Turbinaria Reniformis, beh.    4/20/08
Let me start by saying thank you for the wonderful website.... Brilliant.
I have one question about a frag I bought for my LPS/SPS reef tank. It is a Turbinaria Reniformis (orange with yellow polyps). I have done some research on this species and I am a little confused about the polyp extension on this coral. Mine has its polyps out all the time, throughout day and night. From what I understand this is abnormal, should only be out during the night. could it be "hungry", I feed live phyto, red Colonus Plankton, and Cyclops for corals) Is this anything to worry about?
<Mmm, no... not to worry. This and most all overtly zooplanktonic/feeding corals do go "acyclic" for a while, eventually adapting to "captive conditions"... not to worry re this Dendrophylliid>
All parameters are good:
Tank is 18 months old
Salinity: 1.024
Temp: 80
Calcium: 400
Alkalinity: 10 DKH
PH: 8.13-8.45 day/night (no fuge but try to keep stable with dripping Kalk at night)
Mag: 1290
Strontium: 14mg/L
Nitrate: 3 PPM
Phosphate: undetectable (no algae problem and feed sparingly)
I would say it grows about 1/4 of an inch in a months time, and has never shown any signs of it being unhealthy. (although when I got it I had to siphon off about 8 of those lovely, tiny, purple/pink Nudibranchs) Must all be gone... have not seen any in a couple months.
Okay maybe 2 questions. I have also read that they do not need "that much light" as far as LPS?/SPS corals go. My tank has two lamps and is a standard 75gal. aquarium. 1 PC=260W (130W-10K and 130W-420nm actinic) 1 T5HO 216W (108W-10K and 108W-14K) for a grand total of 476W.
A. Does this sound like a good lighting combo for a mixed reef. (no softies except for some green Mushrooms and 13 orange Rhodactis Mushrooms. All placed at the bottom) Everything else is light loving.
<Is fine>
B. The Turbinaria is about 10 inches from the surface. Should it be moved lower in the tank?
<I would leave this colony where it is... Is evidently doing well, judging from the growth rate...>
And sorry but I just keep thinking of more questions. As I stated, my tank is mostly SPS/LPS with the exception of a very large LTA. (I know, I know.... no anemones in reef tanks right.
<Mmm, can be done... with care>
It does not move and has pretty much 1/3 of the tank dedicated to it, so nothing gets stung.) I also have a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp and the usual hermits, snails, and other clean-up crew and a Sand-sifting star that has been alive and well for over a year, I have a 6inch DSB. I do not dose any Iodine/Iodide, but do a 10 gallon water change with Red Sea Coral Pro salt and RO water every week. (By the way, have you guys at WWM heard anything about this salt yet.
<Just bits and pieces. Appears to be a fine product>
I have used your search bar and so far I have not found any opinions on it because it is so new, but I have gone through a whole 65lbs. bucket and I don't want to switch so I am just looking for somebody to tell me it is okay to keep using it. I am far from an expert, but I just
have to say I love it. All parameters check out when I tested the freshly mixed water after a 24 hour cycle period. Also all corals look absolutely beautiful right after a water change.)
Should this be enough to keep Iodine at a respectable level?
<Likely so. If, when in doubt, some mix of Iodine/ide/ate can be added w/ exceedingly little chance of trouble>
Should I invest in a test kit for this and look into Lugol's Iodine?
<If you'd like>
My shrimp molts every couple of weeks, so that is a good sign...right?
<Yes...>
Thank you for your help, and props to Anthony Calfo and Bob for the wonderful Book of Coral Propagation.
<Ahh, this work is Antoine's alone... and the second ed. especially re-done very well. Cheers, Bob Fenner>
 

Need help pagoda coral    8/7/06
I recently bought a pagoda coral and placed it in my 20 reef.
<Small....>
Its been 2 days
<Often takes several days for cnidarians to acclimate...>
and hasn't fully open only halfway open its pretty high in the tank with lots of water flow my lighting is on this tank is 2 55 watt pc at
the pet store they are using metal halides and coral was placed on top checked my parameters and they are all good I don't know what I should do any help would be appreciated thanks
<Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/dendrophylliidae.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Pagoda Help
I've had a pagoda for about 2 weeks and I just saw the strangest thing yet. A brownish stringy slime was discharged from every polyp (which have not been opening very much). This stringy slime was floating around the tank and I netted a lot of it out, but what is it?
Is it a poison, signs of the pagoda dying or doing poor, or just its natural waste cycle.
Thanks, Michael
<Likely a natural "exudate", reaction product to something (likely living) in the same system... It is a good idea to try and remove this material as you state... I would also check what you can water quality wise, refresh your activated carbon, and be prepared to execute a larger water change with pre-made water should other livestock show signs of distress. Bob Fenner>

Tubastrea (sun polyps) losing color - 2/17/05
Hello Crew! <Hey Elmer>
I must say that I'm an avid reader of your web site, learning  a lot of things. <Great! Me too, actually> Thanks for that. <Thanks for coming here and being part of it all. It is why we do what we do> I have a beautiful sun/tube coral (Tubastrea aurea) which is in my aquarium for about 3 months now. <Fed well I hope?> I noticed that it started to lose its orange color at the base of its tubes. <Fading or actually turning colors?> It started as one spot three weeks ago that is gradually enlarging through time. <Hmmmm>  Now, most of the bases and in between the tubes are grayish in color. <How is the flow around this coral??>  Is this a sign of a dying coral? <Very possible. How do you feed this coral? This is a non-photosynthetic coral so it will need feeding somewhat frequently. At least every three to five days>  It is sitting at the bottom of my aquarium, not in a shaded area. <Not necessarily an issue but I have usually spotted these corals growing caves and overhangs usually upside down>  My water parameters are very good. <OK Be sure to check it and maybe even have someone check if possible. Maybe a local fish store?>  I have a 50g aquarium (5 months old), 192w fluorescent lighting, Arctica chiller maintained at 77F, 60lbs live rock, CPR Cyclone CY 194 sump/skimmer/filtration system with carbon, RowaPhos, and BioBale inside. <You can take out the BioBale if you would like, otherwise sounds very nice> I have a flame angel, yellow tang, 2 damsels, a Banggai cardinal, 2 soft corals, 2 LPS corals, a starfish, and 2 cleaner shrimps. <Good selection. Keep an eye on the damsels. Destructo twins for sure>
This tube coral is my first coral. It is beautiful and I earnestly don't want to lose it. <Again, be aware they like a medium flow and need to be fed regularly as stated above. Try a mixture of various Mysid, Cyclops-eeze, baby brine, Omega one etc and try target feeding if you don't already. Very likely they do get some food left over from the fish feedings but better to target. Again, to reiterate, this is not a coral that requires lighting.> It still continues to expose its yellow tentacles at night time. <A good time to feed it> Please advise. <I can't say for sure that this coral is dying, but I think increase the flow, maybe hang it in an overhang or cave, and target feed when tentacle are exposed will get the coral back on track.> Many thanks for your help. <Hopefully I have helped. Remains to be seen. Thanks for being part of it all. ~Paul>
Regards,
Elmer