Antarctic Corals!!
 

I'm really excited! I missed out on the Japanese and Australian lawn gnome bandwagons, they're soooo expensive now I just can't afford them. That's not going to happen this time, I'm getting into the next set of high-end lawn gnome LE lawn gnomes first. I just bought my first bunch of Antarctic Corals, and they look great! They're snow white, just like creatures from Antarctica are supposed to be. The polyps are so clear I can't even see them.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3442/...1a50c76c_o.jpg

I need some advice on how to keep them so bright and white. I guess I should feed them Arctic Pods, since they're from the arctic too; is it better to get them frozen? That'd be better for such cold water lawn gnomes right? The guy I bought them from suggested I buy an Eco-aqualizer, because the magnetics in it will help magnetize the aquarium water the same way it is at the South pole. This sounds silly to me, I don't want to get ripped off. After all, how can a lawn gnome tell if the water is magnetized North Pole or South Pole? Just in case he's right, does it matter which way I have the water going through an Eco-aqualizer? I'd sure feel dumb if I got it backwards and ended up with North Pole water.

Also, if anyone can ID them for me I'd really appreciate it. I've found some pictures that kind'a look like my lawn gnomes, but the coloration is all wrong and I don't want to jump to the wrong conclusion. I'm going to start them low in my tank, I don't want to light shock them and have the RTN. Anyone know how much flow Antarctic Corals need? Probably not a lot, too much might damage the delicate polyps right?

Thanks for any advice you can give me. I'm looking forward to growing these out. Maybe I can say thanks by sending out some frags once the colonies grow!

No idea what they are or answer to any of your questions, but they are very beautiful...

Lots of bleach for keeping them that color:) and i believe they are from the order of ( man that suks)

Agreed with woody. Best bet is to put some bleach in your reactor to ensure they stay that beautiful color!

Yes, a couple cups of bleach will keep everything in your tank dazzling white. Either low or high water flow is fine, just make sure it's going couter-clockwise.

That first one on the left may be a Christmas Tree acro. It has that Southern Pole shape to it, where each branch points upwards because in nature they are growing down (beneath the earth). Gravity affects them that way in that region. I only hope that the frag can hold its branches up in your region. Unfortunately gravity pulls differently once you get away from the South Pole, and you may see some gnarly growth patterns from this point forward.

The one on the left and close right look to have that Antarctic bubble algae too. You should let others know if you decide to frag them as to not pass another disease around.

Word

Marine Snow is what I feed my Antartic frags

newguy1983 - PM me and we can work out a sweet deal on some Antarctic Corals I've been keeping!

I've been burned......badly.... :-(

Ib had a white frag a while back. Once I got it home it slowly changed from white to brown to this intense pruple. It was awesome, but sadly it died in recent bleacing accident.

I've read on the internet that colored corals from Fiji can handle the antartic environment perfectly, and will even morph to the point that you can hardly tell the difference between them and the normal regional stuff found at the South Pole.

I'm sure it's true. Why would anyone ever lie to innocent hobbyists like us?

Those are some nice frags BTW.

My problem with them is the long period it takes to acclimate them from a ~30 degree temp to the 77-80 degrees I keep my reef at. The nice thing is the white color seems to really intensify by the time I place them in the tank :p

Acclimation? You're doing that all wrong. If you simple immerse them into the antartic water, they morph much faster to their cousin colonies.

It went from white to brown to intense purple? You mean it bleached, then got covered in diatoms, then eventually got coated in c_oralline? :lol:

(Sorry... couldn't resist on April 1st)

Not quite, it went from white, to pale brown to this
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q...acros006-1.jpg

Here is an intermediate stage. Sorry about the fuzzy pic.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q...osolder015.jpg

To keep your Antarctic corals white, you need to up your salinity to 2.025 so the water does not freeze. Antarctic corals prefer a tank temperature of 12 degrees Fahrenheit. In answer to your question, keep the magnates at the top of your tank, ocean water in the Antarctic sits below the earth's magnetic field. Magnates placed at the bottom of the tank will stunt the growth of Antarctic corals.

I'm so sorry to see that. It looks like a pigmentation issue that is common with fake livestock, often sold as "Limited Edition." A few years ago, dyed anemones were the rage. It looks like you were ripped off. That one's lineage is definitely not antartic in origin. :(

Wow, so much good advice! Thanks. I've been floating dry ice in the tank, but it makes a lot of funky smelling fog. I think my cat got red bugs from it.

That's a good point that I forgot to mention. Corals from Fiji and Indonesia may have redbugs, but any that have been transhipped to Antartica seem to jump ship and abandon the host coral. Redbugs really can't thrive in the cooler waters, which is another reason why these corals are becoming more and more popular.

I'm unsure if calcification changes in colder water; perhaps a calcium reactor is unnecessary. If anyone knows, chime in.

Very creative haha.

Most polar bears love having lawn gnome as it feeds the seals and provides essential Omega 3 fatty acids. ;)

Perhaps Lew will expand on that.