New to the hobby and got some surprises

[DSC reef]

Not to sure, possibly a green nephthea?

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Green sinulara I would say. Does the tank have flow in it? I don't see any powerheads and the green sinulara or whatever is just drooping like it's not being moved around.

 

[rkpetersen]

Not to sure, possibly a green nephthea?

It could be. I've for sure seen corals that look like this sold as nepthea. On the other hand, I'm more inclined to think it's a sinularia, because of the less numerous and more widely spaced polyps on relatively long thin branches. On the other other hand, there's a fair bit of overlap in the appearance of the two genuses, so not entirely sure.

 

[Captain_Glass]

no powerheads but it is sitting right underneath the return of the filter it definitely moves around. If I could figure out how to post videos on here you would see that there seems to be good flow in the tank.

 

[rkpetersen]

Thinking of how to add some color to the tank while still keeping it mainly for the mantis without particularly strong flow or lighting and no need for dosing, I'd consider adding some mushroom corals, like a stand of Ricordea florida or some Discosoma or Rhodactis. I don't know exactly what kind of illumination you're getting with the new T5 fixture but it should be plenty for corallimorphs (maybe even too much).

Also agree that the anemone likely won't make it, but who knows. Keep a close eye on it and remove it the moment any part of it starts to decompose. Also I personally like to take most frags and especially things like hammers off their frag plugs or discs first, and attach them directly to the rockwork; looks a lot more natural.

 

[Captain_Glass]

Thinking of how to add some color to the tank while still keeping it mainly for the mantis without particularly strong flow or lighting and no need for dosing, I'd consider adding some mushroom corals, like a stand of Ricordea florida or some Discosoma or Rhodactis. I don't know exactly what kind of illumination you're getting with the new T5 fixture but it should be plenty for corallimorphs (maybe even too much).

Also agree that the anemone likely won't make it, but who knows. Keep a close eye on it and remove it the moment any part of it starts to decompose. Also I personally like to take most frags and especially things like hammers off their frag plugs or discs first, and attach them directly to the rockwork; looks a lot more natural.

I will take a look at the mushrooms and other suggested corals when the tank if more mature and I’ve gotten a little more used to things. I was just looking up how to safely remove the corals from the plugs because I don’t like the unnatural look but they’ve been glued to the live rock so I’ll have to remove them from the plugs and the plugs from the rock. As for the anemone if starts dying I’ll remove it although it does seem to be doing well so far.

 

[Andrew Schubert]

I will take a look at the mushrooms and other suggested corals when the tank if more mature and I’ve gotten a little more used to things. I was just looking up how to safely remove the corals from the plugs because I don’t like the unnatural look but they’ve been glued to the live rock so I’ll have to remove them from the plugs and the plugs from the rock. As for the anemone if starts dying I’ll remove it although it does seem to be doing well so far.

I remove the plugs on all my corals. Some will just pop off. And those that wont I use my Dremel and cut as much of it off as possible so I can't see them. I dip all my corals, but removing the plugs removes another potential area eggs r something could be taking a hitchhike. I'd think u could pop the hammer off it's base pretty easy.

 

[Tastee]

To me the coral on the left looks like a (sorry) fairly unhealthy Sinularia. Here is a photo of my Australian Neon Green Sinularia. The reason I think it isn’t that healthy is that it is drooping so much, plus the brown colour. That could however be (at least partially) to do with flow and light temperature.

 

[MSB123]

IMO, mantis should be kept in a species only tank without any coral. They need very specific care requirements and these requirements are hard to keep with coral in the tank. I would remove all coral and maybe get a few mushrooms. Make sure the anemone does not die in the tank or you will have an issue.

 

[Rjukan]

How about some macro algae to brighten it up? There are some red ones like dragons breath and some green ones like mermaids fan that might be nice in there?

 

[Captain_Glass]

IMO, mantis should be kept in a species only tank without any coral. They need very specific care requirements and these requirements are hard to keep with coral in the tank. I would remove all coral and maybe get a few mushrooms. Make sure the anemone does not die in the tank or you will have an issue.

This was pretty much my intention but then my wife wanted to start to make things look pretty I’m not really trying to start another tank at all and don’t expect the lfs will take the coral back.

 

[gtrider]

i guess it's nice your wife takes interest in your tank lol

 

[Captain_Glass]

i guess it's nice your wife takes interest in your tank lol

That’s one way of looking at it lol. The way I see it is I was going for a species and she is turning it into a reef tank which is causing me to look into buying different lights and powerheads and other things a normal mantis only tank wouldn’t need. So it’s cool she likes it but now she’s named everything and If it dies it’s my fault. Kind of a double edged sword if you ask me...