Pink & Orange Flower Tree Corals

[Happy Reefer]

Hi,

Recently, I bought an orange and a pink flower tree corals.

Did read up more info on LiveAquaria.

Would like to hear from those who keep such corals on how to keep these corals healthy.

Initially, the pink coral was expanding and standing upright, now still do but not so much. I placed the pink coral at the sand bed.

Mine is a 2-ft tank with 3 T4 lights, 2 blue and 1 white light. Is the lighting sufficient?

Is phytoplankton on alternate days good enough to keep them healthy?

I'm using fan, no chiller.

Thanks. Hope to hear from you all.

[kueytoc]

Any pics to show ?

[Happy Reefer]

Sorry, no digital camera yet, so no pix.

Anyone would like to share on caring for such corals?

Thanks.

[YzF]

What's a Flower tree??

[Happy Reefer]

Pls click on the link below:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Di....cfm?pCatId=644

[ambystoma82]

cauliflower arh?

thought gt new coral...

[iantoh]

hi there happy reefer,

pls do check out this article on soft corals of the nephthya family.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nephtheids.htm

without seeing a pic, i'm guessing your pink coloured coral is of the dendronepthya species. either that, or scleronepthya. you can find more info online by searching for these names on yahoo. etc.

in short, they'll need constant in-tank availability of phytoplankton for food as theyre filter feedings feeding on particles smaller than 50 micro metres. live phyto (DTs or any other similar live phyto culture will do. actually, a pure strain of phyto would be best as these tend to reproduce better so you can try looking out for bottles of nannochloropsis sp. of phyto commonly sold in lfs and add abit to your tank at the start of each days lighting cycle so that some of this phyto will go on to photosynthesis, help remove nitrates, phosphates, etc and also increase in number and provide food for a longer period.) its also nearly imposssible to pollute the tank with live phyto the way one might with dead frozen phyto.

the dendro will need moderate flow crossing it, to encourage polyp extension and also to carry food pass the coral. keeping a moderate flow throughout the lower areas of the tank will also keep phyto within the water column and floating along, preventing it from settling and decaying. you can also try lightly stirring the topmost layer of your sandbed as this kicks bacteria and other organic materials up into the water column for the coral to feed on.

hope my few cents worth helps you ya. i keep some pink dendros in my tank too and am glad to hear of a fellow bro who enjoys having them in their tank.

cheers,

ian

[Happy Reefer]

Ian, thanks very much for your very detailed reply. Very much appreciated.

Any idea which LFS in the West region sells the nannochloropsis sp. of phyto?

Thanks again.

[Happy Reefer]

By the way, I also hoping to find blue, yellow or red dendros.

Have you seen such colours before?

Thanks.

[iantoh]

hi there happy reefer, coral farm brings in hundreds of dendros all the time. every time ive been there ive seen some form of dendros available, and they're all below $8, even for relatively large specimens. i'd suggest you try keeping your present specimen for several months before purchasing some more though as dendros are one of the most- difficult-to-sustain corals as they usually die from slow starvation within captive tanks. i mean, oceanic reef waters are abundant with phyto whereas our tanks are not so thats the primary issue. overfeeding of phyto can lead to resultant high phosphates and nitrates too with the ensuing decay of uneaten phyto.

try using phosguard to remove silicates and phosphates, carbon for organics, and employ good skimming. try to shut off the skimmer for several hours each day whilst feeding phyto though as the skimmer will skim most of it all out.

as for lfs selling nannochloropsis sp, try any marine lfs and they ought to do. read their phyto bottle's packaging. it'll reveal the species strain of the phyto. theres something called I-Phyto or something like that, that comes packaged looking similar to sugar cane juice that most shops carry even at clementi. try Henry's (marinelife at west coast), the pasir ris farms, aquamarine, etc.

cheers, hope that helps,

ian

[Happy Reefer]

Ian, thanks again for replying to my post.

Pardon my ignorance, is Phosguard some kind of chemical liquid which you add to the tank or some kind of solid which the filtrate goes through?

Yes, I agree, constant feeding with phyto can cause resultant increase in algae...by the way for phyto to reproduce in tank (if they indeed do), do you suggest switching of UV altogether? What is your practice?

By the way, is that fish under your name on the right hand side, a Black-capped Basslet? Looks very cute, but I guess mut be a pretty aggressive fish.

Rgds.

[koniyakutz]

Phosguard is an al based media made by Seachem and its purpose is to absorb PO4. PO4 media is usually placed in a FR or canister filter, it can be placed in the sump but it won't be as effective.

I did some research oh PO4 media before and according to the gurus @ RC, al based media will leach al into the water which is harmful to corals.

Iron based media like Aquaz Purephos and Rowa is much safer.

Check out the middle section, there is a test on Phosguard-> http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2003/chem.htm

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...light=phosguard

RHF has a couple write ups about phosphate removers. After reading this, I would NOT use aluminum based removers at all. I think he actually used Seachem's Phosguard as a bad example of what not to use.

As for Rowa and Phosban, these are more recommended as they won't leach back into your aquarium. There are also threads around too of people that have experienced SPS RTNing, including myself. I think I might have used too much though.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...light=phosguard

I use phosban in my sump. phosguard is known to leach aluminum in the water and after accumulation it could be toxic to some corals.

As for phyto, you might want to check out Aquaz, http://www.aquaz.org/classic_nann.htm

Its value for $$ as a small bottle will last a long time, I used to buy live phyto from a reefer but have since switched to Aquaz.

[Happy Reefer]

Thanks, Koniyakutz for all the information.

[AREA51]

from what i know, they need high water flow and lightings. So, placing on the sand may not be a good idea.

