let's talk corals, SPS, LPS, and Soft corals

[sirknight]

I moved my greenhouse and basement thread to show that with a little bit of work and time, anyone with the knowledge can do this in any part of the country.

It was easy to raise soft corals outdoors year round, but not sps because you will need to supplement light on the rainy days and winter. It was much easier to do it indoors. I ran my indoor lighting systems on a lights on at night cycle, for 12 hours a day.

Yes it did require a dehumidifier in the basement and my humidity level was kept at 25%. without it I would have had 75 +% which is way to high.

If anyone has any questions about this system or just wants to talk about a single tank setup feel free to ask questions and I will try to help.

Joe

[angel]

Joe,
My son, who does not keep fish, told me that corals and fish are not kept together because the corals eat the fish. Is that true? He said they sting them and it liquifies their insides, paralyzes them, makes them food. I was in Aquatic Critter and they had an eclipse tank with corals and a few seahorses. They didn't eat the seahorses. Also, what exactly is a polyp?
Tina

[sirknight]

Corals don't eat fish it is normally the other way around. Some fish live exclusively on corals, for example some of the butterfly fish only eat coral polyps and other fish eat the skeleton and the polyps,an example of this is a parrot fish.

the polyp is the living part of the coral, in Stony corals SPS the skeleton is on the outside of the coral and the polyp is the living part as the coral grows the polyps increase in number and the skeleton extends.

Your son may be thinking of anemones which are not corals but a whole other type of organism. Anemones do eat fish and invents.

Joe

[angel]

That's what I told him! It was anemones! They even say that on Finding Nemo.
What does a polyp look like? Are they the top layer of the coral and they're what we see? What do corals eat?

[sirknight]

The what do they look like depends on the coral.
In sps they look like little flowers, and in a very healthy coral are all over the skeleton, when the polyps are not extended you can see the holes that they are in.
LPS (large polyp stony) have one or more polyps depending on the type.
Soft corals have polyps but they do not have a hard skeleton.

Some corals eat fish waste, tiny invents and algae. Some also require high output lighting, but all eat in some form or another.
To get into detail we have to pick a type. stony, large polyps stony, and soft corals.

Yes there are corals that don't require light but they are IMO something that should be left in the ocean, because they are all but impossible to keep alive for any length of time.

The first thing someone should do before they start with corals is read or ask questions before the buy the coral.
Light requirements, tank chemical make-up, what fish they have or plan to get, etc. impulse buying is a big no no.
Wouldn't you feel really bad if you bought something that can not live in your tank?


I will be here to help just ask.

Joe

[angel]

Yes. In fact, I never got over killing a clown a damsel and two other fish. I went to the LFS when I was maybe 22, wanted salt water, they sold me a 10 gallon tank!!!! And these 4 fish. And let me set it up same day, small tank, no established things in tank at all, and just dump in the aquarium salt in the amount they told me to do before putting the fish in. You know what happened. I've never tried it since. Now don't have to. Cichlids have all the color, and anyway it's offtopic. Just an example coz I killed them and never have forgotten. Happens all the time too. Glad you're here to help when we get the coral and salt members in.