[optical]

(Nemanzophyllia turbida)
i just bought this coral today. not sure about the amount of light it needs. the lfs guy said strong but some sites say low light and place it on the bottom. what say you?
heres a pic 5 min after i placed it in the tank.

[Reefland]

You have 2-175w halides over your 90, correct? I think anywhere will be just about fine for this guy.

[optical]

2-175 halides with 2-96 actinics

[Reefland]

Should be fine about anywhere (well, I wouldn't place it 1" below the bulbs or anything...). What kind of lighting was it under when you got it? If much less, place it at the bottom of your tank; if similar or more, try to go the same distance.

[optical]

they just had some vho lighting, my lights are much brighter

[Reefland]

You might place it lower in your tank and see how it adapts, just to be safe.

[optical]

thanks scott, i'll try that. it opened up a little more, but not nearly as much as it should.

[Reefland]

I wouldn't expect it to. Corals moving from tank to tank is stressful, and time should be given for acclimation. Give it a bit, I'm sure it'll come around.

[optical]

it opened up today quite nicely. heres a few more pics. i can never seem to get my digital camera to work good. its a kodak DX 3900, ever use one before?

[BubbaWPB]

Originally Posted by optical

its a kodak DX 3900, ever use one before?

Duh... I used a Kodak Instamatic - does that count?

[Reefland]

You've got a couple of powerful corals on either side of this one, make sure it has enough room to avoid the "bites" of them.

[charlie]

I have my Fox in a low lite, low flow area, and it just loves it. Like Scott said, It will take a while to adjust. These are practically defenseless corals, put him somewhere that he isn't gonna get bothered by anybody, and he will pay you back!!!!

[optical]

cool, thanks guys... its opened way up now. i had no idea the extension on this thing is awesome! it has enough space between the frog and itself, but its actually touching the bubble. it doesnt seem to mind at all though, no retraction on either part.

[Reefland]

You've got to get it away from that bubble. They are very aggressive corals and will throw out long sweepers at night. There is a chance it might not be a problem them being so close but to be safe, I would move it.

[optical]

ill move it tomorrow for sure to be safe, but my bubble has little tiny sweepers, 3/4" maximum length. at night, maybe due to a drop in PH, it retracts way in its skeleton. if it stung the fox coral, would it die?

[charlesr1958]

Believe me, you do not want any coral / zooanthid to be stung by a bubble coral, they and many others, (galaxea come to mind) can extend stinging sweepers alot longer than you would think possible. I rank a bubble coral's sting right up there with an Elegant corals, of which I have scars on my arm from as well. As such, I keep all species that are downstream of such types well away from them. You might also note that bubble corals do not need to be up so high on the "reef", I keep mine on the sandbed now, not only as a means to protect others from it, but having noted that I never see bubble corals in the wild sitting out in the sun, not that they are not found like that elsewhere, but "mine" are always positioned upside down under ledges or in crevices where they might be lucky to get just a couple of hours of actual direct light.

[jollopee]

I always like to hear and talk about the stings that corals can produce and the placement of corals as well. Ive got a whole stack of books and really not any of them go into any detail the handeling or the ability to sting or the placement of the coral. Sure the books tell you they are aggressive or they need light or dont need light. Its the little things thats fun to learn about, the simplest little things are left out of the books imo. This thread is good to know stuff IMHO

Todd

[ErYn]

i agree Jollopee, these are good things to know, especially for us newbies!!

[optical]

i moved the bubble coral this morning to the sand bed. i also noticed on the fox that two small areas toward the back of it are kind of chewed up/withdrawn looking with the skeleton totally exposed. these areas are way too far away for the bubble to even get close. the bubble was touching the front of the coral before though, so my question is...if the bubble was touching the front of the fox coral, is it possible that it could affect a different spot such as the back of it?