Non-conforming coral: Have you kept NPS corals?

[Naso180]

Non-conforming coral: Have you kept NPS corals?

Non-photosynthetic (NPS) corals don’t follow the same rules as many other corals and they do not require lighting for energy. Many NPS corals seem fuzzy and require regular feedings and attention. Have you kept NPS corals? Do you have tips or recommendations to share? Please tell us about your experience keeping NPS corals in the discussion thread.

Photo by @M&M

For more inspiration, please see this NPS tank by @Dragon Lee which was selected as a recent tank of the month:

I have been keeping NPS for a long time. I started with Fat Head Dendros in a dim location in a flat. I now have several species of NPS Gorgonia, a Chili Coral that really took off when I hung it upside down, various Tubastrea, a Dendro with a Peanut Worm, an unidentified red sea fan with yellow polyps, and the most recent addition of one purple and one orange Distichopora Violacea (Lace Coral).

I have a tank on order now to expand my collection. I enjoy my NPS and have automated their feeding to keep a nearly constant supply of food in the water column for them. I feed a wide range of particle sizes to meet the different dietary needs of each type of coral. I have never been able to keep NPS corals alive in my mixed SPS/LPS display tank over long periods of time because I can't feed that system as heavily as NPS requires and they really don't do well with any regular reef lighting. I plan to put the lights on the new tank a motion detector so they only turn on when I'm close to the tank and the lights will be of a type that doesn't support photosynthesis but shows non-fluorescing corals well.

I've only really been successful with NPS (other than Fat Head Dendro's) in a dedicated tank connected to a large sump that is shared by my grow-out flat. The extra food benefits the SPS and LPS in the grow-out and that system is large enough that total nutrient levels remain in check. Turnover with the sump is maybe 2x per hour so food remains available in the NPS system for longer.

My biggest challenge with keeping NPS is that other than the really common gorgs, dendros and Tubastrea, it's really hard to find them for sale anywhere. If anybody knows of a good source of for NPS Sea Fans, whips, corkscrew corals or NPS Anemones, please let me know. Shout out to Corals.com for having some NPS pretty regularly - its where I got the Distichopora Violacea. I also appreciate when sellers have a category for NPS corals so I don't have to pick through the whole selection to find them.

 

[CoralB]

Have excellent specimens of dendro’s. Started a couple years ago with two individual head frags and now each are around 8 and 12 heads . Their not that difficult to keep and very hardy

 

[mattdg]

Grube's Gargonian is as far as I have gotten. I appreciate how it get's along in a high energy / high light mixed reef with SPS, while adding movement to the display.

 

[fish face]

Don't do it! They require too much attention and most of us keep our tank water too clean (Skimmer) for them to survive long term. I have had gorgonians, flame clam, and suncoral... All had no chance, its one of those live and learn. After 12 years you learn... Sun coral is a beaut! but never again for me.

 

[kazeespada]

I kept Aiptasia in my sump
It thrived there without light for long time.

Aiptasia is an anemone not a coral though.

 

[heathermoor]

...erm....beginner here.....which corals are the non-photosynthetic ones, if thats not too big a question ot ask?

 

[vlangel]

I have tried them in the past with limited success but I just bought 2 NPS gorgs at a local frag swap last weekend. My current tank is a mixed reef but macroalgae/softie dominant and is fed pretty heavy and has no skimmer. I feed liquid foods, freeze dried and frozen every day and hoping that that will be enough for the 2 gorgs.

 

[twentyleagues]

...erm....beginner here.....which corals are the non-photosynthetic ones, if thats not too big a question ot ask?

Thats kind of a big question to ask here. They are kind of "rare" in the hobby, usually you have to go looking for one to get one. Quite a few are listed in this thread for reference.

 

[MinnieMouse2]

I think they would be great for the fact in a power outage you would just have to be concerned about flow and heat. Flow could come from an emergency aquarium air pump run off battery. Heat or cool if in summer would be an issue. No lights no problem.

 

[rhdoug]

I tried with several colonies of sun coral in my mixed reef with fair to limited success until 2020 when I moved them all up to the top left corner of the tank, right in front of the overflow intake. The light doesn't bother them, the flow takes particles right to them, and they are very easy to target feed since they are just under the surface. They have grown in nicely, doubling their size since I moved them.

 

[Alcoholik]

I have been keeping NPS for a long time. I started with Fat Head Dendros in a dim location in a flat. I now have several species of NPS Gorgonia, a Chili Coral that really took off when I hung it upside down, various Tubastrea, a Dendro with a Peanut Worm, an unidentified red sea fan with yellow polyps, and the most recent addition of one purple and one orange Distichopora Violacea (Lace Coral).

I have a tank on order now to expand my collection. I enjoy my NPS and have automated their feeding to keep a nearly constant supply of food in the water column for them. I feed a wide range of particle sizes to meet the different dietary needs of each type of coral. I have never been able to keep NPS corals alive in my mixed SPS/LPS display tank over long periods of time because I can't feed that system as heavily as NPS requires and they really don't do well with any regular reef lighting. I plan to put the lights on the new tank a motion detector so they only turn on when I'm close to the tank and the lights will be of a type that doesn't support photosynthesis but shows non-fluorescing corals well.

