Plate coral

[Halal Hotdog]

Hey guys, on Tuesday I obtained a plate coral through a trade. First fungia for me and have a few questions. So in his system the plate had no feeder tentacles, and he doesn't recall ever seeing them. Are there short tentacle plates with no visible tentacles? So far I have fed it reef roids and it eats very well. Currently sitting on sandbed. I have read that plates can move if not happy with light/flow, how exactly can they move? Does this one look okay? (Picture is from previous owner).

 

[Holy_makerel]

Beauty of a plate! I think it just depends on the specific species if they puff up much or not. My green ones flesh extends way out past it's skeleton and I've seen healthy ones with not much extension at all. Mine is about 7" across when fully open and at night shrinks down to half that.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Wow, looks amazing. I am a fan of the exposed feeder tentacles.

 

[LEOreefer]

Long tentacle plate coral just to share

 

[Halal Hotdog]

The fact I am not seeing any tentacle is nothing to be worried about, correct?

 

[LEOreefer]

The fact I am not seeing any tentacle is nothing to be worried about, correct?

I also have a short tentacle plate and sometimes it has tentacles and sometimes it dosnt. More often than not It does. I’ll grab a pic of it

 

[LEOreefer]

Pic from today after feeding

 

[Vaughn17]

It's hard to tell from the photo, but your plate looks similar (species wise) to a very hardy plate that I've had for about 4 years. Mine has a diameter of 4+ inches and shows good PE but usually only at night. If yours is eating well, I'm sure it is fine. I got mine cheap as it was in poor condition and had lost some flesh, but it recovered quickly with regular feedings.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

So far it is eating well. I have started to feed reef roids 2x/week so will try it out again to see if it is still eating.

So I have read posts about these plates being able to move on their own. How is that possible?

 

[Sea MunnKey]

Do not rupture or tear it's thin surrounding membrane as you may tend to lose it shortly after that ... some Plate corals are hardy though. Leave them alone (meaning no physical handling) if possible.

 

[Vaughn17]

So far it is eating well. I have started to feed reef roids 2x/week so will try it out again to see if it is still eating.

So I have read posts about these plates being able to move on their own. How is that possible?

They inflate their tissue (not certain of the exact process). I've never had one move far but have heard stories of plates moving all over the tank.

 

[jose hernandez]

keep it at the bottom not to much light if its eating then its fine just leave it alone

 

[Sea MunnKey]

I'd drop a few small pellets in their mouths occasionally and don't be surprised to witness it consume the pellets. Fortunately my fish don't pick on the pellets. A little trick is to feed the fish first before the plate corals ...

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Kind of a boring coral without tentacles. So far it is eating very well, moves sand off its body very quickly, and color looks great. Have it in the same area as my trachy and it seems happy. Will keep monitoring it. Will post a pic if a tentacle ever pops out.

 

[Sea MunnKey]

On odd days it'll pop out it's tentacles as do mine. I wouldn't term it as boring though ... . It's just the way it is .... polyps do, polyps don't

 

[Mombo]

I thought these were always suppose to be on the sand?

 

[Halal Hotdog]

I'd drop a few small pellets in their mouths occasionally and don't be surprised to witness it consume the pellets. Fortunately my fish don't pick on the pellets. A little trick is to feed the fish first before the plate corals ...

With regular feeding what growth rate are you noticing?

 

[Sharkbate]

Mine has his tentacles out day and night although shorter under blues. I feed or try to get a few pellets down to him if the fish are distracted about once a week . Cool to watch them drag the food to the centre .... nice addition to any tank I’d say

 

[Sea MunnKey]

With regular feeding what growth rate are you noticing?

I've noticed the all along outer skirt there's little "knobs" protruding. I've got one Plate coral that had lost some tissue on top & on certain parts of the skirt as well and still surviving ...