Punctured tentacles on Plate Coral

[JUNRL]

I have a 75 gal FO tank w/c is only 5 mos. old. It only has a maroon clown, 3 allardi clown, a percula and 3 dominos.
A week ago, I added 2 brains, a cup, an elegance and 2 plate corals (not at the same time). I'm really new at corals (also marine fish for that matter), but since the fish are doing fine, I decided to add some corals. Last night, I noticed some tentacles on the plate corals lookd like flat tires with punctures.
Is this a disease that you guys can help me with?
I don't see the fish picking on them so it must be another cause.
Pls help, I'm really new at this
Thanks guys and gals,

jun

[Penguin]

Wow, 5 clowns in a 75?! Do they fight? What sizes are they? How about the damsels? Just curious.

Sorry, I don't have an answer for you on the plate coral though. Maybe check nitrate levels?

[Ltspd]

I dont think plate corals do well in most tanks. I have (had) one that is slowly degrading, very similar to yours.

[organicreefer]

as ltsp mentioned, plates are not the easiest of corals and i wouldnt reccomend them to a beginner.the "deflated " condition could mean anything ,or nothing .not the answer you wanted i know but ime they do "deflate" now and again(mine always has) for whatever reason.i can tell you that they prefer moderate currents,try less flow.also i beleive they "like " a little partial shade(in bright light). feeding is a must. the rule i like to go by is,if it has a mouth ,feed it,if it eats ,feed it regularly.i feed my plate coral a small peice of shrimp,or mysis shrimp,or "coral heaven"(it does seem to love this stuff) about once a week ,when i remember,and ive had it about 15 months.
another thing,you have alot of fish for a 75 that is 5 months old.the reason i say this is because slowing down and maintaining a lower bio-load is probably the best advice i can give you ,youll be more successful in the long run.best of luck with the plates

[JUNRL]

3 to 4 in. maroon clown, two 1 in. allardi, one 2 in. false clown, one 1 in. percula. the marron acts as bully. yes fom time to time the bully chases everything that moves but just for a second or two especially during chow time. it's been that way ever since. i guess they like it that way since everything's doing fine. they're all trying to make a home out of the cup corals

I remove the plate corals since it started to cloud the tank. Now they're dead melted away in a small tank. I guess plates are really not for beginners.
I just hope the rest of my corals live thru the year. The hardest part in this process is starting the process, that i've learned.

Could you guys give this novice advise on what corals to get.

Thank you guys

jun.

[Penguin]

Sorry about the plate.

Good beginner corals are mushrooms, green star polyps, and leathers. What kind of lighting do you have?

I hate to discourage you, but elegance corals haven't had great survival records recently, and are definitely not a beginner's coral, so that could be the next to go. Good luck with it.

[organicreefer]

more info on youre setup would be helpfull in reccomending corals .lighting? /flow ?/protien skimmer? etc.

[JUNRL]

thanks for the coral advise.
the elegance that i've got is only on its 6th day and is looking great (i think). i guess it's too early to say.
my tank is really not set up for reef, so there's not much lighting except for a 20 w actinic and a 20 w ordinary pink lamp, since it's a FO tank. it gets direct sunlight for about 3 hours a day (noon) from our overhed transluscent roof. a turbo skimmer and an overhead filter only. i couldn't afford those expensive filters yet. moderate flow is generated by the overhed filter pump w/c has 2 nozzles (one for flow & the other for the filter) and about 35 lbs live rock.
i know that's not enough, any suggestion that's not gonna get me broke before X'mas?
appreciate eveything

jun