Is my tank OK for corals?

Aquariust · 08-13-2001, 06:12 PM

Hi all! I have been looking in all my books looking for info on candy cane corals, or caulerstra (i think). All my books talk about them, but only give very sketchy details about them. I know what they look like, and I also know they are a hard coral. My LFS has 2 of them for $19.99 - 25% off. They are about twice the size of a frag, i guess. They weren't huge though.

Well, the price sounded good, but I wondering how hardy they are? I believe they are filter feeders and don't require to be fed? It would be my first coral!

My tank is a 55G, 4 x 55W PC's (4 wpg), amiracle HOB POS skimmer and wet/dry combined, DSB, 60lbs LR, and 2 Maxi 1200's on a wave strip.

The tank has been up since March of 2000 or so. I have a pair of clowns, 3 chromis, and a neon goby. I have, since the cycle in April of 2000, been keeping all these fish, and also 15 snails, 15 hermits, and 3 camel shrimp ( i know, they're on their way out ) I have also been keeping 2 large feather dusters for a few weeks. I don't want to get too carried away bc the tank is being torn down when the 125 goes up. We're also moving a few apartments over (in Nov), so that's even more difficulty involved.

I'm buying about 50lbs of LR, some more hermits and snails, and a clownfish from a gentlemen I saw an ad in. Anyone want a Common Clownfish??? He is also giving me a hard coral. He is going to tell me what it is when he looks it up. So, I'm getting a coral no matter what? So should I take advantage of the candy cane's at the LFS?

I've heard that hard corals are harder to keep than softies?

BTW- He's been keeping this unamed coral in an unheated 5 1/2 gallon tank on a window sill for a week now. I pick it up on sunday, hope it makes it.

Thanks for reading this book!
Oh, the tank levels, duh!

Temp 81
Salinity 1.025
Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Copper 0
ph: 8 (kinda low I know, I need to buy a buffer, any recommendations?)
silicate: 3mg/l ( high I know, I just bought corallife silicate remover)
Phosphates: 0
Calcium 470

suekey1 · 08-13-2001, 06:48 PM

We have close to the same setup you do except 100 lbs of liverock, 3 inch sand base, an additional actinic and are using a Magnum 350 without the biowheel. We have several of these candy corals and they do well as long as they dont get too close to other hard corals. I've tried them in various parts of the tank. They seem to do well both at the top and at the bottom if in direct light. I have to move them occasionally because they are getting too big (branching out) and we currently have too much coral in the tank which is slowly being transferred to the 125 gallon. I bought them because I was told they were pretty hardy and easy to keep. Seems to be true for us.
Good luck!

naser · 08-13-2001, 06:49 PM

i have an sps tank and softies in my case are harder to keep.

**scubadude** · 08-13-2001, 07:47 PM

I believe the candycane is a LPS and its about the middle of the line as far as ease to take care of....I have 2 diff candycanes in my tank both are doing ok and growing....I also have some SPS and softies...the candycane did seem a little tempermental at first and I did lose one of the polyps but it has since came back and there are 2 new polyps as well

My problem with them was a small aiptasia that I didnt realize until it killed the one polyp

your parameters sound fine for the candycane though...Good Luck

Aquariust · 08-14-2001, 07:42 PM

Just wanted to let everyone know I purchased the small candy cane coral from my LFS ($15)

He has 6 ends, or whatever they are called? The heads? The part that glows green in atinic. 1 of the ends looks dead, all white. The other 5 look pretty good.

I will be posting some pics soon. Is there anything I can do to ensure his survival? I haven't seen the poloyps come out yet. How and what do I feed it?

suekey1 · 08-15-2001, 10:56 PM

The second and third group of candy corals we bought had dead "buttons". We were told it was ok to just break them off which we did and there was no problem. I'm not qualified, though, to state that as fact as we know now from the multitude of problems and misguided info we have received from that particular store that they really don't know what they are talking about. I can say that it had no bad effect on the rest. Ours didn't fill out until I found the right place for them...again, trial and error as everyone has their opinion and one persons "medium water flow" is another's "heavy water flow". I did wait a couple of days before moving them each time because I've been told it sometimes takes a couple of days for the corals to acclimate to their new surroundings. Regarding feeding, We have not yet fed them. We do feed daphnia on a regular basis for the small mouthed fishes and assume the corals are also enjoying it. Those that we don't feed are doing splendidly as are the ones we do feed by hand.

Aquariust · 08-16-2001, 11:41 PM

Update:

Moved the Candy Cane up to the top of the LR last night. Seems to be doing pretty good. The polyops have been open pretty much all day long.

One of the polyops, the largest one btw, has some kind of sweeper tentacles coming out of it (very small and thin). The other polyops haven't done this yet, but I am guessing it is a good thing. One of the polyops is dead. It's all white. I bought it this way. Will it kill the rest? Can it become alive again?

It looks so cool under my atinic lighting. Intresting green color inside the polyops.

