HELP WITH ID-ing A FEW CORALS AND A LOBSTER.....

[clownfishkeeper]

i was recently given a few corals and a lobster from someone who is going into the military. if i didnt take them they would have gone god-knows-where. anyway, i HAVE NO EXPERIENCE WITH CORALS. so if anyone could please help me ID these and also, if possible, give me any avice at all on how to care for them, i would appreciate it immensely!!! they are already getting smaller and pale. they are so beautiful, i dont want them to die.

and here are a few pictures of the lobster. as you can see, he is purple and orange, with a light blue abdomen that has darker blue spots on it. he has spines all over him. he doesnt come out much, he just hides all the time. does anyone know his name? and, does anyone know if there is any thing in particular he needs?

as you can probably see, i am VERY NEW to all this. so i am humbly asking for all the help i can get. i will listen to anything you have to say and i will be sooo grateful for ANY information (even if its just the littlest tip)!!! thanks in advance guys!!!!

 

[clownfishkeeper]

also, everything in these pics was moved from a 14 gallon "BIO CUBE" to a 29g BIO CUBE. the new lights in the 29g BIO CUBE
are one 36watt 10000k and one 36watt antinic blue. should i start looking into some kind of supplemental lighting? or is this enough?

and everything has been in the new tank for a week and the water is sooo cloudy you cant see more than 3 or 4 inches into it!!! it seems to be an algae bloom. what do i do?!!!! i need help on this too. its been a week and it is still VERY cloudy!!!

 

[mkman]

Both corals in pic 3 like caulestrea corals aka trumpet corals or candy cane corals. One of them seems to be bleached out or it could be a neon green look as I have owned trumpet corals that were fluorescent green.

Pic one, the one on the far left looks to be an acanastrea (sp.?) echinata. Can't tell the coral to the right of it. Need some closer shots.

72 watts PC could do well for these corals. They will not require high intensity lights like Metal halides or T5s.

I do want a better pic of the coral on the far right on pic one that way I can id it for you.

 

[mkman]

Oh yeah the lobster is a purple lobster (Enomopletapus sp.) Eats meaty foods and may accept flakes.

I think the reason they look smaller and all could be that you bleached them with too strong of a light without proper acclimation. These corals were in a 14 gallon in which the lights were probably 2x24 pc. To jump it to 72 watts all of a sudden may have caused them to bleach. Put them on the bottom of the sandbed or lower them.

As for the cloudiness, hmmm I never dealt with that, maybe you have flow pointed at an angle were its causing a sandstorm???

Try and do some small waterchanges (1-2 gallons) and see if that helps.

Do you have a protein skimmer? Try and get one, they are very helpful in saltwater reef tanks.

 

[clownfishkeeper]

I think the reason they look smaller and all could be that you bleached them with too strong of a light without proper acclimation. These corals were in a 14 gallon in which the lights were probably 2x24 pc. To jump it to 72 watts all of a sudden may have caused them to bleach. Put them on the bottom of the sandbed or lower them.

As for the cloudiness, hmmm I never dealt with that, maybe you have flow pointed at an angle were its causing a sandstorm???

Do you have a protein skimmer? Try and get one, they are very helpful in saltwater reef tanks.

those pics are from the 14g tank. the cloudiness started the day i switched tanks. so the corals have been getting very little light!!!! the one on the bottom right is just a bright whitish color naturally. the cloudiness has a green tint to it. ive had the lights off for 2 days now. im going to have to turn them back on in the morning. STILL CLOUDY!!! not quite as bad, but still a big, big issue. any ideas on that?
how do i take care of these corals? any ideas on that?
and i do have a protein skimmer i just setup with the tank. the new (29g) tank has been up for a week now, so the waters still pretty good so nothing in the skimmer collector yet. i really need some help here. the corals (even in the crystal clear 14g tank) are shrinking and losing color. and this cloudiness is CRAZY!!!!

 

[Pufferpunk]

I can't believe that lobster is out in the open--I hope mine comes out someday. It looks to me that you have a lot of LPS (large stony polped corals). They like to eat meaty foods, like mysis shrimp. It might perk them up a bit.

 

[mkman]

They are bleached because of inadequate lighting most likely. Slowly increase the photoperiod of your lights so that these corals can acclimate to it.

Take it easy, LPS are easy to care for, unlike SPS in which they can bleach out and die asap.

I would just do water changes, keep the skimmer going, and maybe put some activated carbon in the tank and set back and watch.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Oops, that's Large Polyp Stony coral.

 

[clownfishkeeper]

I can't believe that lobster is out in the open--I hope mine comes out someday. It looks to me that you have a lot of LPS (large stony polped corals). They like to eat meaty foods, like mysis shrimp. It might perk them up a bit.

that is funny you say that about the lobster. i only took a picture because i thought it was sooooo crazy that he was out. if i didnt take a picture then no one would believe me!!!! HE NEVER COMES OUT!!!!! what a waste of money!!!

how do i feed them these shrimp? just set it on them?

and lastly, are the two 36w lights (totaling 72 watts) enough for a 29 gallon tank? i have a very small Coral Life 18 watt light setup. it has the same bulbs that came with the bio cube (1 antinic blue and 1 10000k). i could easily put it into the hood if it needed.....

 

[Pufferpunk]

I'd get as much light as you can on them.