Carnation tree coral

rjcranor · Jan 17, 2013

DI picked up this coral and was advised to keep it in low light, so I placed it in a shaded area in my tank. So far it's not doing well, I looked it up and see it's supposed to be fed phytoplankton daily and recommend medium to high flow. Is there any other suggestions, or what is best way to feed it?

peterthegamer · Jan 17, 2013

I would say expose it too some light. I would say medium lighting. They do like flow and remeber to feed your corals.

rjcranor · Jan 17, 2013

I did move it out a few days ago so it's getting light, hasn't improved. It had 2 separate sections on a rock the small section appears to be dying off. The top piece had turned brown and has come off!

rjcranor · Jan 17, 2013

This is what it looked like shortly after I got it!

rajkovich207 · Jan 17, 2013

sadly these corals are extremely hard to keep alive in our closed systems, in nearly two years of reading build threads, I came across one tank on another forum that was able to keep these, and he did so by pumping fresh salt water into his tank several times a day. and when I say fresh salt water I mean right out of the ocean.

ritter6788 · Jan 17, 2013

rajkovich207 said:
sadly these corals are extremely hard to keep alive in our closed systems.

+1. Extremely tough to keep in aquariums. My guess is that they need pristine water with nearly constant phytoplankton feeding which is nearly possible in a tank. Absolutely beautiful corals though.

rjcranor · Jan 18, 2013

Thanks for the information, well at least I'll still have a nice rock to place corals on!

rajkovich207 · Jan 18, 2013

If its not gone yet don't give up! I would do a nice water change and feed phyto a few times a day and watch your water quality. You'd be supprised what corals can come back from. And if it doesn't melt build your own phyto reactor. Super cheap and even easier to do!

rjcranor · Jan 18, 2013

I just did a water change, and have been using a 2 liter bottle with the bottom cut out to be a dome over it and putting the phytoplankton in it!

rjcranor · Jan 18, 2013

About the phytoplankton reactor, does it require a sump? I don't have one I have a fluval canister and a reef octopus Skimmer . I have sicce voyager 3 power heads for circulation!

peterthegamer · Jan 18, 2013

How is it looking? Make sure to dip the coral too! If you could send it back to the store and ask them to hold it for a few days until you system is sorted.

rajkovich207 · Jan 18, 2013

No no a bottle light (for food) and a culture source. Melevsreef.com even talks about using miracle grow. That makes me nervous though lol

rjcranor · Jan 18, 2013

My system? My parameters are fine, although my nitrates is up not sure if it's from dosing it with plankton

rjcranor · Jan 18, 2013

I use the bottle to shield it from the flow, then use a dropper to insert phytoplankton.

returnofsid · Jan 20, 2013

Use a 1 or 2 liter bottle, cut the bottom off and remove the lid. Place the bottle over the coral and then squirt your phytoplankton into the bottle, quickly putting the lid back on the bottle. The phyto will remain trapped in the bottle, with the Carnation Coral, allowing the coral to eat.

Moving it into more light will do no good at all. These corals are non-photosynthetic. It does need high flow though.

Unfortunately, these are very difficult corals to keep and should be left in the ocean.

slapshot · Jan 20, 2013

It is a Scleronypthya, pretty sure, it's hard to tell when it is closed up and with this picture. The most difficult to keep in my experience. It requires almost constant feeding, it will eat other things besides photo. I had one I kept for 7 months feeding it cyclopeeze every hour. It does require a lot of flow to open up. You can blast it and it will be happy. If it is not opening up then you don't have enough flow or it is already starved. They are beautiful when they open up!!

rjcranor · Jan 21, 2013

That's what I'm doing with the bottle as I mentioned earlier, I have a 2 liter I'm using. If I put more flow on it it will start blowing out my sand. I had it placed in a cove like area but then it doesn't get as much flow!

slapshot · Jan 21, 2013

rjcranor said:
That's what I'm doing with the bottle as I mentioned earlier, I have a 2 liter I'm using. If I put more flow on it it will start blowing out my sand. I had it placed in a cove like area but then it doesn't get as much flow!

Well, that is an issue that needs attention. I'm just telling you it needs a lot of flow. Watch your water quality until your tank adjusts to that much feeding. A bump in the nitrates or phosphates and the Coral will die. Ohhh the challenge of those crazy beautiful Azoox corals. I went hard core for two years. I installed a auto feeding system that fed the tank every hour from a fridge. Got busy at work so moved my tank to the decidedly easier SPS. Most people laugh when I say that but it is true. Azoox corals are not easy but there is nothing like a tank full of them.

rjcranor · Jan 21, 2013

The lfs didn't mention it was a hard coral to keep otherwise I would not have gotten it, I tested my water 2 days ago and nitrates were at 10. First time I've had that,. I have sicce voyager power heads and have them dialed down to keep from blowing my sand around. Right now it's in a decent current, you can see it moving around a bit!