G Han Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 I put some star polyps in my tank and haven't been able to ID a hard coral which came along for the ride. It's not a particularly nice looking coral, is hard like rock, has a finger-like protuberance, and is a mystery to me. Any one know what I'm looking at? Link to comment
G Han Posted August 22, 2003 Author Share Posted August 22, 2003 I'm having troubles putting the pic in... I don't know why it was cut in half, but anyway, the coral I'm trying to ID is in the top part. You just can't see the star polyps for a size comparison, but pictures of star polyps are everywhere. I'll try one more time though. Wish me luck... Link to comment
G Han Posted August 22, 2003 Author Share Posted August 22, 2003 And thank you in advance for any thoughts Link to comment
G Han Posted August 22, 2003 Author Share Posted August 22, 2003 ...and I'm assuming it is a coral... correct me if I'm wrong. Link to comment
Crakeur Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 it is and I have one in my 180. hitcher that grew pretty fast. little tiny polyps on it. real nice Link to comment
G Han Posted August 22, 2003 Author Share Posted August 22, 2003 Many thanks, Crakeur! Link to comment
G Han Posted August 22, 2003 Author Share Posted August 22, 2003 and sorry to all for posting this in the wrong forum... Link to comment
caja Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 Actually when I look at that coral I see a guys head. He has two eyebrows and a mole on his left cheek and a really big nose. Link to comment
chufa Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 Actually when I look at that coral I see a guys head. He has two eyebrows and a mole on his left cheek and a really big nose. I was going to post the exact same thing, when I scrolled down and saw that you already did! Link to comment
G Han Posted August 22, 2003 Author Share Posted August 22, 2003 Hahahahaha! I'll call him Nixon! There's a little resemblance to our favorite pres Link to comment
SaltyDawg Posted August 23, 2003 Share Posted August 23, 2003 Looks like a digitata to me? but not seeing any polyps out I realy cant offer anything more. Link to comment
G Han Posted August 23, 2003 Author Share Posted August 23, 2003 Thanks SaltyDog! I haven't seen any polyps yet, so... I'll snap a pic if I do. You've given me a good lead to go on though. Many thanks! Link to comment
NepTuNe-UsD Posted August 23, 2003 Share Posted August 23, 2003 you dont dose your tank with viagra do you? Link to comment
technoshaman Posted August 24, 2003 Share Posted August 24, 2003 It's Heliopora - aka blue ridge coral. It will put out small polyps if the conditions are just right but more often than not will continue to slowly encrust like its doing in your tank. It's actually an octocoral not a scleractinian if I remember correctly. Also you may notice it looks kind of shiny sometimes too - this usually seems to occur when moving tanks, a large water change or other situation which stresses the coral - overall very hardy. The skeleton of this is beautiful it's a dark cobalt blue. HTH Link to comment
G Han Posted August 24, 2003 Author Share Posted August 24, 2003 Thank you thank you thank you, technoshaman! now I know, and knowing is half the battle! Link to comment
SaltyDawg Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 Techno.do you know how RARE it would be to get a peice of "endangerd species" blue ridge coral on a rock as a hitch hiker? I still stick with some form of encristing montipora. Blue ridge lives in deep water too ie semi colder water then that of a normal reef. I woulnd tthink it would be this but hey . you never know. Link to comment
technoshaman Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 Heliopora/Blue ridge is not banned for importation or endangered in the wild - it creates huge reef structures in areas like the Maldives and much of the Indo Pacific. No idea what you are referring to but it is a relatively common hitchiker coral on indopacific rock and other corals. Are you thinking of black corals (Antipatharia) most likely which are deep water and were/are used in the jewelry and ornamental trade. These are protected in most Carribean/Tropical atlantic waters and can be found worldwide in deep water. Black corals are subject to CITES protection due to overharvesting. Link to comment
G Han Posted August 25, 2003 Author Share Posted August 25, 2003 Wow! All over my little coral. You peops are great! Thanks for all the thought. Link to comment
kennerd Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 technoshaman is correct, that's blue ridge coral, and yes, it one of the few reef-building octocorals. Although it looks beige from the outside, the skeleton absorbs a type of iron-rich salt that causes the blue color. I thought I had a pic of mine on this computer, but no dice. The neat thing to do with this coral is to get it to grow in the glass, which will allow one to view the blue skeleton through the glass. Also gets very cool looking fuzzy appearance. Link to comment
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