Bubble Coral help. I just added my 1st coral to my tank ...

[Casey_Lamm]

:?:

Please help, i just added a bubble coral to my tank. I have ample lighting infact ive been told it could hurt the coral if i place it close to the top. So my question is, what do I look for in a healthy bubble coral. On the flip side how can I tell if its getting too much light, and visa vera; too little light. Again, I am new to this so any little thing you can throw in will help me and my newly establish *hopefully* tank.

Thanks

Casey

 

[Anonymous]

What type of lighting do you have? You already have purchased the bubble, so it really doesn't matter how to tell if you got a good one or not. So, now you need to acclimate the bubble to your lighting by starting it out on the substrate. Move it higher every 3 or 4 days until you reach your desired location. A bubble does not need to be near the surface. It probably preferes the lower third of your tank. My bubble is a little over half way up in my 75G and I have 2-175 10K MH, and 2-110 VHO. Sucker is getting huge!

A bubble likes moderate water flow, not to strong.

BTW, what size tank do you have?

Is your bubble "bubbled up"? You know, like the pictures you have seen in books. But then again, some bubbles don't get really large, round bubbles, but some do. So it is hard to say without knowing if you have physogyra (smaller, less round bubbles) or pleregyra (larger bubblier bubbles). Is bubblier really a word :wink:

Ok yeah, bubbles have long stinger tenecles, so leave a good 8 inches around it, or maybe a little more, to allow for growth. Mine has nearly double in size in a year and a half!

One more thing. Do you have any good reef books yet?

Louey

 

[Casey_Lamm]

8)

Ok thanks, the lighting is as follow

2x96 actinic
2x96 10K

Tank is a 46gal bow. Lighting is right about the water, it is cooled by several fans so no heat is xfered to the water. I put it in the bottom and it bubbled up immediatly. Its still bubbling as we speak. I have the lighting setup for run in this cycle

Actinic on (1hr before 10K)
10K on 1 hr after actinic goes on and stays on for 3hrs with the actinic
when 10k goes out for the night the actinic stays on for an additional hour.

seems to be working so far, but my brown alge this cycle is up a little more some im going to cut back feeding and total light time.

Please comment on any of the above, i can send pics tomorrow.

I added my 1st reef fish, a small damsel...but its a start. Go slow is a good thing ive heard.

Please let me know..

what temp should I maintain for corals, particularry the bubble since its the only one in... i had it stable at 78, but I just toned it back to 75...let me know if that is correct.

also, one thing i forgot! WHAT DO YOU FEED DAMSELS and how much, how often keep in mind I have one the 1 fish

I also have 20lbs live sand 30lbs arraginite 40lbs live rock

thats all i can think of, just suggest away. This is a good way for me to learn, and no I dont have any books as of yet, but am up for suggestions or old freebies.

Thanks,
Casey

 

[naesco]

Good advice!
Casey two things
1. Damseld pretty much eat anything. good quality flake; meaty type food.
2. It is a good thing to ask advice on fish you like before you go out any buy one. Offer several options and you will get comments on all of them.

 

[erasmu]

I think the stable 78 degree temperature might be a little better for most corals. I think a lot of people, myself included, even keep their reefs around 80. 75 may be a little low.

 

[kertong]

I've had a yellow-tailed damsel since I've started my tank 3 months ago. I had him first in a 12-gal truvu hex with only a wet/dry filter, live rock, and substrate. He did great - I fed him mostly frozen brine shrimp that I'd "melt" in water first before pouring that into the water.

Currently I have a 35gal tank I moved him to, and he's incredibly healthy. Cute lil feller.

As for the bubble coral - I have one in my 35 gal also. I put him at about the 1/4 mark from the bottom of the tank. During the daytime, most of his "air bladders" are fully inflated, and they have a large, round appearance to them as to look like they're almost about to pop or fall off the skeleton body. The top halves of the bubbles have a soft reddish/brown glow to them - I don't know if this is good or not. I only have a 26W 50/50/ daytime 6000K/blue actinic coralife light so far.

At night, his tentacles come out and his air bladders shrink to the point where he almost looks like a bubble tip anemone. At this time, maybe once a week, I'll take a few pinches of forumla one food and place it on top of his tentacles, which he'll promptly swallow. The food dissappears in about 5 minutes, and he'll take another weird form where he'll look partly like an open brain.

Great little feller

I hope he's doing great in my tank, but I've only had him for about 2 weeks, so only time will tell.

 

[Anonymous]

:?:

Please help, i just added a bubble coral to my tank. I have ample lighting infact ive been told it could hurt the coral if i place it close to the top. So my question is, what do I look for in a healthy bubble coral. On the flip side how can I tell if its getting too much light, and visa vera; too little light. Again, I am new to this so any little thing you can throw in will help me and my newly establish *hopefully* tank.

Thanks

Casey

casey- for some health indicators of your bubble, and other lps(large polyp stony) corals:

when you look at the outside 'wall' of the skeleton of the coral, you should be able to see the soft tissue extending over and down the wall-like a skin covering.

look for 'sweeper' tentacles at nite-these resemble anemone shaped tentacles emanating from among the bubbles/polyp area-a sign of healthy active feeding/defense response of the coral

the other advice posted is excellent

fwiw-bubbles seem to be adaptable to a wide range of lighting situations- the key,as with anything, is don't change them too quickly :wink:

also, i would suggest chopped, frozen or fresh seafood for the menu, as well.cheaper, too.

bubbles are a very hardy, easy to keep lps, and an excellent choice for starters!as long as your water parameters are kept up to snuff, you should do fine!(start researching Ca and alk issues, now that you've taken the plunge!)

a tip- it is allways easier to correct an underfeeding problem than an overfeeding one.if in doubt, don't feed,or don't feed as much as you think you ought to-it won't take you long to learn, through simple observation, what's appropriate!

luck

 

[Anonymous]

also fwiw- 75 may be a bit low, for temp-personally, i'd recommend closer to 78-80.

 

[HK StYle]

i place my bubble coral on the DSB and its been alright since i bought it out of the liverock tank

 

[Palmetto]

Lots of good advice.

Here are a couple more:


1) Do not place another coral within 6 inches or so of the bubble coral. The "sweeper tentacles" that come out will sting other corals, sometimes badly. LPS such as Hammer, Frogspawn, and Bubble Corals are some of the worst about stinging their neighbors.

2) Research each species carefully before purchasing it. Most of us have done the same thing at some point, many times at the expense of the animal. (myself included) Many corals should not even be purchased by anyone, simply left in the ocean to survive. Unfortunately, many of these species are readily available for purchase to the unsuspecting new reefer. Many others are very difficult or specialized in the care that they require, or may be dangerous to other specimens. There is an incredible amount of information available on these forums, and you can click "Search" at the top to get lots of reading material.