What did my boyfriend bring home?

[Derlin]

So my dear honey decided to checkout a new LFS and ended up getting a little too excited and brought home some beginner corals for my newly cycled tank. I know impulse buys are not necessarily the best things for tanks, but it was a sweet gesture. 

 

I just want help to ID these so we can take good care of them. We believe they are a toadstool mushroom leather, a sps green pocillopora, and a button polyp, but we're not 100% sure... and there's a couple mystery corals on the toadstool and button frags that I have no clue as to what they are. 

 

Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

[Pjanssen]

Looks like some kind of leather in the first one for sure, probably a toad stool, and likely Xenia as the hitch hiker on the frag plug.

I would not consider a pocillipora as a beginner coral, and certainly not suited for an unestablished tank. Just my opinion though

Button Polyps are correct.

 

Lots of algae going on from what I can see. Probably want to get that in check before adding any more livestock, except for a good clean up crew.

[Tamberav]

Looks kind of like clove polyps to me next to the leather. That algae will smother them if you don't get it under control asap.

[BustytheSnowMaam]

I would see if you can return the pocillipora.  The other corals will probably be fine.  

[lapoolboy]

Holy algae Batman!!!

[1891Bro]

2 minutes ago, lapoolboy said:

Holy algae Batman!!!

Beats him bringing home the Clap!

 

Dont let it get you down. Algae can be beat. 

[Derlin]

Lol, I know the algae is a little crazy, it really freaked me out at first when the tank was going through its initial cycle, but it's has been starting to go down in the past week.  I just put in my first CUC members in last week too and there will be more to come.

 

So can the toadstool and hitchhiker coral coexist? Or would they compete? I'm not sure what to do about that. Are hitchhiking corals generally a bad thing? Or does it depend on the type of corals sharing a frag?

 

After looking at some pictures on tidal gardens I'm thinking that hitchhiker could be maybe a clove or sympodium or Xenia 

And I have read or heard from a couple different places about pocillopora being a hardy coral, why would it not be considered a beginner coral? 

[Thrassian Atoll]

I wouldn't consider any sps a beginner coral.  Will they live?  Maybe.  Will they have great color and growth though?  

 

Are you testing all of your water parameters? Leathers and sps don't mix at all from what I have read.

[kinetic]

You can have leathers and SPS in the same tank.

 

The algae just means you have a ton of nitrates/phosphates in your water. If your ammonia and nitrites are in check, things should live. Thrive? That will all depend on everything else.

 

The poci will live if you can maintain good kH, mg, and calcium. You can do that with Ca reactors, dosing, or a lot of water changes to replenish. 

[Clown79]

sps is not a beginner coral. Pocillipora is hardy by sps standards compared to acropora but definitely not an easy coral.

 

 your tank isn't stable enough For sps. Sps is generally advised 6mnths earliest preferably 1 yr.

 

You have nutrient issues and sps can't tolerate high nutrients. They also get easily smothered by algae. 

 

They require pristine water quality with no fluctuations in parameters..(lots of testing and possibly dosing)

 

Also someone new to coral keeping, sps will be difficult to keep.  

 

Leathers and sps are hit and miss together. Sps doesn't do well with the toxins released by leathers and even using carbon sometimes doesn't help.

 

I would return the pocillipora.

 

 

 

[Pjanssen]

Your "hitchhiker" can become it's own colony whether it's a xenia or clove. I would recommend removing the leather from the plug and putting it on either another clean plug or a piece of rock, as the xenia/clove will quickly take over. Try putting the xenia on it's own separate little island away from everything else.

 

As for the Pocillipora, they can and do exist with leathers and softies. I have both in my tank. My tank is 6 years old and I was nervous about getting one. Watch your water parameters. They should have low Nitrates, not 0. It will eventually go higher up in your tank.

