Filter feeder, nps question

[afterwinter]

I have had a saltwater tank for about 2.5 years, starting with a combination of live and dry rock. I wound up with two different types of bivalves who have amazingly been growing and seem to be doing well. I don't use a skimmer and instead I have filter floss and various types of macro algae to help with nutrients. I try to keep phytoplankton on hand to dose a few times a week.

 

My question is, does this mean anything for the potential for keeping something like a nps gorgonian alive? I have a number of photosynthetic ones but I actually created a few dark areas of my tank with the hope of eventually adding some nps pieces down the road. How do you go about assessing the ability of your tank to support nps corals? Or do you just give it a try and hope for the best?

 

[mcarroll]

On 11/4/2022 at 4:00 PM, afterwinter said:

My question is, does this mean anything for the potential for keeping something like a nps gorgonian alive? I have a number of photosynthetic ones but I actually created a few dark areas of my tank with the hope of eventually adding some nps pieces down the road. How do you go about assessing the ability of your tank to support nps corals? Or do you just give it a try and hope for the best?

Well....most folks rightly don't mess with NPS corals.  To say that feeding can be tricky is an understatement.

 

If you give it a try, go for a type of NPS that you see other folks having success with – and DO WHAT THEY DO.  (If that's not very clear, then find a better example to follow or pick different animal.)

 

Sun corals are probably one of the easier ones since their polyps are so large....but it's a topic worthy of a little digging on your part to see what has worked in the past for others.  And maybe just as important, what has NOT worked for others in the past.

[ubpr]

Probably it's too late for a reply, but I come here only once a while. If you still interested, the best is to do a search for posts on forums for a each species name. The peak of NPS keeping QA posts here was around 2007, if I remember right. Sun coral (LPS), diodohorgia (gorgonian) for example.

 

1. Setup could be any, as long as you are able to remove water pollution, caused by the frequent feeding. What is going to be a lot. If could be water changes, skimmer and filter with frequently replaced filter media, anything. Fouling of the water is noticeable, you will have to do something about it next time before it happens, what is a lot of work.

2. Large polyped corals are easier for target feeding with not floating around micro food, that is hard to collect and remove. Search for "feeding sun coral" shows a lot of results. Choose anything that works well for you. Removing coral for a feeding in a food bath becomes bothersome after a while, unless you have nothing better to do. Too large pieces or not well digested food can cause problems, as with any other LPS, you will see. How frequently to feed, coral condition shows to you. Starved skinny coral could be fed every day or once in two days, they recover nicely from half-dead state, no matter what species it is: common orange hemisphere, high tubes, branching of any color, including lemon yellow, pink, black and greenish black. Now even more species are available, like lilac with yellow tips.

3. Diodogorgia nodulifera, red or yellow,  is a large polyped gorgonian, the same advantage of being able to accept larger pieces of food and transparent polyps, showing how the food in moving through the throat, is it too large or not. Depending on what your tank is able to take, it could be broadcast feeding or more or less target feeding. Frequent feeding, higher flow. You will see is frequency of the feeding is enough or not by the coral state: is it becoming plump or tissue is thinning and receding. I wouldn't get involved for a time being with small polyped NPS corals, gorgonians or not, you can start with them after getting familiar with the easiest of NPS. If do broadcast feeding, choose semi-buoyant food, being afloat for a longer time, as TLF NutriGorg. Alone it's not enough, use variety of other food too, frozen or golden pearls of suitable size.

4. Dark tank helps with potential algae growth, if this is a problem. But it doesn't look as nice as a tank with a reef light.

5. How to access ability of the tank to support NPS corals: for a sun coral and diodogorgia, cycled tank and you, managing feeding and removing pollutants. In large tanks, auto feeding, skimming and robust mechanical filtration, with filter media changes frequently. In small tanks, some do the same, find a post for a 2 gal cylinder with electric scallop, there is a life support room, built around it, with refrigerated micro food dosing and so on. But most of us are low tech and have not enough space for this, some mechanical filtration (washable micron pads in a HOB or filter floss, replaced daily) and a lot of water changes. This is more about accumulation of dissolved and floating particulate organics, bacterial bloom, unhealthy environment with consequences.

6. It's not about what to buy to keep them alive, but how you will be managing it. There is no hoping for the best, some reading before starting is due. Search terms: keeping diodogorgia or tubastrea, feeding diodogorgia or sun coral, filtration for NPS corals, including pico reefs.

 

Usually good intentions and interest do not last more than a few years, life requires attention to something else, followed by moving to less labor intense species.