Hey check it out, new coral. W/ pic

[Whiskey]

He called it a mushroom rock, I don't think it is a mushroom though, looks more like a polyp or something. I also got a reef starter kit by kent marine that includes iodine, stromtium & malybdenum and liquid calcium. It says to dose calcium at a rate of 5 ML/day is this really required? I only have 2 corals, a frogspawn and this.

My snail is on my coral!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is it ok for a turbo snail to be on these things?

The pic,

[miztahphong2]

my snails are usually around it and my hermits get on it. they dont seem to be harming it. it isnt a mushroom rock either. those are zoanthids. about your dosing calcium. it would be better to get a test kit. dose as you test so you can get the levels you want which most people prefer is 400-450

[shawnz28]

If you choose to dose the iodine and stront I would pesronally dose about 1/2 of what it says unless you are testing for them. It is usually always better to underdose than over dose these items.

how much did you pay for it

[fragged]

It's a good thing to dose, particularly if you skim heavily and have a large amount of evaporation. Watch your animals, particularly your corals...they'll let you know if you're doing the right thing.

[icereefer]

as most have posted, it's best to just do your water changes to replace your trace elements , if your not going to test what you put in your tank. mostly "Iodine". from what it sounds like what you have in your tank whiskey... you really should'nt need to use Iodine, only some corals need Iodine, like xenia most pulsing corals may become motionless, if lacking "Iodine" and some fish like jawfish, hawkfish can develop goiters if lacking Iodine.
As for your snails and hermits, you will find every time you put a new rock in your tank, they'll be there to clean, clean ,clean.
the only thing I'd watch for is if your hermits get to big, they can up root some of your polyps, looking for food. FMPExperience.
PS by the way there quite little zoa's you have there.
icereefer

[gman0526]

I agree 100% with icereefer on the iodine, dosing iodine is risky business, it's a highly toxic compound that should not be used indiscriminately.

Water Change, Water change, water change... single handedly the best replenishment technique for your tank.

[Whiskey]

Well that is interesting, I think I will curtail the iodine usage, and try to dose about 1/2 what it reccomends and very slowly. I do water changes but I am really not sure what I am doing with corals so this is good info. I got a ca test kit and my levels are a little low and I have been bringing that up slowly.

The zoanthids are starting to develop a slight milky film over them. Is this normal? Should there be more water flow or something?

How can I get these to move to other rocks? Do I have to frag it? How do I frag this?

Thanks,
Whiskey

[Whiskey]

They also seem to be open too far, more dome shaped than flat on top, with their little feeler things facing down. Should I move them more toward the light?

Thanks,
Whiskey

[icereefer]

well I'd say your probably right on the water flow. as for getting them to move to other rocks "yes" you can frag them or add rubble rock next to them, there's different ways of doing it, condiman had a thread going in coral frag usergroup: and what I do is just chip the rock under them and super glue them where I want them, and to get them to spread, I target feed them zooplex and fatty acids, like shrimp heads. and another thing I do to get them to spread faster it snip there peddles, from the out side of the peddle to about the mouth. it's worked well for me.

[icereefer]

They also seem to be open too far, more dome shaped than flat on top, with their little feeler things facing down. Should I move them more toward the light?

Thanks,
Whiskeymine are under 300watts of VHO's and they love it

[shawnz28]

They also seem to be open too far, more dome shaped than flat on top, with their little feeler things facing down. Should I move them more toward the light?

I used to have some that looked very similiar and they had that same "look" to them a lot of the time, the center was always rasied more than the outside of the polyp.

[Whiskey]

Here is a pic of what I mean by "dome shaped".

I have 220 W of power compact 50/50 10,000K and ascintic 03.

It is a 50G tank.

Thanks,
Whiskey

[shawnz28]

Since they are still opening up and extending I would not worry about them they probably are fine. How far down in the tank are they and how deep is the tank? It probably wouldn't hurt to move them up if they are in the lower half of the tank.

[icereefer]

they look pretty beefy to me (healthy)
I agree with shawn with your lighting the higher the better