choices choice choices

[JJ1234567]

Question today is about how many corals is too many, allowing for growth and all? How much space between them is enough?

Here is a list that i have been considering for my nano, anyone have suggestions as to which would be innapropriate or which would go well together?

Toadstool musthroom leather
Yellow fiji leather
devils hand leather
cauliflower colt
starburst polyp
Ricordea

suggestions?

 

[steelhealr]

There really isn't 'too much' in a sense when it comes to corals..but..then again there is.

Considerations:
1) positioning in the tank.....water flow, lighting, height
2) aggressiveness...corals have the ability to protect their space. Some excrete toxins (some leathers and zoanthids), some have sweeper tentacles and can sting and destroy neighboring corals (elegance corals , galaxea); some can encroach and overrun (xenia)
3) some require feeding and without undue care, you can increase the bioload of your tank and risk algae blooms

Adding corals is not a 'create a picture' thing....it needs careful planning. If not done already, I highly recommend that you buy Borneman's book on corals. These animals are not cheap and can hit you hard in the pocket if placed indiscriminately.

On the lighter side (I'm not THAT serious in real life), the corals you picked are in the softies/leathers group. All are photosynthetic but also benefit from feeding plankton. Fiji's and leathers can give off a toxin when cut. Cauliflower colt can sting neighboring corals with it's long sweeping tentacles...just a few facts. Here is a good pic of both my fiji leather and colt and zoos, mushrooms and caulastrea. You can see spacing.

Keep up the good work. SH

 

[JJ1234567]

gosh, your tank appears to have so much more room than mine. LOL. Then again I got 28 pounds of rock and i think you only did 20. Either way, I currently have a mushroom coral on the top of my seamount, and I think I can fit three more. I think Im doing the fiji leather, colt, and some polyp colony, dont know which.

Nother question, do shrimp eat shrimp? I noticed today that my pepermint shrimp will eat some of the smaller mysis shrimp pieces, should i attempt to suppliment him like that on a reg basis, or just every now and then when i have extra?

 

[steelhealr]

Shrimp DO eat shrimp and..in general....I don't think it will hurt the shrimp to get a shrimpy occasional shrimp (cough). Actually, I rotate my feedings and I'll give an occasional piece of flake to the shrimp as well, feeding him by hand. I'd keep it occasional tho' lest he waits for your feedings instead of cleaning your tank. These guys are smarter than you think.

Your observation is correct for the main tank .....I am a little light on the LR side (good pickup). I do have 3lbs of LR rubble in the rear chamber for a total of 23lbs. However, today I added 2 1/2 lbs of Solomon Islands LR today to build up my left side. Right on JJ. It looks weird since I've been used to looking at it one way for awhile and the new pieced has a lot of white coralline dieoff. SH

 

[Navarre]

Just thought i would mention that the Colt coral is a very aggressive coral and has a very powerful sting. Make sure no other coral comes into contact with it.

 

[steelhealr]

Navarre is right on...check out this pic of the Fiji...this is when I first got it and it was acclimating on the substrate next to the colt....see the brown areas on each side....the colt's tentacles touched there. SH

 

[JJ1234567]

how often should you feed photo plankton (in my case marine snow brand) to to the corals and feather duster?

 

[steelhealr]

Some people feed 2-3 times a week depending on the bioload. In your case, make sure you use much less than recommended since you'll be starting out with only a few corals. You may want to get some of those plastic pipettes and actually spot feed them . SH

 

[pleder]

Turkey baisters and syringes are also good for spot feeding.