Reclusive Polyps on a new Toadstool Coral?

[sweevo]

Hi, after running my tank with just living rock (for six weeks) with a couple of turbo snails and red hermits I decided to take the plunge and pick up a few (three) corals this weekend.

 

The most impressive of the three by far was a large (2-3 inch) Toadstool coral. Within an hour of being put in my tank on saturday all the polyps were out. The same happened on sunday too. Today however, when I returned from work the vast majority of polyps were withdrawn inside the Toadstoll itself.

 

I checked Nitrate, Nitrite, PH and salinity in a bit of a panic and all seemed OK. Originally I had the toadstool approx 6" away and 3" below the main outlet of my Fluval 2+ filter. It was also approx 4 inch from the water surface. I moved it a an inch or two lower in the tank late yesterday as it did seem to be getting a bit of a buffering from the current. I also redirected the current away from it.

 

Being at work I can't say for sure that all the polyps haven't been out during the day but at the weekend they were out until the lights went out which is why I was worried tonight. By the time the lights did go off tonight i'd say only about an eight of the polyps were out.

 

My Tank is 2' x 8" x 1' (approx 7 gallon) with 8 lbs of LR, gravel substrate, an internal filter and 2 x 2' VHO Fluorescent lighting ( 1 x White & 1 x blue ).

 

Could the battering from the current upset the toadstool inhabitants? Could I have the coral placed too close to my lighting and given it a dose of sunburn?

 

If anyone's got any experience with these corals or a few suggestions it would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking of moving the coral deeper within the water to possibly a more sheltered spot within the tank but thought i'd ask on here first. The books and web sites i've looked have mentioned that placing of corals can be a bit of trial and error, especially for newbies like myself.

[tinyreef]

bump

 

the adjustments could have upset the coral as you suspect. corals move very slowly so when we move them around and change their parameters they can sometimes react badly as well as improving.

 

the toadie shouldn't be battered around by the current (altho i have one doing just that ). they tend to burn too much of their resources to combat the 'water wind'.

 

too much light can be an issue just like too little. i would pick a spot and stick with it rather than moving it too much. the coral is trying to acclimate itself to the new surroundings and too much change throws it off.

 

if you like it where it is, let it try to adjust to it for a week or two. if it still looks bad then try another spot with less current. altho it sounds pretty far from the output, proportionally speaking. a pic would be good. hth

[mogurnda]

Toadstools are some of the poutiest corals. Any change can make them retract their polyps for a few days. Plus, anybody walking on it, like a hermit or shrimp, will make it retract for an hour or so. If the coral isn't being blasted by current, it will be fine. They thrive in lots of light, so moving it down probably won't make it happier. Give it a few days, and I bet it will be fine again.

[sweevo]

Thanks for the advice. I came home tonight to find one of my other corals curling up at the edges. Kind of scrunching itself up. After what that happened yesterday with the toadstool I was getting worried that there was something wrong with my water and opted to do a 30% water change.

 

From what you've said it looks like that'll only make it longer before they both settle down again now. Guess I need to leave well alone and just keep an eye on the water parameters and trust in what they're telling me.

 

After the change and I noticed that the coral had opened up again so hopefully it's just the settling in period though again it too was fine for the first couple of days.

 

Thanks again.