gone by. i will go back to reading and learning.

 

[bill109]

Originally Posted by TX Reef
First off....bill109

:hilarious
Second, I don't care who you are, your tank is not ready for coral after 16 days. When a tank is first set up it will go through many ups and downs before it stabilizes. There is a lot of biological growth and establishment going on in a new tank. In my opinion, most tanks should be set up for 6 months before adding coral; 3 months if you are dedicated and have researched and know what you are doing. A good coral to start out with is mushrooms.
I know it can be difficult to have patience and wait, but it is a must in this hobby.
Please don't post about how good your coral is doing in a 16 day old tank as if it were a success. It will only encourage others to do the same. Besides, I saw the picture of your brain coral in your thread and it doesn't look good.

what? i dont have a brain coral and my tank HAS BEEN SET UP FOR 3 MONTHS!
the only coral i have are botton polyps... thata it nothin MORE
whats wrong here im not understanding

 

[bill109]

Originally Posted by puffer32
I am so glad someone else said something, I was wanting to, but every time I post on one of Bills threads I get in trouble, so had to bite my tongue on this post

but you are sooooooo right

whats all the banging heads thing?
now what did i do wrong that you dont like??
plz tell me i have researched and everything an dhere i am today still g etting bashed.. WHAT IS THIS?
i dont mean to flame ANYONE! but tell me what i did wrong cus this is gettin old quick