Coral ID please?

[MoshJosh]

Local store was having a pretty decent sale on coral, One for $30 or two for $40, how can I say no. I have been wanting a Duncan so I picked that for my first coral, but for my second coral I wasn’t sure. . . The folks at the store weren’t really sure what any of the corals were, so I just picked the one I thought was prettiest. Now in their lighting it was kind of a peach color with a orange yellow center but it’s looking pretty red and green under my light. Anyway I still think it looks nice, would love to know what it is and how to best care for it?

 

[SaJon]

Local store was having a pretty decent sale on coral, One for $30 or two for $40, how can I say no. I have been wanting a Duncan so I picked that for my first coral, but for my second coral I wasn’t sure. . . The folks at the store weren’t really sure what any of the corals were, so I just picked the one I thought was prettiest. Now in their lighting it was kind of a peach color with a orange yellow center but it’s looking pretty red and green under my light. Anyway I still think it looks nice, would love to know what it is and how to best care for it?

Kinda looks like a favia with a neon green mouth. hmm. Its definitely pretty.

 

[eqbal9947]

dragon soul favia?

 

[MaxTremors]

Sold as a ‘Dragon Soul Favia’ but is technically a Goniastrea. A single polyp for $20 is kind of expensive, but not horrible. It should be purple and bright green/almost highlighter yellow, and the growing edges should be yellowish. They like medium-low to medium lighting (75-125 PAR). They should be fed mysis/brine/ocean plankton once a week or so (same with your duncan), and medium to medium low flow. Neither of these are what I would consider beginner corals, but they’re both hardy as far as LPS go, they both require monitoring alkalinity and keeping it stable.

 

[Tcook]

 

[MoshJosh]

Sold as a ‘Dragon Soul Favia’ but is technically a Goniastrea. A single polyp for $20 is kind of expensive, but not horrible. It should be purple and bright green/almost highlighter yellow, and the growing edges should be yellowish. They like medium-low to medium lighting (75-125 PAR). They should be fed mysis/brine/ocean plankton once a week or so (same with your duncan), and medium to medium low flow. Neither of these are what I would consider beginner corals, but they’re both hardy as far as LPS go, they both require monitoring alkalinity and keeping it stable.

Thanks for all the great info!

Unfortunately me LFS both run on the expensive side. . . one is currently charging $60 minimum per frag regardless of what it is. . . the store says it something about covering the cost of salt. . .

So when I saw some corals for 20 bucks I couldn't help myself.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Agree- Dragon soul favia although can be ultra dragon soul

 

[Cell]

Best answer

True favias are in the atlantic, and the collection and sale of atlantic corals is illegal and has been illegal since the 70s. Most favias in the hobby these days are actually dipsastraea, with the rest being favites, coelastrea, goniastrea, astrea, etc.

I think you got that from Jake Adams saying that dragon soul favias are actually goniastrea palauensis (now coelastrea palauensis). However, there are other species of corals that look similar to dragon souls, such as dipsastraea rosaria and favites paraflexuosus.

 

[Wasabiroot]

Thanks for all the great info!

Unfortunately me LFS both run on the expensive side. . . one is currently charging $60 minimum per frag regardless of what it is. . . the store says it something about covering the cost of salt. . .

So when I saw some corals for 20 bucks I couldn't help myself.

Honestly 20 bucks is fine. We're all so used to paying 39.99 for shipping and livesales but you were able to see it in person and liked it. Lfs are almost always more expensive but you're getting some perks with that. The 60 bucks is a bit lame though.