New corals look okay?

[ThisCityIsDead]

This is a GSP. I've had him for 1 week.
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This is a gopi/flower pot. I've had it for 5 days. It did not come out until the 2nd day. It comes out a bit more at night. 295032 (if it looks brownish it's because of the algae in the glass)

Waving hand polyp. I've had it for 3 days. It retracts at night and expands during the day.
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Hammer. I've had it for 24hrs now. It's slowly coming out. 295029

Leather toadstool (green). I've also had it for 24hrs. It's doing great. Its polyps came out minutes after I added it into the tank.

[MMacro]

What lights are you running?

[ThisCityIsDead]

I am running 5t. 2-10k and 2-actinic.

[Rob6311]

The only thing that I see is that the corals skeleton is showing. When I first got My hammer coral it did the same thing except the skeleton wasnt showing, but it eventually did open up

[ThisCityIsDead]

The only thing that I see is that the corals skeleton is showing. When I first got My hammer coral it did the same thing except the skeleton wasnt showing, but it eventually did open up


Yeah, when I saw it at the LFS, the coral was flown and out. Then the store worker packed him up and as soon as he touched it, the coral went inside. It looked nothing like it does today. It was hidden, completely hidden. Today it is sticking out more:). Hopefully tomorrow is out. Question, does the hammer coral contract during night time? When the 10k lights go off, the coral sucks its polyps/tentacles in.

[Rob6311]

Yeah, when I saw it at the LFS, the coral was flown and out. Then the store worker packed him up and as soon as he touched it, the coral went inside. It looked nothing like it does today. It was hidden, completely hidden. Today it is sticking out more:). Hopefully tomorrow is out. Question, does the hammer coral contract during night time? When the 10k lights go off, the coral sucks its polyps/tentacles in.


Yes it usually does contract but it doesn't contract like it is in your original pic

[slief]

Is this tank only 45 days old? If so, I wouldn't have advised starting with flower pot or the hammer... While the hammer is a bit more hearty, the flower pot will most certainly die before long. I also wouldn't expect long term survival of the hammer. In my opinion, you are wasting your money and have a ways to go before you can expect success with those kinds of corals. Flower pots are especially difficult to keep even under ideal circumstances. In my experience, healthy flower pots and hammers will open up almost immediately in a well established system with decent light and apporpriate flow. 5 days in and what I see isn't a good sign for those two.

The leathers and the waving hand are a bit easier to keep in a newer system however, at around 45 days in, you are pushing your luck.

[ThisCityIsDead]

Is this tank only 45 days old? If so, I wouldn't have advised starting with flower pot or the hammer... While the hammer is a bit more hearty, the flower pot will most certainly die before long. I also wouldn't expect long term survival of the hammer. In my opinion, you are wasting your money and have a ways to go before you can expect success with those kinds of corals. Flower pots are especially difficult to keep even under ideal circumstances. In my experience, healthy flower pots and hammers will open up almost immediately in a well established system with decent light and apporpriate flow. 5 days in and what I see isn't a good sign for those two.

The leathers and the waving hand are a bit easier to keep in a newer system however, at around 45 days in, you are pushing your luck.


The flower pot was a 7$ frag so It was a steal. And the tank is just about 2 months old

[ThisCityIsDead]

I forgot to mention, the flowerpot extends at night, but it's pretty wild during the day. During the day it extends its polyps but retracts some here and there, at night every polyp is extended.

The hammer was getting too much flow, I moved it where there is very low/no flow and it has its polyps extended.

[Cole.97]

I agree with slief about the flower pot coral being one of the hardest corals to keep even for very experienced aquarists. Most look good for around 6 months then slowly wither away. I would do some research on the flower pot coral.

[ThisCityIsDead]

Hmm. I'm just going to take this as a trial an error coral. I'm hoping it survives, but from everyone's feedback and what's known out there about the coral and the hobby, I do not expect for it to survive. But so far it seems well

[edinphilly]

Putting waving hand coral in my tank (a frag smaller than yours) is the biggest mistake I made. It stayed frag sized for a couple months and then started taking over. I am constantly battling it and it's a losing battle. I wish I never put it in and would throw it out if I could do it over.

[ThisCityIsDead]

Putting waving hand coral in my tank (a frag smaller than yours) is the biggest mistake I made. It stayed frag sized for a couple months and then started taking over. I am constantly battling it and it's a losing battle. I wish I never put it in and would throw it out if I could do it over.


I am not sure if it's possible, but couldn't you just rip the darn thing?

[Buzz1329]

Is this tank only 45 days old? If so, I wouldn't have advised starting with flower pot or the hammer... While the hammer is a bit more hearty, the flower pot will most certainly die before long. I also wouldn't expect long term survival of the hammer. In my opinion, you are wasting your money and have a ways to go before you can expect success with those kinds of corals. Flower pots are especially difficult to keep even under ideal circumstances. In my experience, healthy flower pots and hammers will open up almost immediately in a well established system with decent light and apporpriate flow. 5 days in and what I see isn't a good sign for those two.

The leathers and the waving hand are a bit easier to keep in a newer system however, at around 45 days in, you are pushing your luck.

Well said and could not agree more.

[edinphilly]

I am not sure if it's possible, but couldn't you just rip the darn thing?


Any little piece of the flesh that gets loose turns itself into another colony. It doesn't creep like other soft corals it spreads throughout the tank and pops up all over.

[ThisCityIsDead]

Hmm. A tiny tentacle was ripped off and was floating around my tank. The coral itself looks bad, so I didn't even think to take that piece out.

[edinphilly]

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That turned into this. And much more constantly sprouting up. It is choking out other corals.

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[ThisCityIsDead]

Oh wow... That's making me want to take it out of the tank now!:|

[edinphilly]

Oh wow... That's making me want to take it out of the tank now!:|


I think my original frag cost me 10-15 bucks. I'd gladly throw that money away 50 times over to be able to undo my mistake.

This is a current picture of the tank and I did a major harvest (siphon cutting) of waving hand less than 24 hrs ago. If you zoom in look how many places it is. Do some googling about removing waving hand. I found out after the fact it's so invasive a lot of frag swaps ban it.

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