Today, I saw the tentacles out, and decided to try and feed it. I used my turkey baster, and squirted some Marine A seafood (frozen) in it's path. It held onto a large piece, I guess it was eating it?

My "Mean Little Green Chromis" came up and took a peck at the tentacle. It retracted, and I haven't seen them since? Are they venemous, or stingers? I am tired of the Chromis bullying everything else. I set the QT tank up today, and I will be attempting to catch him tomorrow. Back to the LS he goes

I am going to leave his 2 friends in there and see if they can behave.

Thanks for all the help!

Aquariust · 08-22-2001, 12:32 AM

My candy cane coral (not from this guy!). Dosen't look like it's doing too good. We'll see I guess. What's normal activity for them? Where should they be placed? High current? High light?

My feather dusters

**SPasse** · 08-22-2001, 04:24 PM

Aquariust,

Candy Cane Coral is one of the easiest to keep of the stony corals, and a species that I recommend for a person’s first “stony coral”

The come in many color morphs, with the red verities needing less light than the metallic verities, like this one:

They are rather un-demanding in lighting requirements and water parameters.

For lighting, I have kept them under everything from NO Tritons up to and including 400-watt MH lamps.

As is true for all stony corals, make sure your CA an Alkalinity are up to natural seawater levels.

Regards,

Scott

suekey1 · 08-23-2001, 01:20 AM

I have both types pictured. The ones you are having trouble with, I too had trouble. I found they liked more moderate to heavy current. My water parameters are as precise as you can get them, too. I have PCs and they are in the lower portion of the tank but not at the bottom. On the other hand, the other ones I have that look like the ones Scott pictured are at the bottom in the sand and are doing just fine. (they were at the top but "someone" knocked them down in the morning while I was at work), I left them there cause they looked ok and they are actually looking better than ever. Sue

08-13-2001, 06:12 PM	#1
Aquariust Citizen Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: NJ Posts: 140	Is my tank OK for corals? Hi all! I have been looking in all my books looking for info on candy cane corals, or caulerstra (i think). All my books talk about them, but only give very sketchy details about them. I know what they look like, and I also know they are a hard coral. My LFS has 2 of them for $19.99 - 25% off. They are about twice the size of a frag, i guess. They weren't huge though. Well, the price sounded good, but I wondering how hardy they are? I believe they are filter feeders and don't require to be fed? It would be my first coral! My tank is a 55G, 4 x 55W PC's (4 wpg), amiracle HOB POS skimmer and wet/dry combined, DSB, 60lbs LR, and 2 Maxi 1200's on a wave strip. The tank has been up since March of 2000 or so. I have a pair of clowns, 3 chromis, and a neon goby. I have, since the cycle in April of 2000, been keeping all these fish, and also 15 snails, 15 hermits, and 3 camel shrimp ( i know, they're on their way out ) I have also been keeping 2 large feather dusters for a few weeks. I don't want to get too carried away bc the tank is being torn down when the 125 goes up. We're also moving a few apartments over (in Nov), so that's even more difficulty involved. I'm buying about 50lbs of LR, some more hermits and snails, and a clownfish from a gentlemen I saw an ad in. Anyone want a Common Clownfish??? He is also giving me a hard coral. He is going to tell me what it is when he looks it up. So, I'm getting a coral no matter what? So should I take advantage of the candy cane's at the LFS? I've heard that hard corals are harder to keep than softies? BTW- He's been keeping this unamed coral in an unheated 5 1/2 gallon tank on a window sill for a week now. I pick it up on sunday, hope it makes it. Thanks for reading this book! Oh, the tank levels, duh! Temp 81 Salinity 1.025 Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Copper 0 ph: 8 (kinda low I know, I need to buy a buffer, any recommendations?) silicate: 3mg/l ( high I know, I just bought corallife silicate remover) Phosphates: 0 Calcium 470 __________________ “Parties who want milk should not seat themselves on a stool in the middle of the field in hope that the cow will back up to them.” -Elbert Hubbard Aquariusts Den Last edited by Aquariust; 08-13-2001 at 06:16 PM.

08-13-2001, 07:47 PM	#4
scubadude Moderator Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Wichita, Kansas Posts: 5,291	I believe the candycane is a LPS and its about the middle of the line as far as ease to take care of....I have 2 diff candycanes in my tank both are doing ok and growing....I also have some SPS and softies...the candycane did seem a little tempermental at first and I did lose one of the polyps but it has since came back and there are 2 new polyps as well My problem with them was a small aiptasia that I didnt realize until it killed the one polyp your parameters sound fine for the candycane though...Good Luck __________________ Rocky

08-14-2001, 07:42 PM	#5
Aquariust Citizen Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: NJ Posts: 140	Just wanted to let everyone know I purchased the small candy cane coral from my LFS ($15) He has 6 ends, or whatever they are called? The heads? The part that glows green in atinic. 1 of the ends looks dead, all white. The other 5 look pretty good. I will be posting some pics soon. Is there anything I can do to ensure his survival? I haven't seen the poloyps come out yet. How and what do I feed it? __________________ “Parties who want milk should not seat themselves on a stool in the middle of the field in hope that the cow will back up to them.” -Elbert Hubbard Aquariusts Den

