Candycane Coral

[Korbin]

Does the stoney stalk just form a bud on the side or something?  Or do new stalks emerge from the base?  It seems like it would grow very slowly since it is a hard coral.  

 

I bought a single stalk that broke off or something at my LFS for $2.  The polyp is red on the outside and neon green in the middle.  It looks really healthy, and I'm just wondering if/how this thing is going to grow.  

[sjpresley]

Candycane and trumpet seem to grow a couple of ways a new head can "sprout" from the side of a stalk or a head will develop 2 "mouths" and will split into two separate heads (I've even seen one head with 3 mouths that split in 3).

[Korbin]

Well, the stalk that I bought has one "head" that looks like its in the process of dividing in half.  The thing is, it has 4 mouths!  Does this mean its going to make 4 heads for sure?  2 of the mouths seem a bit smaller.  Could it be that it is in the process of dividing a second time even before its done with the first split?

[sjpresley]

Yep, it should eventually divide into 4 heads.

[fish04]

That's how mine grew. Two years ago I got it with 3 "heads". The heads have each split 3-4 times now I'm up to a nice 15 piece cluster.

Give it good light, good Calcium levels, and an ocassional brine or copie feeding and it will do great!

[Korbin]

I've tried feeding it marine fish food flakes as well as bits of shrimp pellets.  It will swallow them, sit there for 15 minutes to a half hour, and then the mouths will open up and the food will come out and float away.  Has yours done this with brine shrimp?  I can't tell if its getting anything from what I'm feeding it, or if its just barfing it back up.

[SLOreefer]

hmm mine hasnt taken food yet. i cant wait for mine to start splitting wither. how often does this happen?