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Sheesh...sorry I missed your thread for so long Robyn. It's looking pretty nice! I agree about the tang...at least you could have got a small one . Don't expect it to do well for very long in there. A few months might be OK. The other thing I see are the elegance corals and goniopora. They tend not to do so great in captivity. Normally I would suggest people to stay away from them. Eventually they'll start using up their reserves and will crap out. Something similar might be hammer/torch/frogspawn corals. Those all would do really well in your tank.

Thankfully a couple hot days might not be so bad. That happens out on the reef too. But if it's hot for long stretches, it can be bad. It's good you got a chiller, that will help a ton. A fan would help if blown across the surface of the tank and the light fixture as well.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hi Matty

Thanks for the visit. The tang was a father's day present from his daughter & at the time, this was the smallest they had. Not ideal I know, but I don't really have a solution for the poor guy. Since my 4ft is just sitting in the garage not being used, I offered it to him, if he wants it - but I think he doesn't feel like to work of transferring everything to the bigger tank just yet. Maybe in the future.

Can you pls point out to me which ones are the elegance corals and goniopora?

Cheers
TW

1 and 3 look like elegance corals.

2 is a goniopora I think. When healthy their tentacles extend quite far, especially on such a large specemen like yours. Probably 6 inches or so.

If you want some ID's you can post some close up pics here and I'd be happy to look if you like and give a bit of a rundown on each. The rest I can't tell exactly what some are, looks like mostly leathers otherwise.

Attached Image:

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks Matty, I will take you up on that ID offer, maybe later this week (have to get the ironing done tonight ) so this is just a brief visit. Definitely will post close ups soon of the ones you numbered 1 & 3 - they are completely different types of coral when you see them in real life & I hope that will show up in closeups.

Each time we bought, we did ask the name (but didn't write it down). All the LFS knew that we are newbies at SW, so I hope they didn't sell us ones that don't suit beginners or our lighting. All LFS were told what lights we have too (200W PC).

Thanks again for ID offer. Pics to come next week

EDIT: We couldn't get the chiller to work. We connected it in-line with the cannister filter (sorry, we don't have a sump on the tank). For some reason, when the chiller is connected, the water is not being filtered back into the tank at all. So the tank is still having to cope with the heat. It spent 2 days @ 86F & has now dropped back down to 82F at 8.30pm. Still too hot, but I think the weather is cooling down now for the next few days. Not sure what our next plan with the chiller is - hubby for the moment has "the dirts" with it & packed it back up (as we couldn't filter the tank with it in place).

Cheers
TW

So the chiller has now been running for 30mins or so. The weather has cooled down anyway, but for the 3 days that the tank was overheated it doe seem to have taken it's toll on some of the corals. Not all have been opening properly, but I hope they will recover now that we are prepared for the next hot day.

Well, Matty, thanks for your ID offer. So here are pictures of some of the corals. ID's from anyone else would be welcome too.

When we 1st bought this coral, it was a lot whiter than it is now. It seems to be changing colours.

Attached Image:

Coral No. 1

Cheers
TW

That looks like a goniopora. Sorry, I missed my guess on this one at first. It's still one of the two difficult corals I mentioned that don't tend to do well in captivity. That doesn't mean that yours won't, but it may be wise to do some searching the web to see what new fangled thechniques people are using to keep these fellas alive. This seems to be the healthier of the two you have. It's out and coloring up which is usually a agood sign.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Tried several times to delete one of these double posts, but it's just not happening. Moderators, if you are able to delete the double post, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

Anyway, here is a 2nd shot of coral no 2, showing the disappearing green

EDIT: Matty, you must have posted while I was trying to delete the double post. So far, other than it is changing colour like most of our corals, it is doing well. It has grown a lot in the tank.

Attached Image:

Coral No. 2 - different angle.

Cheers
TW

It looks to me that you deleted both of your double posts. I'd like to see the first shot of that coral.

