TechLobster Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Hi all, I was at the LFS the other night and this frag caught my eye. I asked and no one at the shop could remember what it was called. I know it is not anything exceptionally rare, just can't seem to pick out what it is exactly. My best guesses are Galaxea or Leptastrea, though I am probably wrong. I'd like to get a more concrete ID so I know about lighting conditions / placement. It acts like a softy, getting pretty fluffy (this pic was taken immediately after a water change so it was a bit pissed off being disturbed). Thanks for any ideas. 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 24 minutes ago, TechLobster said: Hi all, I was at the LFS the other night and this frag caught my eye. I asked and no one at the shop could remember what it was called. I know it is not anything exceptionally rare, just can't seem to pick out what it is exactly. My best guesses are Galaxea or Leptastrea, though I am probably wrong. I'd like to get a more concrete ID so I know about lighting conditions / placement. It acts like a softy, getting pretty fluffy (this pic was taken immediately after a water change so it was a bit pissed off being disturbed). Thanks for any ideas. Hydnophora. Very aggressive. Quote Link to comment
TechLobster Posted January 17, 2019 Author Share Posted January 17, 2019 Are you sure? I googled and none of the pictures look like a match... The horn coral looks more like hard "polyps" but these ones I have a definitely soft. They move nicely in my flow and come out another 1/4-1/2" like an extending euphylia. The polyps surround individual favia-like "mouths"... I am confused for sure what this thing is, but it seems to be happy and getting polyp extension. I'll try to get a pic of it all fluffy tonight. Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 15 minutes ago, TechLobster said: Are you sure? I googled and none of the pictures look like a match... The horn coral looks more like hard "polyps" but these ones I have a definitely soft. They move nicely in my flow and come out another 1/4-1/2" like an extending euphylia. The polyps surround individual favia-like "mouths"... I am confused for sure what this thing is, but it seems to be happy and getting polyp extension. I'll try to get a pic of it all fluffy tonight. I’m positive. I have a large piece in my 75. Here’s a pic of mine still closed up from night time: Quote Link to comment
Boggers Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 You have to find plating VS branching and yes it does look like the plating version but getting a pic happy would be good. 2 Quote Link to comment
TechLobster Posted January 17, 2019 Author Share Posted January 17, 2019 Yeah, I'll make sure to get a better pic tonight. It does look very similar to that pic there... I am a bit worried if it is that aggressive especially because it looks like it will need higher light and my real estate at the top of the tank is tight... 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 2 minutes ago, TechLobster said: Yeah, I'll make sure to get a better pic tonight. It does look very similar to that pic there... I am a bit worried if it is that aggressive especially because it looks like it will need higher light and my real estate at the top of the tank is tight... They like a lot of light and a lot of flow. Very aggressive. If something touches it, they will die. Quote Link to comment
TechLobster Posted January 18, 2019 Author Share Posted January 18, 2019 Here is a pic from this morning. It is very soft and flowy. Even though the clusters of polyps look similar to the plating hydnophora, the ones on this frag are much longer than anything I've seen online. Each cluster of polyps looks like it has a mouth (can see some of them in the pic), does you hydno have visible mouths like that? This is also on the sand bed of my Biocube 14, running stock lighting... If it is hydno, how long do you think I have before it dies from not enough light? Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 41 minutes ago, TechLobster said: Here is a pic from this morning. It is very soft and flowy. Even though the clusters of polyps look similar to the plating hydnophora, the ones on this frag are much longer than anything I've seen online. Each cluster of polyps looks like it has a mouth (can see some of them in the pic), does you hydno have visible mouths like that? This is also on the sand bed of my Biocube 14, running stock lighting... If it is hydno, how long do you think I have before it dies from not enough light? Hydnophora. Looks like every picture I have ever seen online as well as my own. 😁 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 I’m gonna try one more time. Here is an overhead shot of mine: lots of mouths. Hydnophora. Hydnophora Hydnophora 2 Quote Link to comment
moose2823 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Like others have said, it is an aggressive coral, IF something touches it. But its aggression comes from mesentarial filaments, not long sweepers or free-floating packets of stinging death like you get with euphyllias. As long as you keep everything at least 2 inches away, it should be fine....but if it does snare something in its net, it will kill quickly. So make sure to leave room and account for future growth of the hydnophora frag and everything else nearby 2 Quote Link to comment
TechLobster Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 Well, as always, y'all were right on the money with this ID. And I learned some lessons. Work up a couple weeks ago and one of my larger heads (2" or so dia) of my branching hammer was in the sandbed right next to the hydno, like almost touching. Being in a hurry and already running late for work I just propped it up intending to glue it back down that night. Came home and someone moved the hammer right into the hydno, polyps fully touching. Both corals looked slimed up and I could already tell that the hammer was toast. I glued it down anyways just in case a piece of it could pull through, but it melted to bare white skeleton over the next couple of days. Next day hydno looked like nothing even happened, but holy hell this thing must be aggressive. I had the hydno on the sandbed pretty close to my octospawn - lesson learned and the hydno has been moved to his own little corner far away from everyone else (except my crabs seem to love hanging out on and around it). I wish I knew who keep breaking chunks off my rock, sometimes with coral chucks... And also that I could get a tank with more real estate in it. Everything is starting to compete for space so I am getting to see some interesting coral battles. Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 I have the plating one too....you guys are the first other people on all of Earth I've met who also have the plating one. Several years in a retails store and all I ever saw come in from suppliers was the branching ones. A customer (who I never met) brought in a tiny frag that was dying off and that's where I got him. His first order of business on his first nighttime shift was to "eat" the moonshower favia frag I got at the same time, placed about 1-2 inches away. Since then he's been a model citizen -- extremely adaptable IMO. He grew to the size of a dinner plate. :-) Over a number of years I've had him, or peices of him in high light, low light, even under the shade of another coral. High flow, almost no-flow. You name it. Once established, these guys area great. Tough as nails too. BTW, those "lumps" in the center of his tentacles are called "hydnophores"...their namesake. On 1/10/2019 at 3:56 PM, TechLobster said: Quote Link to comment
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