Identifying Corals

[Socaldayz]

Hi there,
I am still pretty new to the hobby and have a new soft coral that I don’t know the name of. Basically I bought it because it looked like a garden of flowers and the LFS said they were easy for first timer. They did tell me the name of it but…. I don’t remember what he said, lol. If you can help that would be awesome, if not I am thankful anyway.

sorry if the pictures are blurry, I can’t figure out how to get a good picture of them. These are the best I could get through trying all the different pic options on my phone.

 

[dedragon]

either a goniopora or a bernardpora most likely. Maybe alveopora but it will be easier to identify which one after the coral has a chance to open up a bit more. They are not easy beginner corals though and is an LPS and not a soft coral. I would say medium difficulty

 

[Socaldayz]

Geeze, so all kinds of wrong info. Maybe the person helping me was new or unfamiliar because they have been great with me so far besides this.

Alveopora is ringing a bell, I think that’s probably what he said it was. Thank you so much for helping. Now off to research caring for it .

 

[dedragon]

medium flow, medium to mid high par, keep alkalinity and calcium stable. Thats about it. Same care for all of them pretty much.

 

[Hemmdog]

Risky in a new tank imo

 

[Socaldayz]

Risky in a new tank imo

Thank you, good to know and get multiple perspectives. I already glued it to my live rock so I’m stuck with it. Besides dedragon’s advice, do you have any pointers?

My parameters are pretty consistent and I check every 2-3 days with weekly 20% water changes. The only fluctuations were my temperature by +2 and -2 degrees but I bought a Helio heater last week and it has made a huge difference. My ph also dips to 7.9 overnight sometimes but is back up to 8.2 by about noon.

 

[encrustingacro]

Goniopora sp, not Bernardpora. True bernardpora look like this.