It's good you got your chiller up and running. Like I said, the corals should be able to handle a couple hot days, but anything that stresses them out is bad.

EDIT: ....I'll wait 'till you finish posting I guess.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hi Matty, yeah I have a few more pics to post.

That looks like a goniopora. Sorry, I missed my guess on this one at first. It's still one of the two difficult corals I mentioned that don't tend to do well in captivity. That doesn't mean that yours won't, but it may be wise to do some searching the web to see what new fangled techniques people are using to keep these fellas alive. This seems to be the healthier of the two you have. It's out and coloring up which is usually a a good sign.

Dang our clowns absolutely love these. I think we have 3. Until the tank overheated, all 3 usually opened well, although sometimes one or the other seems to get sick of the clowns constant (and I mean constant) rough & tumble in them. Since the 3 day overheat, we have noticed that several of the corals aren't looking or opening as well as they did prior to Friday last.

Cheers
TW

A lot of our corals, while looking otherwise healthy, are changing colour to being more brown. One LFS told us it is normal for a coral to change colour in a tank, as he said a coral's colour is dependant upon the type of algae grown in that particular tank. Is that true?

Anyway, here is another shot of coral no 2. Do you see the green bits on the brown? Well, when we bought this coral, the middle of it was mainly green with only a little brown. The tentacles (or whatever you call them) were always this colour, it's the green that changed.

Attached Image:

Coral No 2 - different angle.

Cheers
TW

I'd say the best you can do for them you've already done....get the temps at a constant in their range of tolerance. Maybe a water change wouldn't hurt. It'll take some time IME for temperature related problems to fix themselves, but it all depends on how severe and long lasting it was.


Yeah, I'd stick with my last guess on that one. Looks like an elegance coral. Lots of people have trouble with these and I hesitate to say that this coral changing color is not anything to be concerned about. Yes corals do change colors from tank to tank, and I'm not sure it has anything to do with algae....more to do with lighting situations and water quality IMO. I'd try to do a little reading on this guy too. See what people think may lead to their demise in captivity.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Here's another - some sort of brain?

Attached Image:

Coral no. 3

Cheers
TW

Hi Matty, again I must have been posting while you replied. Just above your last post, I put up the pic I deleted in the previous post - as well as asked a colour related question - which I hope you or someone else might be able to answer.

Anyway, here is another coral - another type of brain?

Attached Image:

Coral no. 4

Cheers
TW

Another coral

Attached Image:

Coral No. 5

Cheers
TW

Another coral

Attached Image:

Coral no. 6

Cheers
TW

Another coral

Attached Image:

Coral No. 7

Cheers
TW

Another coral.

This is the last one for tonight.

There are still some more to show, but they are not opening up properly at the moment. If they recover, I'll add more pics later.

Attached Image:

Coral no. 8

Cheers
TW

Coral 3 and 4 are the same, open brains, or trachyphylia. Great beginners coral, should be placed in the sand as you have them.

Coral 5 is a torch coral. These are also nice sturdy LPS corals. They are closely related to hammer corals and frogspawns. I have one of these in my tank that was doing really well until I switched lights. It's hangin' in there but might still be a bit bright for him.

6 is another goniopora.

7 I'm unsure of. My initial guess would be that it's not a coral at all, but instead is a sponge. Maybe someone else might be able to get that one for ya more positively.

8 are mushrooms, corralimorpharians(not true corals), it looks like actinodiscus sp. They are softies that are very undemanding with light and water quality. They come in all sorts of variety and texture.


I edited my above post, so make sure you read that one, hope that all helped.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks heaps Matty. I'm disappointed that some of our corals are in the "hard to keep" category. Our LFS labels his corals with the following numbering system:-

1 = Easy to keep corals that work well for most people
2 = Can be kept alive by 50% of reefkeepers & is more difficult
3 = Hard to maintain - for experts only.

