Caves/Tunnels

[Nemain]

My rock work leaves a rather large area of rock that is very low light. Any suggestions for corals that may be able to survive in this?

Thanks,

Beth

[mr_alberta]

Sun Coral?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Any non-photosynthetic spp. like sun, gorgonian, & carnations (as well as Hawaiian feather dusters) would do fine in low light situations, especially if some flow is directed there &/or you target feed them. My feather duster hangs upside down in my cave :biggrin:

[Nemain]

Anyone have any experience with gorgonians? I just hear they always die.

I already have a zillion feather dusters, I can easily change the flow to low or high depending on what I decide to put in there.

I thought a sun coral needed medium light?

Beth

[Chad]

they require no light. You need to feed them or they are gonners..

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Yup. No food, no sun coral.

Gorgonians are finicky. Need to keep them fed occassionally, and very important to keep them clean of any hair algae. I think SamW has success with him so maybe PM him if you want to go with Gorgs.

Most non-photosyn. corals are recommended for advanced aquarists, mainly because they need more TLC in the form of regular feedings. If time/effort is a problem, skip 'em.

[Samw]

Hi Beth.

Well, SeaHorse_Fanatic is right about non-photosynthetic gorgs needing to stay clean from algae and needing to be fed. They need to be fed often. There are several non-photosynthetic gorgs such as the Red Gorgonian (Diodogorgia nodulifera) and the Pacific Acanthogorgia Sea Fan Gorgonians. From what I've read, the Red Gorgonians would be easier than the other one. People have had success with the red one and Reeftopia calls them hardy (easy) and suitable for reef aquariums. http://www.reeftopia.com/Gorgoniansponges.html However, you will also find people calling them impossible to keep.

I have one of each. I wouldn't say that I've had success any of them yet. The Red Gorgonian that I have now has been in my tank for 6 months and the Blue one for 3 weeks.

The Red Gorgonian seems to be doing fine and I've fragged a piece for SonOfSkyline. I do move it around a lot trying to find the best place for it. From my observations, it will extend its polyps only when there is high waterflow. Without waterflow, it will not extend its polyps. I have seen it eat cyclopeeze, small brine shrimp, and crushed Ocean Nutrition flakes. I doubt it will eat phytoplankton. Because its polyps are semi-transparent, you can see the food go down the polyp and into the gorgonian. Its neat.

It is difficult to keep algae/detritus off the gorgonian though. I find myself needing to blow the algae/detritus off the branches w/ a turkey baster every few days because they have a hard time shedding it off themselves.

So I find that the coral needs very clean water and lots of food, which is quite a contradiction. I decided to try putting the coral below (but not directly below) a mechanical filter (w/ the prefilter installed). That helped a lot because now, only clean detritus-free water pours down on it keeping the gorg very clean. When it is feeding time, I turn off the filter so food doesn't get trapped in the filter. Anyhow, I'll see how this goes.

The Pacific blue gorgonian so far is doing well. Its polyps are fully extended during the day and it is placed at the end of the tank where all the food will eventually find its way since it is on the opposite side of the powerhead. It is too early to tell how well it will do. Its not a common coral and from most accounts, most people can't keep it very long.

You will have to do a lot of observing and feeding and adjusting if you want to keep them. They aren't easy for sure.

http://www.hyperdream.com/~samw/reef/Coral/RedGorgonian/img_6747_std.jpg

[Samw]

As for Sun coral. They are very easy to keep if you feed them. They are not photosynthetic.

I have both an orange and a black and I never target feed them. They just eat food that gets blown into them. Both are growing well. Interestingly, in Eric Borneman's book, he says that the Black Sun coral has one of the densest skeletons of all corals. He says that they are 1 of the few corals that can withstand typhoons and nuclear testings. LOL. Well, that explains why I couldn't frag the thing. I tried fragging my black sun coral with pliers and steel cutters. I couldn't do it, hurt my hand, and gave up. I didn't try the hammer yet.


http://www.hyperdream.com/~samw/reef/Coral/BlackSun/img_5927_std.jpg

http://www.hyperdream.com/~samw/reef/Coral/SunCoral/153-5313_img_std.jpg

[Beverly]

Beth,

Before the meeting, my 120g was aquascaped with a large cave and serious tunnels from one end to the other. For various reasons, I decided to aquascape it differently and got rid of the cave which served no real purpose as far as I could see.

The new aquascaping still has many ins and outs to a tunnel 2/3 the way across the tank for the fish to utilize, and the cave is history. I now have a large open area in the upper portion of the tank for the fish to utilize, especially during feeding. Corals also seem to have more space with the new design too.

Anyway, my point is do you really need the cave? Time may be a factor, but you may find that if you reaquascape you'll have more room for corals that aren't difficult to keep.

[Nemain]

I need the cave. It is home to most of my inverts, and with it there, I get to see them all the time. Besides, I am happy with the way it looks, would just like some color in there.

It will be at least a month before I make a decision on what to put in the cave, that should leave plenty of time to fully research it before diving in.=)

Beth

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Beth,

Great to see someone planning ahead. (Impulse buyer by nature :confused: - so I have to research & remember the stuff before seeing it at the store - Thank God for a good memory :biggrin: ) Good luck with your research. I vote for sun corals, if you can get one for a reasonable price. With the orange & yellow colours, very beautiful & one of the easier to keep non-photo. spp. It's a good rule of thumb to research before buying, even if it means putting a deposit on something at the LFS. It's our responsibility to know whether or not we can keep something alive & healthy. :biggrin:

Good luck. Pssst, I too like having a cave.

[EmilyB]

Beth, I'm having lots of luck with orange Scleronephthya. :biggrin: It's not nearly as demanding as a sun coral.