Bi-Colored Carnation Coral

[Holygrail45]

Hello,

I am relatively new to this great hobby (3 months in) and have really taken to maintaining my tank the best I can. I did, however, break one of my own cardinal rules and purchased a soft coral on the word/advice of my local fish store without first researching to my own satisfaction.

Anyways, I purchased a bi-color (red and orange) carnation coral which he informed me was medium in care level. I have since come to find every article and/or piece of information I can find on the species to be that it is hard to very hard.

I suppose what im asking is if anyone has any tips on this specie? I have tried my best to place it in a place that has moderate water flow but very low light (very tough in my tank, its a pretty bright light tank), and I've adjusted some live rock to provide whatever shade I can. I've compromised the water quality by feeding it phyto-feed daily, along with baby brine as I have come to understand as one of thier core foods. Is this post too long? Sorry, anyhelp would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Fat Surgeon]

Sounds to me like you are doing everything you should be. Good work :cool:

PS- Your post wasn't very long. Have you seen some of these honkers around here?? :eek2:

[graveyardworm]

Currently carnation corals are extremely difficult to impossible to maintain in an aquarium. Very near to 100% perish within one year. BBS are too large and mobile, and most research has shown phytoplankton to be a very small part of its diet and alone is not enough to sustain one. The zooplankton which come from the addition phytoplankton may also be a part of their diet. Now there seems to be alot of speculation that bacterial films, and coral mucas may be a large part of their diet. Here is a long thread dedicated to figuring what it may take to keep one healthy. Good luck and happy reading. :)

Dendronephthya study group (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=524097)