FAQs about Oculinid/Galaxy Corals
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Related Articles: Oculinids, Galaxy Corals,
Related FAQs: Oculinids 1, & FAQs on: Oculinid Identification, Oculinid Behavior, Oculinid Compatibility, Oculinid Selection, Oculinid Systems, Oculinid Feeding, Oculinid Health, Oculinid Reproduction/Propagation,
& Stony/True Coral,
Coral System Set-Up, Coral System Lighting, Stony Coral Identification, Stony Coral Selection, Coral Placement, Foods/Feeding/Nutrition, Disease/Health, Propagation, Growing Reef Corals, Stony Coral Behavior,
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Coral care... Galaxea, rdg.
3/18/11
I have several coral in my reef tank. All are well except my bunch of
Galaxy Coral.
<Mmm, this genus, family (Oculinidae) are near the top in terms of
"stinging-ness"... have long (up to a foot) filaments that
sweep out and about, limiting other life from crowding>
It has a milky white substance in between the branches around the tops,
so the stem is covered, but the top with the tentacles is not covered.
Any idea what it is? And how to treat it?
<... Need more/useful info... re the water and system make up, and
importantly, the rest of the species present. Best for you to read:
http://wetwebmedia.com/galcordisf.htm
and the linked files re the group above. Bob Fenner>
Cutting Sweeper Tentacles on a Galaxea fascicularis --
07/21/08 Hello WWM, <Rick> I thoroughly enjoy your site! I
read somewhere (some other book or web resource) that you could keep
the sweeper tentacles cut on a Galaxea fascicularis. <Mmm, no...
regenerate> I have not been able to relocate the information. I
recently purchased an excellent specimen and want to provide the best
environment for it and the other occupants of my 140g mixed reef tank.
Will cutting the sweepers harm this coral? <Trying to, yes> If I
do cut the sweepers do I have to be careful not to let them float
around the tank? <Mmm, yes> Can sweepers be cut on other corals?
<Not really... aren't obvious, are largely translucent... can/do
grow back> Thank you for any help you can give. Rick Hrdlicka
<Leave at least a foot of space around the Oculinid... acclimate all
new Cnidarian life by mixing some water for weeks twixt isolation
(quarantine) and the main tank, before introduction/acclimation. Bob
Fenner>
Galaxy Coral/Health 1/27/08 Hi WWM crew,
<Hi Jason> I have a quick question regarding my Galaxy
Coral. I've had it for several months and it does not appear
to be doing all that well. When I first got the galaxy, its
sweeper tentacles would come out have night. However, within in
the past month or two they no longer appear. Along with the
sweeper tentacle issue, the coral itself seems to be receding.
The galaxy is placed midway up the tank, at least 8 inches away
from any other coral. The power heads are placed in such a way as
to give it indirect current. I feed the corals 2 to 3 times a
week -- usually a combination of Cyclop-eeze and various frozen
foods mixed with a few drops of Selcon. <Good so far.> My
tank details and parameters are as follows: Tank: 55 gallon + 15
gallon sump. Weekly 5 gallon water changes using Instant Ocean
salt mix. Dose Kalkwasser in morning using the slurry method.
Water is de-chlorinated tap water (aerated 24hrs or more before
adding salt; mixed and aerated additional 24 to 48 hrs). I will
be changing over to RO/DI this week. Lighting: 3 X 39W T5
lighting (2 -- 10K, 1 - Actinic) with individual reflectors.
