New Corals

[yellow ace]

I have a 46-gallon tank with no special lighting...I am interested in zoos and mushrooms, do either of these require better lighting? If so, what kinds?

 

[teresaq]

you would need at least power compact to keep them healthy.

 

[yellow ace]

ok, how many watts would you recommend?

 

[viper_930]

If you're only going to keep zoos and mushrooms, 2x65 watts would be more than enough. Other corals would need more lighting though.

 

[treybomb]

i have been told that you can get fetaher dusters, sun coral , and chili coral w/o any special lighting
but im ns

 

[viper_930]

That is 100% correct, none of those are photosynthetic and do not require light. Also dendrophyllias (similar to sun corals but around $40 per polyp) and some gorgonians . But they do need to be fed!
Sun corals and dendrophyllias need to be hand fed to each polyp once every 1-3 days.
I'm not totally sure, but i believe chili corals and the non-photosynthetic gorgs need zooplankton or phytoplankton like every day or every other day.
There's also the rhizophyllia that isn't photosynthetic, but they're around $400+ per polyp and extremely rare. I wouldn't be able to find one if my life depended on it!

 

[viper_930]

Here's some pics of dendrophyllias. In the first pic, the dendophyllias are on the left side and the regular tubastrea sun corals are on the right. Notice the size difference of the polyps. And the dendros stay open like that 24/7!
First pic belongs to Daniel Lee, second pic is from a great guy named Anthony.

 

[viper_930]

Just for fun, here's pics of what I called rhizophyllias. The pics I got from Anthony also, but he said he doesn't own the corals. He called them Rhizotrochus typus. I think polyp size is up to 2.5".

 

[viper_930]

:happyfish

 

[yellow ace]

Wow! I love 'em!! :cheer: And they don't require ANY special lighting? :thinking: Of course they have to be fed. Do the normal sun Coral have the same requirements? How much do ordinary sun coral cost per polyp? (aprox.)

 

[sweetdawn]

man those are pretty

 

[viper_930]

Nope, no lighting needed at all. I believe sun corals do not require as much feeding because they're smaller, but the colonies are almost always bigger and don't open during the day. About 20 orange sun coral polyps would usually cost around $30-40. The black morph would cost a bit more.
A few days ago I found a single tiny dendrophyllia as a hitch-hiker on a carnation coral at the LFS I work at. It's only 1/4" right now, but with feeding it'll grow up.

 

[debbraey]

Originally Posted by ViPeR_930
A few days ago I found a single tiny dendrophyllia as a hitch-hiker on a carnation coral at the LFS I work at. It's only 1/4" right now, but with feeding it'll grow up.

Would you consider trading for it????????? or pay???

 

[escape2thewater]

Awesome pics viper, thanks for sharing!
Escape
:happyfish

 

[viper_930]

Originally Posted by Debbraey
Would you consider trading for it????????? or pay???
Nope. Don't worry though, you might find some at your LFS soon. Seems to me like most of the dendros were brought to the east rather than the west coast.

 

[mich]

I have a Rhizotrochus typus and it is very fun to watch eat. I was able to get one from
fraggle reef It was $221 via a ---- auction and it is about 1 1/2 inch -2 inches long and I believe it is called a tiger tail type I have had it for about 8 months