Our corals were all in category 1.
We bought 3 of the goniopora, because the clowns love them so much

Anyway, the chiller is running, but we are having trouble setting the temp. We follow the instructions, set the desired temp, but it still creeps up - not by much. Will continue to fiddle.

Cheers
TW

Matty, if you stop in here again, I have a question for you. The coral that we have that you've identified as an elegance coral. Were you talking about the coral I named as coral no. 2? We were are the LFS again today, where we bought it. I didn't have pen & paper on me, but tried to remember as best I can it's name. They labeled it "Purple Tipped Catophylia" or something quite similar to that. Is that one of the elegance group?

Cheers
TW

Cataphyllia = Elegance coral, yep.

here is a link to reefcentral where they are talking about it. I haven't read the whole thing, but just about any thread on elegance corals lead down the eventual path to talking about their miserable track record in the hobby.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Well, hubby will be starting all over again. It will still be a 3 foot tank, but wider & higher. He should be able to build a more interesting reef with the extra width & height.

He's ordered the following tank:-

36' length
24" wide
24" high

It will have a capacity of 89.8G, instead of the current 31.5 - so more than double the water volume. It should be ready in a week or two.

This time around, it will have the mini reef filter (sump) instead of the cannister filter.

The change over will be done gradually & eventually this tank will be shut down.

Cheers
TW

Hey, that sounds great! I love the wide tanks, it should be a beauty.

How are all the corals and fish doing?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks for popping in Matty.

Well, so far, most are doing well. The elegance just seems to be growing & growing - taking over it's area of the tank. One of the gonny's is a little sad, but we can link that to hubby dropping a heavy piece of live rock on it. A lot of damage was done at the time - a whole section was scraped off it at the time. When it is open, you can't tell it's even damaged, but if the lights have been out, or we've annoyed it by doing tank maintenance, it closes down. It's only when it closes down you can see the damage. We watch these ones, as they (as well as the elegance) are the troublesome ones - also the favoured ones by the clowns. Apart from this accidental damage, so far so good & our fingers are crossed.

Not the same for our poor yellow tang. He was happy & healthy for quite a while - best eater in the tank & always exploring every nook & cranny. Could fit himself through the most tiny openings in the rocks & coral. Then he appeared with a purple coloured splinter thing that poked into his face & stayed stuck there for maybe a week. We didn't know what to do. After a week, it worked it's way out and again, all seemed well for a week or two. Then one night, about 2 weeks ago his behaviour went crazy. No scratching or spots or anything like that, but suddenly he was just agitated. Flaring his fins, racing here & there, jerking up & down. Then he began hiding in the back of the tank, not coming out for dinner. Last night he died & we're quite sad about that.

No new fish (or anything new) for the time being. No point, until we set up the new tank. I just hope he didn't pass something along to the other occupants (2 clowns, 1 flame angel & the corals). At the moment they seem well, so fingers crossed.

Cheers
TW

Bummer about the tang and coral bashing. I hope that goni hangs in there for you. The are a very cool coral when happy.

IMO a tang will probably do better in the larger tank with more room swim around. Maybe give one another shot after you upgrade. Start it small if you can....hold out for a very nice specimen. I know it can be hard, but patience is a very important aspect of reefing.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

The new tank & cabinet has been delivered. It's 89.8G.
Every other tank in the house looks tiny in comparison. It is just sitting empty for the moment, but I think we are maybe picking up the reef filter (sump / refuge - what ever you call them in US, but LFS here is calling it a reef trickle filter).

Then we have to figure out the plumbing & gradually transfer everything across.

Wish us luck & fun

Cheers
TW

A lot of times the trickle filters contain bioballs and whatnot. I wouldn't bother using those. They tend to trap detritus over time and cause problems down the road. I'd just use plenty of LR in the display as your main bio filtration. In the sump, I'd have a DSB and some cheatomorpha or other algae to suck out nutrients.

Good luck

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients