New to corals

D

dewilde2

Illinifish
Aug 8, 2006
253
0
0
42
St Louis
Decided to take the plunge and start getting some corals. I picked these up at a local frag fest and from a friend-of-a-friend reefer. I unfortunately don't know the names of any of them and would like to be sure I'm doing everything I can to ensure their health and hopefully growth and multiplication! I do recognize the zoas and the mushrooms. I'm attaching pics of the ones I'm not sure about as well as a full tank shot.

I've been told (from left to right in the picture) that I have a orange bam bam zoa, radioactive dragon eyes zoa, red mushroom, ricordea of some sort, green striped mushroom, purple mushroom, another dragon eyes zoa, reddish mushroom, fire and ice zoa, another blue mushroom, and then the two mystery corals and a eagle eye zoa.

The first pic is of the freebie frag and the mystery brown one in the back. The second is the best pic I had of the mystery brown coral (to the left) and a zoa colony.

I also wondered if there were any rules about how close each kind can be placed to each other, etc.

If anyone could help me ID these I'd really appreciate it so I can do even more research! Thanks!


My setup:
10 gallon with Eclipse saltwater hood
32 watts (I know, but I don't think I can upgrade it with this hood)
Currently dosing with Reef Complete, Reef Carbonate and Reef Calcium (although I just started this)
Other inhabitants: one juvenille clownfish and 3 mexican turbo snails

PB040381.JPG PB040385.JPG PB040376.JPG
 
That's not a bad start into the world of corals.

The first pic looks like yellow colony polyps to me. Otherwise, I'm no expert at naming zoas, palys, or mushrooms. There's so many types and color morphs that I just can't keep track.

Is your 32w of light a power compact set-up? If so, it could be enough for the corals that I currently see in your tank. You may have to fiddle with their position a little to get them placed where they are the happiest in terms of lighting (and flow).

Any plans to add some more live rock? I think it could benefit (biologically and aesthetically) from a couple more pieces to add some more height and depth. But, that's simply my opinion, of course.

In general, mushrooms can touch other mushrooms without ill effects, and zoas / palys can touch other zoas / palys without problems.
 
Thanks for the tips!

Yes, it is a power compact. I've been adjusting the flow a lot lately- seems like if I leave it off the corals it moves too much sand out of the way- but is it ok to have high flow over the corals (mostly the mushrooms seem to get it)

I am definitely planning on getting more live rock soon. Waiting for Christmas :-)
 
Characterizing flow is all relative to what you have in your tank to supply the flow (powerheads, filter, etc.). If your corals are getting too much flow, they'll let you know it. Some won't open up as far, while others will completely close up if they are being battered with too much flow.

I've found that mushrooms in our tank that receive moderate flow tend to propogate themselves by "walking" more than splitting in half -- they'll slowly crawl along with the current, tearing off small pieces of their base, which grow into complete mushrooms. The mushrooms we have that are in lower flow split to make more mushrooms instead of walking.

Glad to hear you'll be adding some more rock. Since you already have a fish and some corals, I'd add in small amounts slowly in case there's any die off during transport. Alternatively, you could buy a larger amount all at once, and cure it in a clean bucket, Rubbermaid tub, or cooler filled with water and a powerhead and heater (depending on how warm your home is). The goal is just to make sure any die off on the new rock doesn't cause an ammonia spike in your tank, which could be harmful to your fish and corals. If you're buying additional rock locally, you can minimize the die off during transport by moving it from the fish store to your home completely submerged in saltwater -- something that is relatively easy to do when buying rock for a tank in the size range of yours.
 
I don't see any Orange BamBams or Dragon Eyes in that pic. Got better pics?
 
sorry, I don't have pics of either- you can kind of see the bam bam's off to the far left of the pic, and the radioactive dragon eyes are in front but both frags are really small. I'm pretty confident of their names since they were the only ones labeled at the frag swap.


I'm thinking of adding another fish to this setup- any suggestions? My current choice is a yellow clown goby, and maybe some small hermits.
 
love the shrooms! I have one like your purple one... mine is doing AWESOME and they get HUGE!! So far, the biggest mine has even gotten was 5":eek3:
 
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