 

My concern is that if your LFS told you that the Pocillipora was a good beginner coral, then I'd think about finding a new LFS

[BustytheSnowMaam]

21 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

Your "hitchhiker" can become it's own colony whether it's a xenia or clove. I would recommend removing the leather from the plug and putting it on either another clean plug or a piece of rock, as the xenia/clove will quickly take over. Try putting the xenia on it's own separate little island away from everything else.

 

As for the Pocillipora, they can and do exist with leathers and softies. I have both in my tank. My tank is 6 years old and I was nervous about getting one. Watch your water parameters. They should have low Nitrates, not 0. It will eventually go higher up in your tank.

 

My concern is that if your LFS told you that the Pocillipora was a good beginner coral, then I'd think about finding a new LFS

 

I think maybe it would be easier for her to remove the xenia/cloves and let them reattach somewhere?  

 

Completely agree about the LFS.  They're out to sell you whatever they can to make a buck.  Kudos to the boyfriend for buying it for you though :).  

[Pjanssen]

1 minute ago, tashayar said:

 

I think maybe it would be easier for her to remove the xenia/cloves and let them reattach somewhere?  

 

Completely agree about the LFS.  They're out to sell you whatever they can to make a buck.  Kudos to the boyfriend for buying it for you though :).  

I was thinking one single wide base of the toad, or several little stems. Toads can be tricky to mount because they get really slimy, but if you dry the base on a paper towel it's doable

[ninjamyst]

Great pickups!  But I will exho what others have said about getting algae under control first.  You should:

 

1. Remove algae manually as much as possible.  CUC may not touch algae that's too long.

2.  Test nitrate and phosphate.  Ask your lfs if you don't have test kits

3.  Make sure you are running adequate amount of quality carbon and some kind of phosphate reducing media.

4.  Make sure you do sufficient amount of water change and tank maintenance weekly.

[Thrassian Atoll]

I saw way too many threads on reefcentral talking about how their leathers nuked their sps, or drastically inhibited color and growth even with carbon.  There were also some that said they didn't have any issues.  I wouldn't risk killing my sps over a leather though.

[Tamberav]

I would take leathers over a pocci any day

 

I would take a hand saw and saw the plug in half between the cloves and leather so they both have a base. They shouldn't kill each other though if you just leave them. 

[Derlin]

Thank you everyone for the helpful replies! I really appreciate it. It'll be interesting to try separating the xenia from the toadstool. Any recommended resources on how to do that? Or any recommendations on coral compatibility. I've been intrigued by the nano mixed reefs I've seen out there. They're just beautiful. 

 

As far as the parameters the Ammonia has been at 0 for a few weeks, Nitrite has been at 0 for a few weeks, and the Nitrate has been at 0 for 2.5 weeks. Calcium has been at 440-460 for a couple weeks as well. The phosphate test has been difficult to find, I'm going to a check out a new store today to see if it's in stock and get another CUC member. 

 

Ive done a 10% water change when I added the first of the CUC and I think that really helped with the algae, I plan on doing those weekly. The tank also has chemical pure blue to help with phosphate. 

[Derlin]

4 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

I would take leathers over a pocci any day

 

I would take a hand saw and saw the plug in half between the cloves and leather so they both have a base. They shouldn't kill each other though if you just leave them. 

Perfect! Thank you! I guess he got me that leather because apparently it's a non-anemone that clowns will host, and he wanted it to be big and lush for the day when we put clowns in the tank  

 

The poci does sound cool though, but my tank is probably not ready for it yet

[tunagirll]

7 hours ago, Derlin said:

 

As far as the parameters the Ammonia has been at 0 for a few weeks, Nitrite has been at 0 for a few weeks, and the Nitrate has been at 0 for 2.5 weeks. Calcium has been at 440-460 for a couple weeks as well. The phosphate test has been difficult to find, I'm going to a check out a new store today to see if it's in stock and get another CUC member. 

 

Ive done a 10% water change when I added the first of the CUC and I think that really helped with the algae, I plan on doing those weekly. The tank also has chemical pure blue to help with phosphate. 

 

What's happening is that your nitrates are not 0, but your algae is taking it all up quickly so your test shows 0. Does that make sense?

