New torch coral today!!

Got my first new coral today besides mushrooms or zoas, it was a very nice looking branching torch coral with four heads and a smaller head starting. I got it ready to put on the tank and about 45 mins and it was out and looking good. I hope it does okay and thrives in my tank, I really like it. I left for a couple of hours and came back and my smallest tank raised ocellaris clown is in it and loves it. Should I let the clown stay in it or is it to soon and hurt the coral? Any tips at keeping this coral happy and healthy?

 

i just got me one too..i got a pair of percs that are small that play in mine, it can do harm to it, so just keep an eye out, if you notice the clown hurting it(you will notice the little gold tips coming off) then you will have to seperate them..but as long as the clown is small it should be ok..i like to have multiple things for clowns to host, hammers, torchs, toadstools, and of course nems, they also host shrooms, gsp, really anything, but will pick the soft(bubbly corals first)...this also gives the other corals a break from hosting and is better for the whole tank..

 

Usually ok, but may depend how big the clown is relative to the size of the coral and how aggressive the clown. I had a black ocellaris for years hosting in a very similar coral (Frogspawn), without issue. Now her replacement pair is hosting in the same coral, also without issue and I am glad to see it. Of course if it was a large female Maroon clown, or a Clarki, I might be a bit worried LOL. The OCs aren't big enough or aggressive enough to hurt it though.

When the BW OC started hosting in it, it would close up a bit at first, but after a while, they get used to the clown and don't seem to notice. In fact it probably quadrupled in size in that time and always looked open and happy. Here is a pic of it with the new clowns, also looks nice and happy.

 

I really want a yellow toadstool, my local fish store has one in their display tank but won't sell it to me. I'm new to corals all I have is some zoas and a few mushrooms one of them being a hairy mushroom that gets bigger every day seems like, my little clown looks at it all day but has never tried to lay in it. I just got a better light with four t5HO on my 24 gallon tank, love to have a bigger tank but can't at the moment in my apartment

 

Most leather corals are pretty easy, but the "Fiji" yellow toadstools are the possible exception. Not sure why, I've seen some do well, but a lot more not so well. I would guess it may have something to do with shipping handling. I bought one once and within a few days, it disintegrated and nuked my tank The tank was thriving up until then, but took months to recover. So, I would say they are difficult and fairly toxic LOL.
I wouldn't rush to buy one again, that's for sure

Edit, also be careful with the hairy mushroom. If it is bigger than your clown, it could eat your clowns if it decided to host in it. This has been reported to happen on more than a few occasions.

 

if u want a frag of purple toadstool i could cut u one..but there easy to frag and may be able to find one loacally..and yea the tank will do great with the new lights

 

A purple toadstool? Wow I bet that looks cool, I didmt know they exist ha, I'm new to corals, I let my tank cycled a year before started to add anything. Thanks for the info on the hairy mushroom I had no idea they would do that. That's got me nervous now cause it's bigger then my smallest clown and the clown used to just hover and look at it all day, now it won't leave the torch

 

Wow, a year huh? That's some serious patience ;D Your tank should be quite ready to handle some more livestock. Did you document the cycle at all? I would be very interested in seeing and hearing about the progression and your experience. I know some people advocate a longer cycle and there is a plausible biological argument for doing so, however, I've never had the patience to go more than a few months myself I would be interested in hearing more. You should start a "cycle" thread

For the mushrooms, you should be ok if the clown is hosting in the torch already. Just keep an eye on it.

 

Letting it cycle for a year was a poor choice of words on my behalf...more like I waited a year before adding anything. I had plans of putting an anemone and a couple of clownfish and I saw where an anemone needs a well established tank so I waited...and waited... And about 2 months ago I added the pair of tank raised clowns. Then I started reading about how difficult it can be to keep anemone, and I wasn't sure if I had enough light and i also saw it can be more difficult to keep them in smaller tanks so I decided not to risk the death of one and went with some easy things like mushrooms and Zoas and they did great so I added the torch yesterday, 1 year and a week from the time I set up the tank. Tested the water everyday last week and it seemed stable the whole week after adding the new light fixture so I purchased the torch yesterday morning...it was hard to just stop with torch also ha

 

cool. Go slow and let it grow!