I started my adventure in saltwater tanks approximately a month ago. I managed to luck up and get some salt, and it's been an addiction ever since. I purchased live rock on top of live rock, as well as some upgraded lighting.

I was running low on salt yesterday so I went by The Coral Reef here where I live and started talking to one of the employees about corals. He was going over the care and which ones we're more difficult and which ones weren't. I began my series of questions regarding the toxicity of corals, escpecially zooanthids. It seems that one person believes this is the most toxic substance in the world, while the next thinks it's a rumor gone bad. I was totally against purchasing one of my favorite corals, zooanthids, due to concerns over just how toxic they we're. After talking to the employee for a while about these beautiful corals, he finally talked me into buy a few polyps. I managed to get 7 polyps for 10 dollars. The zooanthid was lime green with a bright orange zooanthid here and there. I believe there we're 5 lime green and 2 orange zooanthid polyps. I made sure that I got some diversity, because I knew they would eventually grow into huge colonies with any luck.

So after breaking down and picking out the zooanthids I wanted, the employee promptly bagged them up for me. After taking the polyps out of their aquarium and putting them into the bag, I noticed that they we're curling up and looked like they we're curlin up to conceal themselves. The fact that they did this amazed me. I still have a hard time believing they are living animals. Same with anemones, I guess. For the longest I had no idea urchins moved around so much.. haha! So I start my hour drive home and put them into the aquarium to start acclimate them to the temperature, and then left for about 30 minutes to go run an errand. When I came back, I started doing the first water change since I added my RENA XP2. I was extremely worried about having a surge protector by the filter and disconnecting the hoses. The whole reason I hadn't done one sooner was for this reason. I disconnect the hoses and only a small amount of water sprays out. No big deal. The filter itself seems to hold about 1.5-2 gallons. Great way to change the water and clean the filter at the same time. Especially since I only do 10% water changes on my tank. After cleaning out the filter I put it all back together and went back into the living room. I put the filter back under the cabinet and hooked it all back up and connected the hoses. I could hear the water rushing back into the filter and all of the air expelling out of the spray bar. I now know that this is one of the best filters that I have ever owned. After changing the water, I started pouring my aquarium water into the bag with the corals. By now they had drawn up so much that they we're almost a milky color. I was excited about my new corals because I knew what they looked like. My wife, on the other hand, had never seen them. She's not as crazy about aquariums and fishkeeping as I am, so doesn't tend to keep up on how things look and act and what not. When I pulled the very neat looking piece of rock out with my corals, my wife promptly started laughing, asking me who pawned off some pieces of fungus on me for my aquarium. After just 30 minutes or so I could see the corals starting to come back out. Within an hour or two, they we're completely out. Absolutely beautiful! My wife was really impressed. I believe they we're more than she expected.

I noticed that two of the smaller ones we're hesitant to come out, but this morning, I could see they we're starting to get used to things. I may get some more corals here down the road. These seem to be doing very well. Now that I'm over my toxicity scare, and know that they are infact not as bad as everyone says they are, I may get a few more or try some different kinds of corals. They sell single polyped mushrooms for 9.99. They had some maroon colored ones, so I may go pick one of those up one day.

I noticed, though, that I got a better deal for my money than I ever thought! Not only did I get some great looking corals, I also got some cool looking anemones!! What a deal! (I'm just kidding) The aiptasia will HAVE to go. I had him break off half of them at the fish store, but I found two more after I got it home. I'm going to purchase a peppermint shrimp or two to eradicate them and keep them under control.

Here's a somewhat modest picture of my new corals. When I can find my digital camera, I'll post some better pictures. The wonderful thing about corals, they are anything but camera shy. So, instead of fish flying all over the place, I should be able to get some awesome pictures of these guys.



Well, I hope you enjoyed my long winded coral experience. I'll post some more pictures as soon as I can get a chance.

Your first coral is beautiful and is an easier coral to care for. They multiply pretty quickly too. Well congrats on your first coral and be sure to post many more pictures. :)

Congrats on the coral :D

After many countless tries of moving the coral around to find the best spot, I finally found the perfect place to put it. It seemed that where ever I set the coral, one of the polyps was getting too much flow and staying closed all of the time. I set it on the sand at one end of the tank, and now they are all coming out. I went to Zoaid.com and I think I have found out which zooanthids I have.

I know for a fact that I have a Dragon Eye and a Radioactive Dragon Eye, but I think the solid green ones are Green People Eaters. Cool names for cool corals, haha!

I think my wife and I are going to go by the Coral Reef today. So maybe, if I'm lucky, I may be bringing home a mushroom or maybe a peppermint shrimp to take care of those aiptasia!!

I might even luck out and get another zooanthid. :D

Great story I can't wait to see some good quality pictures. :)

I knew that corals were hard to take care of, but I never knew that all of that stuff was involved in coralreef tank, interesting. I don't have any coral tanks, but i'm thinking about puting one next to my dresser when I learn more about them.

They are great fun. Plus they aren't as difficult as some make them out to be. I guess it's just like freshwater fish. After you learn their needs and requirements, you tend to have the easy fish, and the hard fish. I'm thinking about picking up another coral today. I'll grab my good camera here in the next few days and take some high quality photo's Bartier.

I looked at a zooanthid ID site, and I believe I have Dragon Eyes, a Radioactive Dragon Eye, and a few Green People Eaters. I also counted close to 8 polyps! So that's pretty cool. Each one seems to be budding off nicely.

So I went by the Coral Reef yesterday and my inpulse buying got the best of me. I ended up getting a purple spotted mushroom polyp, as well as a decent sized colony of light green star polyps. Unbeknownst to me and the employee, there was actually a really cool looking light green / purple fluorescent mushroom attached underneath the star polyps. What a deal! I've got my good camera now, so you guys should see some great pictures sometime today.