From FOWLR to Reef: My first coral

[erikras]

I finally bit the bullet today and bought my first coral. The LFS had a small piece of rock with three 1.5" and four or five tiny purple and green mushrooms on it. From the research I've done, it seems that a couple of mushrooms are a good way to start.

My tank has been up and running for over 6 months. Ammonia and Nitrites have been 0 since the initial cycle. With the newly setup basement sump and skimmer, the nitrates have been consistently under 10ppm. I'm working to get them lower and just set up a refugium in the basement last weekend. pH is steady in the 8.15-8.3 range (have a probe on my ReefKeeper) and I'm hoping the opposing photo cycle of the fuge will help steady that out. My lighting is only a 2x54W T5HO but I plan to add an additional 2 lamp fixture in the near future.

The LFS sold me some Coral Rx dip which I used and a bottle of Reef Snow to feed these guys.

Anything else I should know or watch out for? I've read all the basics a half dozen times over in books and on the internet.

Thanks!

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6076/6067813362_be5154f4e2.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/55194140@N04/6067813362/)
Peppermint Shrimp checking out the new mushrooms (http://www.flickr.com/photos/55194140@N04/6067813362/) by erikras (http://www.flickr.com/people/55194140@N04/), on Flickr

[helcat17]

i just got my first yesterday lol i got a frag of green star polyp but my tank has been up and running for about a year and a half, so we are starting a new adventure at the same time. G/L

[angelofrapture]

I would feed sparingly, if at all! My experience with mushrooms is that they will stay healthy and reproduce/spread simply from the light and nutrients in the water (ie, extra fish food and poop). I don't think it would hurt to feed them from time to time (maybe once a week or two weeks) but it often seems that more problems come from overfeeding than underfeeding.

[sporto0]

Great start! A word of advice, those mushrooms will continue to spread, it's best to keep them isolated on that rock or other pieces of rubble, because you when you decide to start keeping more exotic corals, & you will, the mushrooms can become invasive & you won't want them to overtake other pieces. Enjoy & good luck.

[erikras]

Great start! A word of advice, those mushrooms will continue to spread, it's best to keep them isolated on that rock or other pieces of rubble, because you when you decide to start keeping more exotic corals, & you will, the mushrooms can become invasive & you won't want them to overtake other pieces. Enjoy & good luck.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll move the rock away from the main "island" in the tank.

[Turbo snail]

Those are definitely a good coral to start out with. I have some red mushrooms in my tank that grow like weeds and have to trim them back regularly. One suggestion is that while it will not hurt anything, in my experience soft/leather corals like these do not need marine snow to thrive as long as the lighting is decent. You only really need to get into regular dosing of marine snow when you start to get multiple LPS, SPS, or anemones in your tank. Good luck on your reef adventure!!

[sporto0]

Those are definitely a good coral to start out with. I have some red mushrooms in my tank that grow like weeds and have to trim them back regularly. One suggestion is that while it will not hurt anything, in my experience soft/leather corals like these do not need marine snow to thrive as long as the lighting is decent. You only really need to get into regular dosing of marine snow when you start to get multiple LPS, SPS, or anemones in your tank. Good luck on your reef adventure!!

That is true about most photosynthetic corals, feeding one or twice a month is a bonus but overfeeding is not necessary or suggested.

[erikras]

One of the smaller mushrooms wasn't actually attached to the rock I bought, but rather was attached to a small piece of rubble about the size of a pea. What would be the best way to attach this to a small rock so that the current won't carry it off? Right now I've kind of got it wedged into another piece of rock that I'd rather not have covered in mushrooms.

[sporto0]

One of the smaller mushrooms wasn't actually attached to the rock I bought, but rather was attached to a small piece of rubble about the size of a pea. What would be the best way to attach this to a small rock so that the current won't carry it off? Right now I've kind of got it wedged into another piece of rock that I'd rather not have covered in mushrooms.

Epoxy the rubble to the rock you want. I have found that epoxy works better for rock to rock adhesion as opposed to super glue gel, but either will work to a degree.

[erikras]

Epoxy the rubble to the rock you want. I have found that epoxy works better for rock to rock adhesion as opposed to super glue gel, but either will work to a degree.

Are you referring to the typical 2 part epoxy that comes in a syringe or the "stick" type that they sell at the local LFS to bonding rock? I have both.

[sporto0]

Are you referring to the typical 2 part epoxy that comes in a syringe or the "stick" type that they sell at the local LFS to bonding rock? I have both.

Yes, that is exactly what I'm talking about.