Dendronepthya

[jayphr99]

i am thinking of purchasing some dendronephtya from my lfs. they only have a delivery once every eight weeks so got time for research. it is a beautifull coral but has anybody ever kept it than can give me some usefull tips

 

[Aquascaper]

Don't!

They are next to impossible to keep as they have massive appetites for phytoplankton and/or zooplankton, because of this they need continuous drip feeding. They require a strong consistant water current and all will deflate upon introduction to the tank and most will never recover. It is virtually impossible to keep track of water quality with the continous drip feeding so everything else in the tank will suffer and more than likely die.

Oh yeah, and they contain toxic chemicals to deter predators so when (not if) it dies it will nuke your tank!

Still want one

 

[superman]

I second what aquascaper said. If you want to go colorful and crazy cool, go LPS or SPS.

 

[Chac]

Again as above not a coral to be messed with IMO

Better off in the Sea

Just way to much hassle

 

[Navarre]

Keep clear. This was my first coral i nth hobby. It died. At least i know that it wasnt my inexperience then.. every person i know since i started marines who has tried keeping them has met with no sucess.

 

[jayphr99]

thanks ill steer clear then. what can i have that looks unusual, bright colour and good to keep.

 

[Aquascaper]

Post your tank stats and params and we'll b able to help a bit more

 

[jayphr99]

Post your tank stats and params and we'll b able to help a bit more

55 gal tank
32 kg LR
protein skimmer
2 x 1200 ltr , 2 x 900 ltr /h power heads
T5 luminaire with 4 x 54w bulbs

s.g 1.025
phosphates 0.01
ph 8.17
calcium 420
k h 13
mag 1500
ammo 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 30

50 ltr water change every two weeks with r.o

stock.
yellow goby
yellow tang
humbug damsel
yellow tail damsel
red sea giant goby
pyjama tang or clown
fire fish
marron clown
wreck fish


leather coral
brown polyp colony
pulse coral
sun coral
brain coral
2 x mushroom colonys
2 x dancing shrimps
cleaner shrimp
varoius snails
5 hermit crabs

 

[jayphr99]

i currently feed my corals on green phytoplankton in a bottle i was told to put in about 6 or 7 5ml spoonfuls about an hour and half befor lights go out. is this enough and why that long before lights out. my sun coral eats live brineshrimp and so does brain. will this do them more harm than good or is this good

 

[Aquascaper]

Ok that Pajama Tang grows upto 15" and requires high water flow and oxygenation so you need to get that out of your tank asap It is a very agressive fish when adult and will kill everything else in your tank if left in there as it fights for space.

The Yellow Tang grows upto 8" and is not really suited to a tank that small either as Tangs are open water swimmers and need space but you may get away with it but not with that Pajama in there

Your Nitrates are way too high, they should be kept at 10ppm or below, they should never be allowed to get to 30ppm, you need to do a water change now and change it once a week rather than once every two.

As for corals, you could try ricordae, more colourful zoos, torch/frogspawn/hammer corals, green star polyps, they will all provide more colour but until you sort out the water quality issues (and I can guess what's causing them) there's no point as corals do not tolerate high nitrates. The corals you have at the moment will look so much better with cleaner water, once that happens look to add more.

 

[jayphr99]

ok thanks 4 advise