 

Manually remove as much algae as you can (toothbrush), restrict feeding in the tank to an absolute minimum, do a large vacuum and water change, add some fresh pureblue and change it every two weeks along with carbon, reduce light to 7-8 hours, change out some of your sand for fresh if it's old. All of these will help done in concert

[Derlin]

1 hour ago, tunagirll said:

 

What's happening is that your nitrates are not 0, but your algae is taking it all up quickly so your test shows 0. Does that make sense?

 

Manually remove as much algae as you can (toothbrush), restrict feeding in the tank to an absolute minimum, do a large vacuum and water change, add some fresh pureblue and change it every two weeks along with carbon, reduce light to 7-8 hours, change out some of your sand for fresh if it's old. All of these will help done in concert

Good to know.

 

Does it make any difference if the nitrates are testing 0 with the algae being on the decline? It's gone down considerably and is easily pulled off the rock now. 

 

Thank you for the great advice, you're a life saver. I'll definitely do some thorough cleaning with my next water change and keep an eye on the nitrate levels. 

[Clown79]

When there is a lot of algae in a tank, it uses the nutrients in the tank: phosphates and nitrates.

 

The test results therefore will be inaccurate.

 

The best way to get rid of algae-gha is what you have and it's an aggressive algae. It can take over very quickly.

With these algae, you need to do aggressive treatment to get rid of it.

 

1. Pull off algae with tweezers. Do not allow it to float in the water, it will spread that way.

 

2. Take the rocks out and scrub them with a tank dedicated toothbrush and rinse in saltwater before returning to tank (this is the best method)

 

3. If it's really bad, take rocks out, scrub well, dip in hydrogen peroxide for a few minutes, rinse really well in saltwater and return to tank. This definitely kills the gha 

 

Using phosguard.

I found using a good carbon and phosguard more effective than the chemipure line.

 

1. You change it more often making it more effective rather than a breeding ground for nutrients 

2. You use smaller quantities changed  more frequently

 

3. Chemipure doesn't have a lot of phos reducer in it and it becomes exhausted before the other product in the bag ( carbon) so most change it every month or 2 and by that point, the phos reducer is exhausted.

 

To prevent high nutrients/algae

 

-15% weekly water changes with ro/di or distilled water

 

- use filter floss not sponges. Change floss at waterchange day and 1 other time mid week

 

- rinse media bags on waterchange day and change media often (I don't use chemipures for this reason)

 

- vacuum sand bed with every water change

- blast rocks with turkey baster with every waterchange 

 

- if you have an hob, siphon it out every week and clean completely  every month or 2

- if aio - scrub chambers with a baby bottle brush and siphon out every other week

 

- keep bio load low

- feed pellets every day but only enough  to last 1 mins

- feed frozen only twice a week.

 

For corals, you need to be testing alk. It's the most important parameter outside of salinity.

 

Phos, I'd use salifert or Hanna checker. Api is useless for sw.

 

You will want to do extensive research on corals. 

There are tons of sites.

 

I like

animal-world.com

Liveaquaria.com

Reefkeeping.com

 

Clowns will not necessarily make their home in any coral or anemone, especially tank bred clowns.

[tunagirll]

36 minutes ago, Derlin said:

Good to know.

 

Does it make any difference if the nitrates are testing 0 with the algae being on the decline? It's gone down considerably and is easily pulled off the rock now. 

 

Thank you for the great advice, you're a life saver. I'll definitely do some thorough cleaning with my next water change and keep an eye on the nitrate levels. 

If it's weakened then that's a good sign. You still need to manually remove it, as the algae dies it will produce more nutrients for the algae left behind to feed on. 

 

Look ok at it this way: your algal bloom is telling you that your tank is a little out of whack. By addressing what is not in balance (amount of nitrate being produced vs removed) you will ultimately have a healthier and more beautiful tank

 

someone once said that you are actually water keeping not fish keeping - we keep the water healthy and the fish happen to live in it!

 

Have fun ?