My acanthophyllias color

[Goonofthelagoon]

So I received this acanthophyllia last week and I’ve searched all over the internet and I’ve never seen an acanthophyllia this color. It’s such a pretty light green color, it almost glows. When I acquired it, it looked like this as well. I really don’t think that it is bleached, but it could always be a possibility. It was in a low flow and low to medium light area when I bought it, so I’m almost certain that it wasn’t bleached. Has anyone ever seen a color morph like this? I’m not really too concerned on how rare it is, but I would love to see what y’all think of how much it could go for. It’s been in my tank for a week now and it has not changed color even the slightest bit. He was just taking a poop, so he’s not fully opened up yet, but he’s a good 6 inches across when opened up.

 

[F i s h y]

picture?

 

[Goonofthelagoon]

picture?

The pictures are there for me. Are they not showing up for you?

 

[Goonofthelagoon]

Here, hopefully you can see these

 

[PicassoClown04]

I can see the pictures. No idea. Beautiful coral though!

 

[TriggerFinger]

I can see the pics. VERY beautiful but have no idea if that’s typical or not

 

[PicassoClown04]

Quick google search doesn’t show anything like what you have. I have seen open brains with that type of coloring though so I guess it’s possible. Looks like you have something really special! Obligatory not my photos but I have seen this in my lfs and know that they’re real!

 

[Goonofthelagoon]

Dang, well I really got lucky then. My friend was getting out of the hobby and he gave me this for 60 bucks. If you were to put a price range on this guy, what would you give it?

 

[Goonofthelagoon]

Quick google search doesn’t show anything like what you have. I have seen open brains with that type of coloring though so I guess it’s possible. Looks like you have something really special! Obligatory not my photos but I have seen this in my lfs and know that they’re real!

Those are also some beautiful trachys

 

[Sltloser]

It looks to me as though it has bleached, albeit I have not kept this coral personally the coloration is consistent with lack of zooxanthellae in the coral tissue. The green you're seeing is most likely GFP (green fluorescing protein). The last picture above of the pink/green also appears to be bleached as well. I would suggest target feeding 1-2x per day for the next 2-3 weeks and see what changes occur.

 

[Goonofthelagoon]

It looks to me as though it has bleached, albeit I have not kept this coral personally the coloration is consistent with lack of zooxanthellae in the coral tissue. The green you're seeing is most likely GFP (green fluorescing protein). The last picture above of the pink/green also appears to be bleached as well. I would suggest target feeding 1-2x per day for the next 2 weeks and see if you see what changes occur.

Alright I will, I also asked my friend who I got it from if it was bleached and he said that it’s been that color ever since he got the coral, so idk. He said that he target fed reef roids twice a week.

 

[F i s h y]

The pictures are there for me. Are they not showing up for you?

I see them now.... strange... no idea if that is typical coloration... very beautiful though

 

[Goonofthelagoon]

Quick question, if I feed reef roids to him every day to see if his color will change, will that make the nutrients in my tank skyrocket?

 

[Sltloser]

Alright I will, I also asked my friend who I got it from if it was bleached and he said that it’s been that color ever since he got the coral, so idk. He said that he target fed reef roids twice a week.

That's interesting, it may have been bleached when he bought it and has been living off of heterotrophic feeding vs autotrophy via photosynthesis.

Quick question, if I feed reef roids to him every day to see if his color will change, will that make the nutrients in my tank skyrocket?

As long a most of the food is ingested it shouldn't, but test your water after 1 week and see what it looks like.
A few notes on spot feeding:

1. I would also suggest turning off all power heads while feeding, this will increase the amount of food the coral will ingest.
2. Feed at night when polyps are extended and ready for feeding
3. When adding food to the coral lightly blow it over the tentacles, if you are too forceful with the turkey baster/syringe/etc. the stimulus may cause the coral to completely contract.
4. Finally if you're having issues with losing too much food to current you can use a 2L pop bottle cut in half to reduce flow around the coral. Keep the half with the lid on it and place this over the coral, then add food from the lid area, this should allow for food to slowly fall down towards the coral rather than be pushed around by the return pumps.
5. It may not hurt to feed a few brine/mysis shrimp as well.

 

[Goonofthelagoon]

That's interesting, it may have been bleached when he bought it and has been living off of heterotrophic feeding vs autotrophy via photosynthesis.



As long a most of the food is ingested it shouldn't, but test your water after 1 week and see what it looks like.
A few notes on spot feeding:

1. I would also suggest turning off all power heads while feeding, this will increase the amount of food the coral will ingest.
2. Feed at night when polyps are extended and ready for feeding
3. When adding food to the coral lightly blow it over the tentacles, if you are too forceful with the turkey baster/syringe/etc. the stimulus may cause the coral to completely contract.
4. Finally if you're having issues with losing too much food to current you can use a 2L pop bottle cut in half to reduce flow around the coral. Keep the half with the lid on it and place this over the coral, then add food from the lid area, this should allow for food to slowly fall down towards the coral rather than be pushed around by the return pumps.
5. It may not hurt to feed a few brine/mysis shrimp as well.

Ok thank you, I usually feed with all flow turned off, but I never used to feed at night. Thank you for the suggestion, I will do that tonight.

 

[Sltloser]

Ok thank you, I usually feed with all flow turned off, but I never used to feed at night. Thank you for the suggestion, I will do that tonight.

No problem, I'm happy to help!