just got two cheap frags

[greg1186]

well i found a really great fish store by me today and decided to take a look... i got a clean up crew package consisting of 5 snails, two hermit crabs and two sand sifting snails... i drip acclimated all of them and they are in. they had a tank with tons of frags for 15 bucks each... i picked out two frags... one of a green star polyp, and one of zoanthids... they are green, guy said there called "money" the zoos opened right away in my tank but when lights went off and leds came on they closed up a bit... the gsp barely barely opened with the lights and when they went off they all closed up. my question... how should i set my light schedule? what hours should i have the 10k day light on and what hours should i have the actinic lights on? do the zoas and gsp only come out during the lights and go in during the leds??

 

[Bifferwine]

It's totally normal for corals to close up when the lights go out. You can run your lights for 8 to 12 hours a day. Some people turn on the actinics 1 hour before the daylights, and turn them off 1 hour after the daylights.

 

[greg1186]

ahh ok, do i need to feed them or do they strictly feed off the lights? and what are the different jobs that the day lights and the actinic lights? meaning what do they do thats different from another

 

[PRC]

You can add nutrients to help them grow, it's not necessary, but you can do it. GSP will spread relatively easy as well. IME anyway. The lights don't really do anything that's different, one is just "bluer" which makes some corals glow under the light. gives a more dramatic look to the tank.

 

[greg1186]

ooo, i wish my gsp would open, theres only like 3 polyps opened.. the tentacles on them are soo small, do they grow longer? i used a turkey baster to get a lot of the 'stuff' off the mat

 

[PRC]

yeah, they'll get longer and fill out the mat when they start growing.

 

[greg1186]

if a little bit of the mat is being blocked of light.. will that kill that piece even though majority of the mat is exposed to light? and i also just saw a bristle worm about 2 1/2" he was on the mat.. i dont know if i like them,... they are really ugly

 

[Bifferwine]

A little bit being blocked from light won't kill the whole thing. Bristleworms are ugly, but they are good guys.

 

[ErinCahir]

They're creepy, but I think me being creeped out is overridden by the service they provide my tank...

 

[greg1186]

ah i am pleased now... just got home from school and my gsp are out for the most part... only a few arent out, looks like some of the little things are damaged.. some dont have full little tentacles... not as bright green as i want them to be.. are there supplements to make them more green?

 

[sen5241b]

How many watts of light you got? The Biocubes do not have MH in the stock hood they DO have Compact Florescent.

 

[greg1186]

i have one 24 watt 10k light, and one 24 watt actinic light... and two led lunar lights i dont know the wattage of them though..

 

[sen5241b]

I put some green star polyps under my stock Biocube 29 with 72 watts of Compact Florescent and they withered and died.

 

[greg1186]

Mine seem to be doing pretty well