Carnation's

chrisharcrow · 08-09-2006, 11:22 AM

I was just wondering if carnation's were hard to keep? I read some were that they wood just not live in captivity no matter what you do. Their are different types, so does this go for all of them and is there a place that has information about them. If anyone knows any thing about the subject please let me know.

amcarrig · 08-09-2006, 11:28 AM

Carnation corals are extremely difficult to keep because they are non-photosynthetic and require enormous amounts of zooplankton to remain alive. Because most tanks do not produce large amounts of zooplankton, you'd have to supplement it on a regular basis which, if not done properly, can pollute your system.

chrisharcrow · 08-09-2006, 11:47 AM

So it wood be safe to say it's not worth the problems that might occur.

amcarrig · 08-09-2006, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisharcrow

So it wood be safe to say it's not worth the problems that might occur.

Definitely not. Not only are they difficult to feed but they have to be hung upside down in a shaded area of your rockwork so not only will it be hard to see, but it will be hard to target feed. Beautiful coral but truly one for experts only, and even they have a hard time with them.

rickzter · 08-09-2006, 12:39 PM

Hard to keep? VERY. Some reefers say it's impossible without constantly pumping foods into the tank. Only expert level aquariasts with equipment to feed these guys can keep them. I dont think you can keep these in a normal reef without having problems with the trates and phosphates. Require too many nutrients in the water I think.

Amcarrig, they do not necessarily have to be placed upside down. They need strong flow and large amounts of fine particulate matter, zooplankton. Micron size foods and such. Beautiful softie, just very difficult to keep.

I honestly dont understand why this coral is still being bothered by being fragged, shipped and sold. There should be a board that protects the reefs and decides what can be imported and what cannot.

JustPhish · 08-09-2006, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickzter

I honestly dont understand why this coral is still being bothered by being fragged, shipped and sold. There should be a board that protects the reefs and decides what can be imported and what cannot.

There are several reasons. One, they sell! If people continue to buy these things from the stores that stock them, they will continue to replenish their stocks. If they always die in the stores tank before they even sell a single one then I guarantee next time they won't even think of ordering them.

Two, collectors often times have no idea what they have. And what incentive do they have to learn? They get paid cents on the dollar. Shoot I have had sales reps from the wholesalers who didn't even know what they were selling.

These corals are already very beautiful. But I think if you look closely you'll see that this isn't enough for some. They go as far as dying them to boot.

rickzter · 08-09-2006, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustPhish

There are several reasons. One, they sell! If people continue to buy these things from the stores that stock them, they will continue to replenish their stocks. If they always die in the stores tank before they even sell a single one then I guarantee next time they won't even think of ordering them.

Two, collectors often times have no idea what they have. And what incentive do they have to learn? They get paid cents on the dollar. Shoot I have had sales reps from the wholesalers who didn't even know what they were selling.

These corals are already very beautiful. But I think if you look closely you'll see that this isn't enough for some. They go as far as dying them to boot.

There should be stricter regulations about what corals are imported.

chrisharcrow · 08-09-2006, 03:38 PM

Thanks for all the information about this subject. Just last week I was at the lfs and seen one, I told the guy I Heard that they were hard to keep. He said that they ship poorly, but it they make it you should have no problem. It was a awesome coral white with bright red/orange branches, but I remember what I had read and told him I would just wait.

amcarrig · 08-09-2006, 04:26 PM

Those bright pink and orange colors sure do attract don't they?

I know quite a few fellow reefers who have fallen under the spell of these corals but they were all disappointed in the end

gkw · 08-09-2006, 04:54 PM

These LPS sure are beautiful. I have one and he's my new boss. I recued it from the store. It only have 1/5 (about 12 polyps) of the polyps left and the rest are skeleton. It has been a month and it grows 3 or 4 new heads.

If you can get it without it attaching to a piece of LR (too big to handle) and you have the time and delication to target feed. Get it and you won't be sorry.

When feeding time, I take mine out of the tank and feed frozen mysid shrimp, prime reef, and sometime cyclop-eeze. Had never try zooplankton yet, but going to try it cause I have to circulate the water a few time in an hour to make sure every polyps get fed.

GL!