Coral help?

[SammyDee]

Hello everyone. So today I went to the lfs and gave up one of my gsp to the marine section at my lfs. I was able to have the water tested from the water he was transferred in and all seemed good to the manager there. I have two gsp now with two damsels and i bought a maroon clown today. I also got two asteria snails and a Mex turbo. And 12 baby hermet crabs 12 for 12$. I brought my stock lighting system to the store and the manager said I could get zoas and a mushroom polyp( I think that's what he called it. The ones that get real big and are flat. Its purple. So I got two small rocks with a few zoas and the one mushroom. The zoas on one rock are out but the others aren't. Everything was drip acclimated. In fact my water conditions were way better than the lfs. My ? Is are the closed zoas just gettin used to tank? Also I added a koralia 2 powerhead and it's okay I think. It not blowing directly on the zoas or the shroom. Any Ideas? All 3 are in direct light. A lil less bright then the store but the manager/owner said they a real low light and would be bust fine. I kno not with puffs. I'm chancing it but if the get eaten I won't add anymore. Also I added 5ml of purple up aswell after doing my wc. Wp are perfect too. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[jdak]

Only thing i could say is they aren't dead until you see skin deterioration. They could make a comeback in days, weeks, or even months. I had a leather that was down for over a month until it healed. What kind of lights do you have?

[Pufferpunk]

Some take time, some are open in the bag. Read my vitamin C post.

[SammyDee]

K I read it might take a few days. The light I have isn't anything special. The mushroom and zoas are in the light. But I read the mushroom likes shade and low water movement. So it down at the bottom on some base rock. It still gets a good amount of light. I tried to move it but it seems to have attached itself. And I don't wanna stress it out more. The zoas are coming out and going back in individualy every so often. I hope the take hold. I couldn't find much about current for zoas thou. I have read the vit c article. I'll read it again now. Thx. I did add puple up too.

[Pufferpunk]

What light do you have? You're going to need at least power compacts, for keeping anything. Regular fluorescents ain't gonna cut it.

[SammyDee]

Really bc 3 guys at the store said the need hardly any light. I brought my light in to show them. It bright like a marine light but it's not. It's a standard stock light, It has a slight blue tint to it but don't make the tank blue. Just bright. Hypothetically wouldn't they come out for light even if it was less than before in the lfs. I mean open up more to strive to get more light out of a lesser powerful bulb. What's this I hear about photo acclimation too?

[SammyDee]

Everything is opened about 65-75% it's full potential ATM. One off the rocks with zoa has all of them open about 75% and the other rock with zoas has about half of them open. They're like taking turns it seems like. The purple mushroom it open but nut completly flat like it should be. The outside of it is slightly rinkled but I'm hoping it's just a hermit crab who's crawlin by scared it a bit. I will buy a new light in a week for sure. I just wanna get em thru this week. Ahole at the store. I'm gonna boycott them

[jdak]

I'm not saying you don't have enough light but many lfs will tell you anything to make a sale unfortunately. The lights that come with tanks aren't usually enouth tho. I now shop at a SW only shop. All my other shops in town that sell fish are puppy mill associated and they misfeed their puffers because they only feed what they sell and they ain't selling much. I boycott many...

[SammyDee]

Could I temporarly put a better bulb in this housing. Otherwise I'll just but a whole deal thing with timer and all that stuff. Unless anyone has anything for sAle lemme kno. I need a 36" light or something that'll fit under my canopy or on it.

[~reefchik~]

Zoanthids can be finicky to open up when you change their environment. I ordered several small colonies of high-end zoas and they took a month to open

As to how much light they need, it all depends on where they were collected, or what they have been raised under if captive-bred. There are many zoanthids that come from deeper water and don't need or want a lot of light. And then again some need T-5s at the minimum to thrive.

[SammyDee]

Thx reefchik. I'm gonna go look on CL now for a light if none then I guess I'm stuck buyin new. The lights they were under were big boxes with reflectors and a screw in short but cylidical bulb. Are there any benefits to these over a long skinny marine light. Is a DIY possible bc I have a canopy and with the stock type lights it's snug so I guess I have 4" of clearance by 36" long. Do marine lights come that low? Alot I've seen are much higher or hanging on pully systems to raise or lower PC lights. Do they get hot. My canopy is garbage compressed fiber board I wanna rebuild it next year or just not ATM.

[Mek0ng]

I have seen a tank look good under 4x40watt NO florescent, but it was only 12" deep and only had shrooms and a few polyps, all very brown from the low light... I have a 4x65watt ballasts and sockets (one needs replacing), its from a coralife fixture that I dismantled, Ill sell for $20+ship, not pretty but in a canopy its great.

I always dip zoos, they can be pest balls. One true blue frag I got ended up being covered in zooanthid eating nudis, wiped out my whole tank from zoos. I had a rock the size of a thanksgiving turkey covered in orange and powder blue zoos, in one week it was bare. Always dip corals!

[Mek0ng]

Thx reefchik. I'm gonna go look on CL now for a light if none then I guess I'm stuck buyin new. The lights they were under were big boxes with reflectors and a screw in short but cylidical bulb. Are there any benefits to these over a long skinny marine light. Is a DIY possible bc I have a canopy and with the stock type lights it's snug so I guess I have 4" of clearance by 36" long. Do marine lights come that low? Alot I've seen are much higher or hanging on pully systems to raise or lower PC lights. Do they get hot. My canopy is garbage compressed fiber board I wanna rebuild it next year or just not ATM.

If you are seriously considering corals, really dont get PCs! If you feel that this is really going to be a hobby of yours its a waste of $$$. In a 36" long tank I would get a 150 or 250watt single ended MH. Building a large canopy is easy and computer fans can cool it. For $200 you can get a 150/175 or 250 watt MH, and you never need to upgrade, just build a simple canopy and you are golden. T5s for that tank are going to easily run way past $300.

As for dosing, I highly recommend this CHEAP process: Get a 1-5galloon container that you can is above or on top of your tank. Fill it with kalkwasser and get some airline tube with a needle valve. After mixing the kalk and letting it settle for a hour or so, start the siphon and adjust the needle so only a drop or so per second comes out. This is a super cheap and effective auto top off and calc/alk addition. If you are interested in this set up I can guide you through. I just want to help beginners not make the same mistakes I did! You still need to check calc/alk/mag levels as with any setup but this is a easy effective cheap start.

[SammyDee]

It's definetly my new hobbie. I have everything I need I think.except for a light. I about to buy an RO/DI unit off a guy at work. 50gpd. Perfect for a 55. Nice thing is to the chambers are clear so I'll see what needs changing. Really nice. Almost as if you'd have it on display lol. Ne ways that's another thread. I am running an overflow and an in sump skimmer. One powerhead that I think may be too powerful. It's off now. So the light you have I could mount them to my canopy and buy 36" inch bulbs?

[SammyDee]

I kinda don't want a bottle above my tank. The tank is in my living room so I want it as clean looking as possible.