Help seeing if these corals are ok.

John G. · Jan 27, 2019

I got a shipment of frags in Friday from an online store. Was supposed to arrive at noon but didn't arrive until after 5. Box was outside for about 1 hour and all the bags were cold. I cold acclimated them to temp first then added water every 15 minutes for an hour. Now since there is only a damsel and inverts I placed them hoping they make it. How long should I wait till I know it didn't make it.

rkpetersen · Jan 27, 2019

Sorry to hear about the shipping delay.

If they continue to have tissue and color, they are at least still alive. Swelling of the tissue and extension of polyps will suggest that they are improving. Loss of all tissue exposing the (usually) white skeleton means it's gone. It looks like that acro frag in the center didn't make it and has lost all or almost all of its tissue. Some of the others look rough but could still pull through, depending on conditions. Also keep in mind that the orange sun coral and the yellow branching gorgonian aren't photosynthetic and so will need to be fed appropriate food; gorgonians in particular aren't always easy to keep in a typical reef aquarium, particularly a new one.

John G. · Jan 28, 2019

I feared the acro was a goner but was hoping some of the others make it. I have the tank loaded with amphipods and copepods and I does with brine ship twice a week and feed a 1/2 cube every other day to the damsel and inverts. Do they need anything else feeding wise? I am just trying to give all the corals the best fighting chance I can. Thanks for the input.

John G. · Jan 28, 2019

The tank is a little over a year old but only 7 months set up after a one day move. I have been adding bugs(amphipods and copepods) every other month since the move to keep it hopefully stocked for when I add some more fish. I wanted to start the coral garden going while I made final decisions on the fish and give the corals time to really establish. I did not add a clean up crew til December but lost half of that crew in shipping too. I got a crew from reef cleaners and the algae bloom I had was taken care off in under two weeks. I am trying to take this tank slow and really grow a cool reef and have something my son who is visually impaired can see with a lot of contrasting colors.