[FishKid]

Do you think my tank is ready for a brain coral? Or should i get an acro or anthellia to get use to caring for corals? how hardy is brain coral?

Mark

[reefhead]

the brian coral would be a good choice. save the acro for last~

they are very hardy

what is your light type?

whats your water perams?

how long has your tank beed running?

[FishKid]

i am running 2 96 watt PC light fixtures, 1 10k bulb, 1 actnic. Tanks bee nup since february 22. water params are perfect!

MARK

[Elmo18]

Go for it Mark!!! I am ordering a Super Red Lobophyllia and it's arriving tomorrow, with several other things from Flying Fish Express.

My green open brain was doing well in 2X55 PC 10k and 03 combo from ahsupply.com in my old 25 gallon.

Good luck,
Ilham

[Aragorn]

Agreed,
A Favia should do just fine. They're considered a generally hardy coral. They like moderate to high light so you should be OK. Acro's are a bit more sensitive. Just my .02

[srgtkoons]

If you are getting a Tracphyllia geoffroyi, or a red or green open brain. A few things should be looked at. First red varieties prefer less light then the greens. Under your lights a red will bleach not sure about a green but that might be a possibility. They are lagoon critters so they do get bright light in nature but most of it is filtered by the turbidity of the water. If you notice them starting to bleach move em to a more shaded area. If you get a red I would start it out in a shaded area.

[FishKid]

there is a nice shaded area in my tank, but not a big one, they come attached to rocks right? could i place it down on the sand level for a day or so to acclimate it? or perhaps only run the 03 actnics for a day or so, then run the 10k bulb?

Im not sure which species i want, are there any that will outgrow my 30 gal?

mark

also... should i start dosing my tank? with what? is it neccessary that i start right away, or can it wait a while? --thanks

[srgtkoons]

red or green brains dont come attached to rock they are LPS corals so they have a stony skeleton. It will probably be ice cream cone shaped with the polyp acting as the icea cream. Sink the skeleton right down in the sand so that when the brain is fully expanded it will touch the sand. You can acclimate them but start it off in the shade and move slowly. It should stay on the sandbed. You can slowly move it to more lighted areas.

[FishKid]

It should stay on the sandbed.

i thought it was bad for corals to touch the sand?? I think i will go for the red brain, as there are already a lot of greens in my tank, and a red colored animal will really look nice! I am not sure who i will order from, i would like to order from PA, but they dont have either animal that i want... so its either FFE or exoticfish.com Which has better animal quality?


Thanks
Mark

[srgtkoons]

REd brains are found in areas were the sand is constantly in the water columm The sand wont bother them a bit. I have two red brains that are half buried in the sand and happy as can be. I can vouch for either company as I havent MO livestock from them. I hear good things about both of them.

[FishKid]

i would really rather buy from a LFS, but corals at my LFS are like $60-70 for a small specimen... so i will have to chance it. I cant decide which one, i am gonna email both companys and see which one has better service...


mark

[SPasse]

FishKid,

Tracphyllia, Wellsophyllia, (Brains) Cynarina, Catalaphyllia (Elegance) Fungia (Plate) and Heliofungia (long tentacle plate) are all lagoon sand bed creatures.

They are often mistakenly laced on the live rock, but this is not their natural environment.

If you look at the pictures on my web page, you will see all of these critters placed in/on my sand bed.

Regards,

Scott

[srgtkoons]

You asked if you should dose anything and I nor anyone else answered. Brains are stoney corals so they will appreciate calcium levels of around 450 ppm and alkalinty around 3.5 meq/l. I am also a strong believer in feeding any coral with a mouth. I love to watch my brains feed. Whenever the tentacles are open I use a long pippette to stir up the sand around the brain so it gets a good cloud of stuff around it. Even if the tentacles are not open this will cause the tentacles to open. I also feed a small piece of some meaty food like shrimp or silversides every once and a while. I dont think your in danger of a red open brain outgrowing our 30 gallon. I have two in my 30 gallon They grow rather slowly.

[FishKid]

I do not have too much space on the sand bed, if the coral decides to grow... should i re-arrange the rock work?

i dont have a calcium/alkalinity test. also how would I dose it? Would i have to hook up a drip line, or just measure "X" amount once a week? Do you recommend that i begin dosing before i aquire the coral? It seems that i already have allot of calcium in the water, because i have a good amount of coraline growth. I like the Lobophyllia hemprichii! Looks awesome!!

Anything else i should know? How do you acclimate a coral? same as a fish?

mark

[srgtkoons]

To maintain calcium and alk in your tank since its so small Its pretty easy. I like Seachem reef advantage and reef builder. Its pretty simple to use. You can set up a drip thing if you wish but with my 30 gallon I dont. Get some test kits, I like Fastest Caclium test and seatest alkalinity. Cheap simple to use and I have had good results with it. With these I just test my ca and alk over a period of two weeks and determine the amount needed to raise and maintain it. I only test Ca and alk now after water changes and it is always within the correct ranges. I am not sure about the rock thing, Maybe SPASSE will help you out here.