Encrusting corals on skeletons

PicassoClown04 · Dec 29, 2020

Hey y’all! I’m currently on vacation in Cozumel and I’ve been finding all sorts of gorgeous coral skeletons on the beach. They’ve got these beautiful deep grooves and it got me thinking that it would definitely be neat to see an encrusting coral grow over it! So I’m looking for suggestions on what corals y’all think would look the best on these skeletons. I already have JF Jack O Lantern, Rainbow monti, chili pepper monti, and jingle bells cyphastrea so I may try those. Anybody have any cool ideas? I really want the skeletal structure to shine!

Doctorgori · Dec 29, 2020

wasn’t there a thread on this here somewhere? ...help?

homer1475 · Dec 29, 2020

Problem with encrusters, you'll lose alot of the ridges and skeletal structure as they grow. Which is what you seem to be drawn to.

Some of my encrusters are thicker as they grow, and even on bumpy rocks, it's all just flat.

samnaz · Dec 30, 2020

I think it’s a fantastic idea!

PaulieReef · Dec 30, 2020

I say five it a try. Can’t hurt! I really and go get a chalice to cover a skeleton head after that post went around.

PicassoClown04 · Dec 30, 2020

Gosh I’m sorry yall! Never got notified about the comments on this thread for some reason! @homer1475 you definitely brought up the point I’m most concerned about. I tried to only pick ones with very deep grooves so hopefully the ridged pattern stays but who knows? Maybe a softie like blue clove would work? Perhaps even a strain of micro zoa like eagle eyes? I collected a lot so I’ll be able to really experiment!

Daniel@R2R · Dec 31, 2020

I like the idea! I love seeing leptos or even cyphastrea encrust over cool shapes.

danschoenherr · Jan 16, 2021

This is a great idea for encrusters, just be sure to clean/bleach any old coral fragments that you bring back from the beach.....I learned that early on.
I always use interesting pieces of branch rock or live rock when making frags of encrusting corals. I just hate the looks of a square frag on a round plug......looks so unnatural. I even mix varieties of cyphastreas and leptastreas with some pretty cool color combinations.

Casket_Case · Jan 22, 2021

Platygyra? I love platygyra you’ll probably lose some ridges but when it grows over it’ll be a nice roundish shape

PicassoClown04 · Jan 26, 2021

Woah! I have no idea why I’m not getting notifications for this thread! I’ve treated them in a bleach solution and I have Spicy Lemon favia and chili pepper monti arriving tomorrow to begin the experiment!

Casket_Case · Jan 27, 2021

footgal said:
Woah! I have no idea why I’m not getting notifications for this thread! I’ve treated them in a bleach solution and I have Spicy Lemon favia and chili pepper monti arriving tomorrow to begin the experiment!

Sweet! I’m stoked to see what happens!

homer1475 · Jan 27, 2021

IF you don't frequent a thread, it will often fall off of the notifications after a few have been sent(goes down the list). Once you reopen the thread it goes to the top of the list on notifications.

I'm also curious to see the results. I know when I tried a few times, I lost all the ridges of the parent coral, and it just looked like an encrusting blob.

PicassoClown04 · Jan 27, 2021

homer1475 said:
IF you don't frequent a thread, it will often fall off of the notifications after a few have been sent(goes down the list). Once you reopen the thread it goes to the top of the list on notifications.

I'm also curious to see the results. I know when I tried a few times, I lost all the ridges of the parent coral, and it just looked like an encrusting blob.

I’m going to try to use a dremel to make the ridges super pronounced, hopefully that will help. I think high flow will also help? I’m not sure, I guess maybe I just think that the flow will help encourage to coral to spread faster?

I just think it’s weird, cause I’m the OP

Usually I still get notifications on all my threads, even ones from like 6 months ago. I just re-watched this thread (little button at the top) so hopefully that fixes it

homer1475 · Jan 27, 2021

Even rewatching doesn't help, just the way the software divides the notifications.

Think of the notification list, the more threads you watch(replying to threads automatically watches them by default in the forum software) the bigger the list gets. If you stop frequenting a thread, even if you get a notification initially, it keeps getting pushed down the list. Not sure how big the list per user is, but you get the idea.

When you go back into a thread, it moves it back up the list.

Just what I've noticed about the notification list and the forum software over the years.