Hmm, dropped by the LFS today and saw a new one they had, and I was wondering if this was a good item.

I'm pretty sure the coral was a chalice(it had that "wad of chewed gum" look to it), about 2.5 to 3 inches across. It was an overall brown color with a sort of faint fluorescent green to it in spots. It was being kept under a 65w 50/50 CF light though, so I'm not sure if it's colors would be different under a different light(probably, but no experience with this particular coral...).

Price was $17.95, which sounded pretty good after looking at specimens online, though their colors were much more spectacular. I didn't buy it, as I'm not sure that it could thrive in my current tank, but it's pretty tempting...

Well, a pic is worth a thousand words, they say. I'll see if I can stop by there after classes and nab a shot, if it's there still.

If it does turn out top be a chalice, is my system able to keep it?

Available- 10g tank, 1.026 sg. zero on ammonia, nitrites, nitrate was a constant <5 before I pruned back the chaeto, and now it's nearly unnoticable on the tests. Haven't tested for phosphates, but there aren't any algae problems besides a single patch of GHA I allow to grow in the back corner that my turbo snail munches on.

Powerheads are a koralia 1 and a powersweep, 125 gph if I remember correctly.

Filtration consists of a prizm protien skimmer, and a cheap 100gph power filter w/ carbon. As well, a softball sized piece of chaetomorpha in a corner that's pruned when it gets too big.

Lighting- 130w PC fixture w/ 10,000k & 420 actinic bulbs, about six months old(probably need to change them). Usually about 12hrs run time 8am-8pm.

You should be OK, chalice coral don't have supper high requirements. In my experience most chalice don't like lots of light. I would put it down low in the tank and keep an eye on it.

Regarding price, is it worth the money to you?

+1, beauty is in the eye of the guy shelling out the $$$

Unless you're the cheapest person in the world $17.95 is nothing when it comes to chalice's or any type of coral for that matter. Loosen up the purse strings a little.

+1!
18$ is good price for ANY coral really...

Well, I'll probably grab it then if it's still there tomorrow. Thanks for the input!

Well, they still had it there!

[yesterday]Here it is in the bag. I'm surprised at how much slime it put out; made handling it rather difficult.



[yesterday]And here it is under the actinics. My camera fails to capture the sort of faint minty fluorescence it emanates...



[today]And here it is under full light. The fluorescence is more visible. Rather than being throughout the surface like a zoanthid, the fluorescent parts are a bunch of really tiny specks...



As said, I'm pretty sure this is a chalice, but not 100% sure as I've never seen one up close/in person before, so just to make sure, is it?

Also, it's current location may change. I underestimated it's size my a cm or two, so the SPS plate skeleton I was planning on putting it on won't do it( as you see, it's sort of tilted. Fortunately in it's current position just the base is on the LR; no flesh pressed against it). That said, I don't want to tick it off too much...

The polyps opened slightly, roughly about the span of a pin head, but they're closed this morning. The outer edge seems to be inflated more since yesterday...

That's a healthy looking chalice man, nice find

Sounds like you might be going to the same LFS I go over in Moorseville. The one guy never knows quite what he has, sold me a fox tail for $5 calling it a pink mushroom, also a piece of leather said it was a mushroom sold it for $5.

Nah, this shop is in Murphy, NC. First time I came by the owner wasn't there, so I just got one of the employees. But, he was there yesterday, so I asked a bit about it. Said he wasn't sure about what kind it was, and that the store had received it in a trade with someone. Apparently it had been there for some time(I must have missed it, or maybe it was stuck out of view somewhere) and he said that it had grown a fair bit since it first arrived.

Kind of sad really; they're almost completely cutting out their aquarium/fish section and replacing it with canine related items. Not many people around here keep SW aquariums, or even FW aquariums besides goldfish...