08-16-2001, 11:41 PM	#7
Aquariust Citizen Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: NJ Posts: 140	Update: Moved the Candy Cane up to the top of the LR last night. Seems to be doing pretty good. The polyops have been open pretty much all day long. One of the polyops, the largest one btw, has some kind of sweeper tentacles coming out of it (very small and thin). The other polyops haven't done this yet, but I am guessing it is a good thing. One of the polyops is dead. It's all white. I bought it this way. Will it kill the rest? Can it become alive again? It looks so cool under my atinic lighting. Intresting green color inside the polyops. Today, I saw the tentacles out, and decided to try and feed it. I used my turkey baster, and squirted some Marine A seafood (frozen) in it's path. It held onto a large piece, I guess it was eating it? My "Mean Little Green Chromis" came up and took a peck at the tentacle. It retracted, and I haven't seen them since? Are they venemous, or stingers? I am tired of the Chromis bullying everything else. I set the QT tank up today, and I will be attempting to catch him tomorrow. Back to the LS he goes I am going to leave his 2 friends in there and see if they can behave. Thanks for all the help! __________________ “Parties who want milk should not seat themselves on a stool in the middle of the field in hope that the cow will back up to them.” -Elbert Hubbard Aquariusts Den

08-22-2001, 12:32 AM	#8
Aquariust Citizen Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: NJ Posts: 140	My candy cane coral (not from this guy!). Dosen't look like it's doing too good. We'll see I guess. What's normal activity for them? Where should they be placed? High current? High light? My feather dusters __________________ “Parties who want milk should not seat themselves on a stool in the middle of the field in hope that the cow will back up to them.” -Elbert Hubbard Aquariusts Den

08-13-2001, 06:48 PM	#2
suekey1 Just Moved In Join Date: May 2001 Location: Infernoville, USA Posts: 29	We have close to the same setup you do except 100 lbs of liverock, 3 inch sand base, an additional actinic and are using a Magnum 350 without the biowheel. We have several of these candy corals and they do well as long as they dont get too close to other hard corals. I've tried them in various parts of the tank. They seem to do well both at the top and at the bottom if in direct light. I have to move them occasionally because they are getting too big (branching out) and we currently have too much coral in the tank which is slowly being transferred to the 125 gallon. I bought them because I was told they were pretty hardy and easy to keep. Seems to be true for us. Good luck!

08-13-2001, 06:49 PM	#3
naser super-reefer Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: SAN DIEGO, CA Posts: 1,908	i have an sps tank and softies in my case are harder to keep.

08-15-2001, 10:56 PM	#6
suekey1 Just Moved In Join Date: May 2001 Location: Infernoville, USA Posts: 29	The second and third group of candy corals we bought had dead "buttons". We were told it was ok to just break them off which we did and there was no problem. I'm not qualified, though, to state that as fact as we know now from the multitude of problems and misguided info we have received from that particular store that they really don't know what they are talking about. I can say that it had no bad effect on the rest. Ours didn't fill out until I found the right place for them...again, trial and error as everyone has their opinion and one persons "medium water flow" is another's "heavy water flow". I did wait a couple of days before moving them each time because I've been told it sometimes takes a couple of days for the corals to acclimate to their new surroundings. Regarding feeding, We have not yet fed them. We do feed daphnia on a regular basis for the small mouthed fishes and assume the corals are also enjoying it. Those that we don't feed are doing splendidly as are the ones we do feed by hand.

08-22-2001, 04:24 PM	#9
SPasse Moderator Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Forney Texas USA Posts: 2,259	Aquariust, Candy Cane Coral is one of the easiest to keep of the stony corals, and a species that I recommend for a person’s first “stony coral” The come in many color morphs, with the red verities needing less light than the metallic verities, like this one: They are rather un-demanding in lighting requirements and water parameters. For lighting, I have kept them under everything from NO Tritons up to and including 400-watt MH lamps. As is true for all stony corals, make sure your CA an Alkalinity are up to natural seawater levels. Regards, Scott __________________ Founding Member – Rocky Mountain Reef Club You can see my former reeftank at http://www.sdpasse.com

08-23-2001, 01:20 AM	#10
suekey1 Just Moved In Join Date: May 2001 Location: Infernoville, USA Posts: 29	I have both types pictured. The ones you are having trouble with, I too had trouble. I found they liked more moderate to heavy current. My water parameters are as precise as you can get them, too. I have PCs and they are in the lower portion of the tank but not at the bottom. On the other hand, the other ones I have that look like the ones Scott pictured are at the bottom in the sand and are doing just fine. (they were at the top but "someone" knocked them down in the morning while I was at work), I left them there cause they looked ok and they are actually looking better than ever. Sue

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