Depends on the coral. All coral I just throw in willy nilly after temp. acclimate. The way corals work is they suck in water so their salt is equal to the salt in the water (remember osmosis from biology?) so if the salinity changes, they spit out all the water and suck new water in, so they rebalance themselves. Drip acclimating means the salinity is constantly changing, which means that coral is doing the spit/take in thing a billion times trying to balance itself out and this stresses the coral. Zoas, palys, SPS, LPS, whatever, I always temp acclimate and throw them in. Anemones I temp acclimate then do a fast drip, slower if they show stress. These are more ‘animal’ than corals are (even though they’re animals too) so they have to be treated more like fish. Nems usually take a 10 minute ‘drip’ (I add a shot glass of water every minute or so) then I check the salinity, if it’s within .02 of my tank then it’s good to go. I do not drip if it’s already in that range. Clams I treat exactly like a fish, long temp acclimation then a super long drip cycle (like 45 minutes to an hour). That’s it! Sorry for the long post. Good luck with your acclimations!
That’s very good to know. I like to hear experiences like yours. Years back (10+) the recommended method was drip acclimate. I’m just coming back to the hobby recently and Ive been seeing that method of temp acclimate and pop them in. It’s a total shock to me because I thought corals were supposed to be super sensitive.
Yeah, the corals are constantly drawing water in and out due to their permeable membranes, as you stated. However, the stressing part is when coral has to exert energy to force the water out (using ATP and active transport of some kind I suppose) over and over again due to changes in salinity as well as other differences in the tank such as micro particles and trace elements. I’m glad someone else is into marine biology!
They are definitely sensitive, but tech has gotten a lot better as well. Remember 10-20 years ago when xenia was only a wistful dream? And now I can’t get rid of it fast enough! Even before that when corals were a fantasy and FOWLR was the only salt water you could even attempt to keep? Those were the days when one paycheck could stock a 20 gallon tank . I’m actually the guy who first started importing indo SPS into the Houston area for a (since closed) store called Fish Ranch. A lot has changed since then but the passion of the people has not! I’m glad so many people are in this amazing community and we can all help each other learn and grow as reefers
I was never able to keep Xenia alive for some reason back then. Bought 2 stalks at 2 separate times and placed them under both metal halide and power compacts.. both dwindled away within weeks lol. Wow that is a nice job to have. You definitely had first dibs on the corals coming in!They are definitely sensitive, but tech has gotten a lot better as well. Remember 10-20 years ago when xenia was only a wistful dream? And now I can’t get rid of it fast enough! Even before that when corals were a fantasy and FOWLR was the only salt water you could even attempt to keep? Those were the days when one paycheck could stock a 20 gallon tank . I’m actually the guy who first started importing indo SPS into the Houston area for a (since closed) store called Fish Ranch. A lot has changed since then but the passion of the people has not! I’m glad so many people are in this amazing community and we can all help each other learn and grow as reefers
I hope your frogspawn is okay. I’m always weary about dropping euphylias on their head in the sand bed. I lost my hammer that way.
Yes my frogspawn is doing great thank goodness. She opened up about an hour after putting her in.
