NPS Coral ID - Dendro?

[andrewkw]

I picked up a few NPS corals yesterday - my first in person coral shopping of 2020 (yay). What caught my eye was this piece. Which I thought was perhaps a type of Dendrophyllia.

I know it's from Indo. It was (mis)labeled as Eguchipsammia fistula - This is a species I never even heard of but it turns out it does exist, but it's white. I could be wrong, but I am under the impression Dendrophyllia corals are not on cites.

It is beside a standard tubastrea. Even that I was excited to get as I haven't seen them in a while.

Besides being a dendro, it could possibly be Cladopsammia gracilis. If that's the case I will move it to a room temp tank since they are cooler water. At first I thought this is it, but the polyps on mine look different. Also mine is more orange and less pink. See https://reefbuilders.com/2012/11/08/cladopsammia-gracilis/

Photos are of them resting in my sump. So just sunlight / camera flash for lighting. Minor reactions to food but no big polyp extension yet. I tried a little live rotifers, which for whatever reason my fat head dendros go crazy for despite the fact they normally eat chunky meaty foods but that was right after bringing it home. When I do today's harvest I will try again. Also including a pic of my new menella gorgonian which is looking great.

First I will try and get feeding responses but later I will take clearer pictures but don't want to move around the corals too much until they are more settled in.

 

[fishguy242]

hi ,poss one on right,look like sun coral to me ,yes will see feeding in dark,

 

[andrewkw]

hi ,poss one on right,look like sun coral to me ,yes will see feeding in dark,

Sorry I should have labeled them. The one on the LEFT is 100% Sun coral. The one on the left is 100% NOT sun coral, but I don't know what it is. It looks like a type of dendro...

 

[fishguy242]

@Thespammailaccount ??

 

[Abhishek]

I guess you already know that you have Tubastrea sp. ( I say sp as it can be anything from faulkneri or coccinea or aurea or others ) and then dendro ..

The gorgorian is Menella sp. . One of the easiest NPS gorgs that has larger polyps and can eat fauna marin gorg food or brine shrimps . Need high laminar flow to thrive

 

[andrewkw]

I guess you already know that you have Tubastrea sp. ( I say sp as it can be anything from faulkneri or coccinea or aurea or others ) and then dendro ..

The gorgorian is Menella sp. . One of the easiest NPS gorgs that has larger polyps and can eat fauna marin gorg food or brine shrimps . Need high laminar flow to thrive

You are correct. I want to know what the mystery coral is, because I want to know and it's not something you see all the time, but also I want to know if it needs cooler water. That would be a drag but I'd move it to a pico cube and keep it at room temp if that's the case.

I knew the gorg is Menella but thanks for the information. It seems to be taking food fine. It's still in low flow just for now but I will move it into my display soon. Does it have to be in low light or will it have no reaction to light? I am aware it's NPS. I also culture rotifers for clownfish so in addition to powdered / frozen food I do plan on target feeding some live foods as well.

 

[Abhishek]

You are correct. I want to know what the mystery coral is, because I want to know and it's not something you see all the time, but also I want to know if it needs cooler water. That would be a drag but I'd move it to a pico cube and keep it at room temp if that's the case.

I knew the gorg is Menella but thanks for the information. It seems to be taking food fine. It's still in low flow just for now but I will move it into my display soon. Does it have to be in low light or will it have no reaction to light? I am aware it's NPS. I also culture rotifers for clownfish so in addition to powdered / frozen food I do plan on target feeding some live foods as well.

In my experience , they generally don’t react to light if food is available . One trick I used to do
Is to feed them only when lights were on . That said they are used to no light or little light . So it will be better not to have them in bright light for atleast a month .
Lastly , cyano and other algae can bother them and might need brushing if kept in high light .
Also dipping is generally preferred as they often come with pests !

 

[Thespammailaccount]

@Thespammailaccount ??

The first two pictures look like sun corals to me but I don’t know @Dr. Dendrostein

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I picked up a few NPS corals yesterday - my first in person coral shopping of 2020 (yay). What caught my eye was this piece. Which I thought was perhaps a type of Dendrophyllia.

I know it's from Indo. It was (mis)labeled as Eguchipsammia fistula - This is a species I never even heard of but it turns out it does exist, but it's white. I could be wrong, but I am under the impression Dendrophyllia corals are not on cites.

It is beside a standard tubastrea. Even that I was excited to get as I haven't seen them in a while.

Besides being a dendro, it could possibly be Cladopsammia gracilis. If that's the case I will move it to a room temp tank since they are cooler water. At first I thought this is it, but the polyps on mine look different. Also mine is more orange and less pink. See https://reefbuilders.com/2012/11/08/cladopsammia-gracilis/

Photos are of them resting in my sump. So just sunlight / camera flash for lighting. Minor reactions to food but no big polyp extension yet. I tried a little live rotifers, which for whatever reason my fat head dendros go crazy for despite the fact they normally eat chunky meaty foods but that was right after bringing it home. When I do today's harvest I will try again. Also including a pic of my new menella gorgonian which is looking great.

First I will try and get feeding responses but later I will take clearer pictures but don't want to move around the corals too much until they are more settled in.

From the dendrophilia family, my guess. Love the gorgonian.