dont you hate it when.....

[KarlV]

you buy a coral from a pet shop and its listed as a "tree coral"

 

 

 

any ideas?

[Caesar777]

Awesome. Bleached black sun coral? I have no idea.

[formerly icyuodd/icyoud2]

hey that looks like the coral in my lfs. i think its a tree coral.

he he he.

[formerly icyuodd/icyoud2]

is it from Dendrophylliidae family?? still pretty novice here, but trying to help/learn

[phergus_25]

I'm gonna go with somehthing I need for my tank

[Caesar777]

You know, I was thinking this before and I can't find much info, but the polyps really remind me of a cup coral, Turbinaria. But of course that coral isn't branching. Maybe it's another from the same family?

[victoly]

thats a slick ass coral. it does look similar to the black sun in structure, however its pretty obviously not black... GIve it some time to color up.

[Caesar777]

I dunno, how can a non-photosynthetic coral bleach?

[KarlV]

I spoke to a fs guy todayt and he pointed to one that had polyps that pretty much hid the branching. he called it a finger or tree coral.

 

the one in the shop was pretty much the same color.

 

Oh yeah apparently it was collected off the west australian coast.....

[yoshiod9]

duncanopsammia axifuga...i thought you were located stateside, in which case i would've demanded a decent sized frag from you. but since you're in australia i think that would prove to be a problem.

 

duncanopsammia is actually ULTRA rare...almost never seen in the trade. it grouws very quickly and is a pretty hardy coral. awesome find. don't give it too much bright light and feed it once a week or so and you should be fine. great find man!

[KarlV]

so If I told you it cost me $Australian 25 (about $us19) you would hate me?

[KarlV]

yoshiod9 I think you might be right there. Thank you.

[yoshiod9]

yeah...i'd hate you...lol.

 

i know i'm right on the id though...so don't worry about that. i've been lookin for one of these for quite some time.

[KarlV]

I just completely reaquascaped my tank so that it gets less light...was right under the halide...your advice probably saved it some pain and suffering.

[Caesar777]

Definitely a nice coral. Good score! Do you get much nice stuff down there?

[Caesar777]

Of course Yoshiod is dead-on. Found some info:

 

Characters: Colonies are composed of long tubular corallites which bifurcate at irregular intervals, and which face upward. Corallites are round, 10-14 millimetres diameter, and have well developed septa arranged according to Pourtalès plan. Columellae are broad and deep seated. Walls are composed of porous coenosteum. Tentacles are extended day and night and may form a continuous mat concealing the shape of the underlying colony. Colour: Green or blue-grey. Similar species: Tubastrea species have similar corallites, but are azooxanthellate. Habitat: Usually occurs in water over 20 metres deep, attached to a solid substrate but in areas where soft sand predominates. Abundance: Rare but conspicuous.

 

I'd say that matches, uh, exactly!

 

Again, nice score. It looks quite like a branching sun coral, but much better: but it stays open all day and night and is photosynthetic (no need for daily feedings).