First time corals?

[Sophie"s mom]

Hey to everyone, so I just put my first ever corals in my tank. I had a Fowlr tank about 17 years ago. Just set up a new 90 g in September. I just added my first ever corals yesterday. So I have a few questions , first the types. 4 different Zoa’s, a red disco mushroom, and a purple gorgonian. Okay, questions, how long should I wait to try and feed them? What is the best thing TO feed them? And of course, how often? I did my research on location for each in the tank. I really res the thoughts on here, so I know there are, of course different schools of thought on this subject, but I wanted to get a feel from people with experience. Thanks to all in advance.

 

[Macbalacano]

Congrats on your first corals! Super exciting!

Is your Gorgonian photosynthetic? If yes, you won’t really need to feed it.

Personally I wouldn’t feed any of them. I am of the opinion that you can do more harm than good feeding those corals. You can feed them lightly, but I don’t think there would be much benefit and all that at an extra cost too.

I have quite a few Zoas and mushrooms currently and that I’ve also kept in the past. In the past, I tried to feed and I just ended up having way too many nutrients in the tank leading to all sorts of issues.

Now I don’t feed and my corals are still growing like weeds. You can see the latest in my tank thread as well.

Just my 2 cents, happy reefing!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Just feed your fish. All those corals need is light and poop
*assuming the gorg is photosynthetic

 

[DanyL]

Definitely make sure your Gorgonian is photosynthetic, otherwise - you'll need to feed it quite a lot with appropriately sized food.

Do note that managing water quality while keeping non photosynthetic corals can be a challenge.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey to everyone, so I just put my first ever corals in my tank. I had a Fowlr tank about 17 years ago. Just set up a new 90 g in September. I just added my first ever corals yesterday. So I have a few questions , first the types. 4 different Zoa’s, a red disco mushroom, and a purple gorgonian. Okay, questions, how long should I wait to try and feed them? What is the best thing TO feed them? And of course, how often? I did my research on location for each in the tank. I really res the thoughts on here, so I know there are, of course different schools of thought on this subject, but I wanted to get a feel from people with experience. Thanks to all in advance.

Give them 24 hours and gorgonian , occasionally add phytoplankton and assure it gets good light and flow which the other coral may or may not agree with

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

You don't need to feed them except got the occasional broadcast feeding of phyto

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Definitely make sure your Gorgonian is photosynthetic, otherwise - you'll need to feed it quite a lot with appropriately sized food.

Do note that managing water quality while keeping non photosynthetic corals can be a challenge.

Thank you! How do I know if it is photosynthetic?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Give them 24 hours and gorgonian , occasionally add phytoplankton and assure it gets good light and flow which the other coral may or may not agree with

Thank you

 

[Sophie"s mom]

You don't need to feed them except got the occasional broadcast feeding of phyto

Thank you

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Give them 24 hours and gorgonian , occasionally add phytoplankton and assure it gets good light and flow which the other coral may or may not agree with

Thank you very much. I do have one question, one of the zoa's I got is a spitfire, and so far it is the only one that has not really opened. Any thoughts on that. It is also a single polyp, where all the other zoa's are multiple polyps.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you very much. I do have one question, one of the zoa's I got is a spitfire, and so far it is the only one that has not really opened. Any thoughts on that. It is also a single polyp, where all the other zoa's are multiple polyps.

They take time to adjust
Assure moderate light and water flow

 

[DanyL]

Thank you! How do I know if it is photosynthetic?

I only owned a non-photosynthetic gorgonian once, 16 years ago when similarly to you - I didn’t know it was NPS.
It was a purple gorgonian as well, and unfortunately I didn’t know how to care for it back in the day and it died.

I know there is a blue varient that is photosynthetic, but generally most colorful ones are usually NPS.
But perhaps someone more knowledgeable in gorgonians can identify it for you if you upload an image.

Also worth asking the LFS you got it from - they usually get these details from their suppliers.

As for feeding - you should read about it and implement. Some here said to feed once in awhile, but from what I know it should be multiple times a day.