(Icecap 660 ballast supposedly overdrives these to 60W each)
Protein Skimmer: Aqua C Urchin Pro. 3 Power heads for water
movement: 1 - Maxi Jet 1200, 1 -- *Koralia(1), 1 -- Aqua Clear
30. Specific Gravity: 1.025 (using refractometer) Temp: 78 -- 81F
All tests are done using Salifert kits unless otherwise noted:
Nitrate: 0 Nitrite: 0 (Instant Ocean) Ammonia: 0 (Instant Ocean)
Phosphates: 0 (Seachem) Calcium: 320 ppm <This needs to be
closer to 400ppm.> Alkalinity: 13 dKH <A little high,
8-12dkH is a good range.> pH: 8.1 -- 8.3 Tank inhabitants: 1
-- Green Coris Wrasse 2 -- Percula Clownfish 2 -- Pajama
Cardinals 1 -- Halfblack Angel (have not witnessed it picking on
the corals) - Frogspawn - Pulsing Xenia (several stalks) - Candy
Cane Coral (4 heads) - Galaxy Coral - Various snails/here
I've read through countless responses on your site, yet I
still seem to be at a loss as to what the problem could be.
Nothing seems obviously out of whack and my other corals *appear*
to be doing fine (see attached pictures). I would appreciate in
help or suggestions you can give me <Out of all the reading
you've done, did you consider light intensity? The Galaxy
Coral requires strong lighting to survive. Even if your Icecap
ballast did push the T5's to 60 watts, we are only looking at
3.2 watts per gallon, not nearly enough light for this species of
coral. Read here and related links above.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marlgtganthony.htm In future queries
with images, please resize the images to 200-300kb, much too
large for our use. I'm using high speed DSL and I could not
get one of the files to open after three minutes of waiting.>
Thank you, <You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
Jason
Re: Galaxy Coral/Health 1/28/08 Hi James,
<Hello Jason> Thank you for responding to my email.
<You're welcome.> I am in the process of getting my
calcium and alkalinity in check, so hopefully that won't be
an issue. <Good> Believe it or not I actually did consider
lighting, and most of what I've read recommended moderate
lighting (I verified this in Anthony C's Book of Coral
Propagation). By keeping the galaxy in the mid to upper half of
the tank I had hoped that I would meet that requirement, but it
sounds like that's not the case. <Yes, three watts per
gallon is not considered moderate.> I thought that the watts
per gallon rule was really not a very good measurement for
lighting intensity, is that still the case? <Yes and no, will
depend on tank depth, water clarity, etc. Being an industrial
electrician by trade, let me explain the way I think about reef
lighting. Water clarity will determine the speed at which light
degrades in different aquatic environments. The level of
intensity on a reef with clear water will average about 20,000
lux at a depth of 15 feet, and 10,000 lux at 30 feet. Knowing
where an organism lives in nature will give you a good idea of
the light intensity required to maintain it in your aquarium. Lux
meters are probably the best way to insure you have enough
intensity. As you know, light intensity is measured in watts and
a watt is actually related to a lux. One lux is equal to 1.46
milliwatts (.00146) of energy at a frequency of 555nm, and is
also measured at the source of the light. However, since the
bulbs we use in our lighting systems emit light of many
frequencies, no exact formula can be used when determining the
number of lux produced by a bulb of a specific wattage. In your
case (and I doubt the Ice Cap ballast is actually pushing 60
watts out of the T5 lamps), using the formula as a guideline, 100
watts of lighting would give you no more than 13,500 lux at the
surface of the water. Again, keep in mind that this is based on a
lighting wavelength of 555nm, very close to actinic lights. In my
opinion, 300 watts of HQI/MH lighting would be needed to maintain
this and other stony corals in your 55 gallon tank. As for the
T5's, adding three more would get you in the ballpark. I feel
that the HQI/MH type of lighting is the best way to go for
growing stony corals and clams. As for the Galaxy lighting
requirements, most of the info I read states strong lighting
required. I have a Galaxy Coral in my tank and it is lit by two
175 watt, 14K, MH lamps. The tank depth is 18" and I am
considering adding another 175 watt lamp.> In response to your
comment regarding the size of the four images I sent - I'm
sorry that you had trouble opening them, but I did resize them
(23KB, 35KB, 27KB and 40KB = 125KB total) so I'm not really
sure why you had trouble opening one of them. <I'm not
either, just once I would like to have an operating system that
can open all photo files. Thanks again for your help,
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
Jason
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Allelopathy... troubles ahead. RMF.
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