Odniosłem sukces tylko z NPS (innymi niż Fat Head Dendro's) w specjalnym zbiorniku podłączonym do dużej studzienki, która jest wspólna dla mojego mieszkania. Dodatkowa żywność jest korzystna dla SPS i LPS w fazie wzrostu, a system ten jest wystarczająco duży, aby całkowity poziom składników odżywczych pozostawał pod kontrolą. Obrót z sumpem to może 2x na godzinę, więc jedzenie dłużej pozostaje dostępne w systemie NPS.

Moim największym wyzwaniem związanym z utrzymaniem NPS jest to, że oprócz naprawdę powszechnych gorgów, dendros i tubastrea, naprawdę trudno jest znaleźć je gdziekolwiek na sprzedaż. Jeśli ktoś zna dobre źródło NPS Sea Fans, batów, koralowców lub anemonów NPS, proszę dać mi znać. Krzycz do Corals.com za regularne spożywanie NPS - to tam zdobyłem Distichopora Violacea. Doceniam również, gdy sprzedawcy mają kategorię dla koralowców NPS, więc nie muszę przeszukiwać całego asortymentu, aby je znaleźć.

I have been keeping NPS for a long time. I started with Fat Head Dendros in a dim location in a flat. I now have several species of NPS Gorgonia, a Chili Coral that really took off when I hung it upside down, various Tubastrea, a Dendro with a Peanut Worm, an unidentified red sea fan with yellow polyps, and the most recent addition of one purple and one orange Distichopora Violacea (Lace Coral).

I have a tank on order now to expand my collection. I enjoy my NPS and have automated their feeding to keep a nearly constant supply of food in the water column for them. I feed a wide range of particle sizes to meet the different dietary needs of each type of coral. I have never been able to keep NPS corals alive in my mixed SPS/LPS display tank over long periods of time because I can't feed that system as heavily as NPS requires and they really don't do well with any regular reef lighting. I plan to put the lights on the new tank a motion detector so they only turn on when I'm close to the tank and the lights will be of a type that doesn't support photosynthesis but shows non-fluorescing corals well.

I've only really been successful with NPS (other than Fat Head Dendro's) in a dedicated tank connected to a large sump that is shared by my grow-out flat. The extra food benefits the SPS and LPS in the grow-out and that system is large enough that total nutrient levels remain in check. Turnover with the sump is maybe 2x per hour so food remains available in the NPS system for longer.

My biggest challenge with keeping NPS is that other than the really common gorgs, dendros and Tubastrea, it's really hard to find them for sale anywhere. If anybody knows of a good source of for NPS Sea Fans, whips, corkscrew corals or NPS Anemones, please let me know. Shout out to Corals.com for having some NPS pretty regularly - its where I got the Distichopora Violacea. I also appreciate when sellers have a category for NPS corals so I don't have to pick through the whole selection to find them.

Currently, I keep two black and yellow tubastrea, no problem with them, just provide a constant supply of food in the form of phyto, and feeding with frozen food

 

[Freenow54]

i currently keep NPS corals and plan to keep more when my tiny manilensis puffer outgrows his nano, it will become a dedicated NPS tank, at the moment they live in the reefer 250 and are doing well.

Interested in what the red stuff is in the photo since I have some which is new, and not fond of it. It worries me as to my aquarium health

 

[Rp8]

I’ve got this guy, had him for months grows about .25” per month

 

[ReeferHD]

Interested in what the red stuff is in the photo since I have some which is new, and not fond of it. It worries me as to my aquarium health

just some cyanobacteria, it lives in all tanks and only shows its ugly side when parameters are out of wack.
(assuming you are referring to the stuff under the sand)

 

[PotatoPig]

Question for folks with these:

I’m newish to this and currently running a FOWLR and had mostly written off corals as I’m not getting lights for the tank (for various reasons).

My tank has room light only, which the fish seem happy enough with, and due to room-light only (except for a grow light in the sump) there’s little/no algae in the DT.

How hard would it be to convert this to a Fish+NPS tank? What sort of changes should I expect in maintenance?

75 gallon DT + 20 gallon sump. Filtration is currently just filter socks + rock due to low demands of the DT.

 

[Trevor Paden]

i currently keep NPS corals and plan to keep more when my tiny manilensis puffer outgrows his nano, it will become a dedicated NPS tank, at the moment they live in the reefer 250 and are doing well.

What is your success/care with the carnation?

 

[ReeferHD]

What is your success/care with the carnation?

ive had it for about 5 months and its been doing well with occasional feedings of reef roids, phyto and oyster feast. i also don't rinse my fish food so that helps too, haven't seen much growth but it also hasn't gotten any smaller so i can't complain.

Edit: it's also a Scleronepthya which are apperently easier to care for than Dendronepthya (carnation)

 

[Trevor Paden]

ive had it for about 5 months and its been doing well with occasional feedings of reef roids, phyto and oyster feast. i also don't rinse my fish food so that helps too, haven't seen much growth but it also hasn't gotten any smaller so i can't complain.

Edit: it's also a Scleronepthya which are apperently easier to care for than Dendronepthya (carnation)

Mine is not a carnation as I thought it was. It is a Christmas tree coral! Thank God it's easier.

 

[scottbapilot]

Most of them look like Apstasia to me.