what to buy?

thanks for the tips djnzlab..... however, i already got what i want for the time being... i'll see how the shrooms grow/multiply, and in a month or two, i'll shoot for something else... right now, the only fish i'm considering is a coral beauty... but like i said, not for at least a month... i want to give the shrooms a chance to settle in and relax... BTW, they turned back to the purple-ish color... within a few hours of putting them in my tank... also, an hour after turning the lights out, i scanned over it with my red flashlight, and lemme tell ya something... BRISTLEWORMS GALORE!!!!! it seems that there's as many on my new single piece of rock than there is in the rest of my tank!!! also, i think i have a serpent star hitchhiker! which, i've heard they're good...
one more question, and i'll be done for now... which is better for the mushrooms/inhabitants of my new rock, and current setup? coral-accel or coral-vite (both from kent marine)... the LFS guy said he uses something called snow (maybe reef snow), but he was sold out, and said that either of those 2 would be good...he tried to push the accel more, but after reading the bottles, i decided to get the coral-vite.. good choice on my part? or should i have taken his advice or waited till he got the reefsnow in?

 

You don't need either. Nothing in your tank needs any of that stuff.

 

(feeling duped).... why don't i need it then? what DO i need? i knew that mushrooms use zoolanthea or something like that (only way i know to explain it is stuff on the mushrooms that need light, that feeds the shroom)... but i also thought shrooms needed additives... wait, i suppose since a mushroom isn't a true coral is the reason i don't need anything?? is coral-vite good for ANYTHING? or is it just another one of those "magic products"? if it is good for something, what is it good for, and what is the shelf life of it? should i try to sell it to someone else, or can i keep it for a good long while before it goes bad?

 

According to Kent, Coral-Vite contains "exotic trace minerals and complex nutrients" Man...that's funny

I have no idea what it contains but maybe the label gives more info as to what's in it?

Most soft corals produce enough food for themselves via photosynthesis so feeding them planktonic food is totally unnecessary and can degrade water quality. Now, if the Coral Vite is more of a supplement than a food then I would avoid using it because your supplements should be replenished every time you do a water change. I would also avoid adding supplements without knowing what the levels are in your tank to begin with. Now, if you had a HEAVY coral load like we do in our 180 SPS tank then you would most certainly need to add supplements regardless of your water change regimen. OK, that was a mouthful See if you can return the bottle to your lfs for store credit. I don't see you needing it at all.

 

mushroom update!

day 3 since dropping the rock in, and i'm really happy! the mushrooms have all at least doubled in size, and i think one is already splitting! maybe it was ready to split before i bought it, i dunno... but when i first turned on my actinics this morning, i could clearly see 2 separate bases under it, and its more oblong than round... but as the day had gone by, each mushroom has expanded (i guess that's normal..) 2 questions though... actually 3, each having to do with an ID...

what exactly are chitons? i've seen pics and stuff... but i saw something on this rock that had a flat shell (it was domed, but didn't spiral like a normal snail shell would).... but it was definately a kind of snail! i watched it move around, and watched it's suckermouth for about 5 minutes, until he decided to go back into a crevice... this was last night by the way...

oh, and this morning, i found another starfish... at least 2 serpent seastars (white and red striped ones), and this one, which was plain white, and it looked like a common starfish, 5 thick arms/legs/tentacles/whatever they're called..

so that's the snail looking thing, the star, and next, my ricordea... which one is it(floridea or yuma)? its got one or 2 mouths (the definate mouth is green), a small ring of purple around that, a larger ring of pink, and another thin ring of purple on the outside... the reason i mentioned one or 2 mouths, is because it may be splitting, like one of my other shrooms... either way, there's another green spot that resembles the one in the center of this mushroom... is this helpful enough for ID's?

 

This should help ID your ricordea

http://www.3reef.com/forums/coral/ricordia-yuma-37500.html