I've got one too, but a small frag only, bought at Jireh

[iantoh]

hi there happy reefer.

ya, that picture thats my avatar is a black cap gramma. as for koniyakutz post regarding al based phosphate filtering media- i read that article and others of the kind too, but i find in my experience that media such as rowaphos is better suited for an almost phosphate-free tank. A sps tank, for example, where phosphates should be reduced to around 0.02ppm. for my purposes, however, i merely wish to reduce phosphates and silicates insofar as to prevent nuisance green algaes and diatoms from growing all about my tank's glass sides, so phosguard helps keep my phosphates below 0.05ppm, and with some macroalgaes and photosynthetic corals in my tank, the nuisance algae problem has abated.

phosguard removes both silicates and phosphates too which prevents, or rather, limits the growth of diatoms. rowaphos on the other hand, is specifically a phosphate remover, so in a tank where silicates are present, but where rowaphos is used, diatoms can still proliferate because their growth is primarily spurred by silicates, and the phosphates that the diatoms might require may be metabolised as it is being produced by decomposers, before it can even be removed by the rowaphos on a daily basis. well, at least this is my understanding. i'm not trying to sell phosguard above rowaphos or anything such like, its just that having used phosguard, rowaphos, and phosban, i find phosguard to best suit my needs. rowa is also twice the price of phosguard if you buy your phosguard from clementi's 328 so for me, thats a big factor too.

all in all, hope your phosphate reducing endeavours are going on well ya.

cheers man

ian

[iantoh]

as for aluminium leaching from phosguard, honestly, i dont check for aluminium in my tank, but my gonioporas, lps, and sps are all showing discernable growth so its ok so far. perhaps with time the al levels might rise to toxic levels but hopefully not ya, and hopefully by then i'll be able to well afford rowaphos. haha.

i do fortnightly water changes too so maybe that helps too.

[Happy Reefer]

Thanks Ian,

I know we are getting off topic from the initial coral topic but I would like to pursue the phosphate issues further...

In conclusion, Phosguard leaches Al while Rowaphos removes Phosphate but not silicates so these 2 may not be good choice, well, I'm saying, there may be other brands to explore.

Any comments on Aquaz Purephos? Does it absorb silicates & also not leach Al?

What about Phosban too?

Rgds.

[iantoh]

hi there happy reefer, i'm not really in a position to comment as i havent used either phosban or purephos before, (hopefully some fellow reefers who have will read this thread) but i think, if i recall rightly, purephos helps remove silicates too. thing is, there has been no large research studies on purephos because its a relatively small competitor in this field of phosphate removers. also, if i'm not wrong, the removal of silicates requires a particular molecular bond with aluminium oxides or something- i read this somewhere but cant quite find the article now- which makes me deduce then that any silicate removing media is likely to be made of al, like phosguard.

actually, i think that rowaphos is the better product for removing phosphates. like i said, if i could afford its far higher price, id use it. but phosguard does its job sufficiently well (at only $25 a litre at clementi's 328), and slight al leechings into the water column does not affect most livestock, for like the above study said, only a large amount of phosguard used n a small water volume will cause al levels to become toxic. substrates such as ecsystems miracle mud also release alumnium as part of trace elements into the water too, so phosguard isnt the only product which does so. hence i think using phosguard according to the packaging's recommended dosage is safe enough.

by the way, are you facing algae problems which is why youre looking at using phosphate removers? heres a freshwater article that was posted on reefs.org recently that explains alot of the various situations in our tanks really well. like what circumstances causes diatoms or green microalgaes or cyano, etc. if youre facing algae issues, can give it a browse ya.

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilizer/sears-conlin.html

cheers,

ian

[Happy Reefer]

Thanks again, Ian.

You are right, almost every fortnight or 10 days, I need to clean the algae off the front glass, that's why looking into phosphate removal as I use tap water for topping water loss thru evaporation.

[iantoh]

hi there happy reefer, ive been using bottled distilled water and it definitely lessens the algae issue. i get my Alpheus DI water from Shing siong at ten mile junction near bukit panjang Lrt, bus interchange there, at 17.5L (12x 1.5L bottles) for only $5. its cheap and works wonders compared to tapwater so you can consider that as an option too ya. cheaper than getting an Ro or DI unit for my needs.

cheers,

ian

ps: try cutting out a small piece of filter wool (the kind used for wet/dry's) and use that to scrub you tank's algae off. this way, the algae remains on the wool rather than is blown around the tank to resettle. ive been running phosguard for three months now, and i use twice the recommended dosage and alls ok so far so i guess you can use that for a while too to reduce in tank phosphate levels. thereafter, its about not adding PO4 back into the tank i think, and tap water certainly does, so if youre going to continue using tap water, then the phosphate remover wont really suit your needs as it'll need constant replacement. perhaps try grwoing some macroalgaes too?

[klim]

Can I place phosguard in a filter bag and place it in the canister? Will this help to reduce phosphate?

Thinking of putting Carbon in the canister too...since I have 3 layer in the canister.

Can?

[iantoh]

yeah sure you can la. small amounts changed frequently is better than large amounts at once though ya.

cheers

[Happy Reefer]

Thanks Ian, I live at CCK area, so will definitely consider getting the DI water from Shing Siong.

Problem is having to get a lot for changing abt 1/3 or /4 tank water fortnightly and having to top up daily.

[iantoh]

ah.. well, you can try using fresh seawater instead of mixing your own, then you can save on that, and just use distilled for top up. salt mixes do contain higher levels of trace and retains its buffering capability for longer, but if you dose kalk and alk, and monitor things from time to time, fresh seawater works really well. and its cheap too.

by the ways, i live at upper bukit timah, which is close to you.

[Happy Reefer]

Ian, thanks for your suggestion.

I don't drive so it would be a problem carrying those bags of seawater home.

Rgds