Soft Coral Identification

[Drew1600]

Hi all,

I have been keeping freshwater tanks most of my life but decided to convert one (10g) over to salt last month and I'm loving it so far. That being said I'm very new to this still and was wondering if anyone would be able to help me identify this frag I picked up today? Additionally, how long before I should expect it to open (or is this a water issue)? Any advice at all is appreciated, just really want to keep my first coral alive Thank you so much for all of your time & help!

 

[SCH]

Hi all,

I have been keeping freshwater tanks most of my life but decided to convert one (10g) over to salt last month and I'm loving it so far. That being said I'm very new to this still and was wondering if anyone would be able to help me identify this frag I picked up today? Additionally, how long before I should expect it to open (or is this a water issue)? Any advice at all is appreciated, just really want to keep my first coral alive Thank you so much for all of your time & help!

I've never had one before but I've seen a lot of them in my LFS - it looks like a trumpet coral to me. How long have you had it?

 

[PicassoClown04]

Looks like closed up clove polyps Did it look anything like these when it was open at the store? Cloves are super duper easy, they don’t really need anything except good basic parameters. They do enjoy reefroids every now and again!

 

[spiraling]

I thought zoa. I guess you will have to wait until they open?

 

[SCH]

Looks like closed up clove polyps

Or clove polyps - yup.

 

[PicassoClown04]

These are my closed up cloves, I think they look very similar?

 

[sfin52]

Looks like closed up clove polyps Did it look anything like these when it was open at the store? Cloves are super duper easy, they don’t really need anything except good basic parameters. They do enjoy reefroids every now and again!

I think you may be right. Definitely not a trumpet.

 

[sfin52]

These are my closed up cloves, I think they look very similar?

Agree

 

[Drew1600]

I've never had one before but I've seen a lot of them in my LFS - it looks like a trumpet coral to me. How long have you had it?

I purchased the coral earlier today. Thank you so much for the input!

 

[SCH]

I purchased the coral earlier today. Thank you so much for the input!

I was just guessing based on other photos and what little memory I have on occasion lol. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!
If you just put them in your tank today hopefully they'll open up for you tomorrow.

 

[sfin52]

@Drew1600
Welcome r2r. Have you considered starting a build thread. Great way to keep track of progress.

 

[Drew1600]

I was just guessing based on other photos and what little memory I have on occasion lol. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!
If you just put them in your tank today hopefully they'll open up for you tomorrow.

Fantastic! I really appreciate all of your help, thanks again!

 

[Drew1600]

Fantastic! I really appreciate all of your help, thanks again!

One final question - what is the darker part of the midsection of the coral? Most I have seen are uniform in nature. Also, minor algae, should I rub it off the coral or does it need it too feed?

 

[SCH]

Sorry for delayed response. I think you're asking about the skeletal base. A lot of coral have very visible skeletal bases and fleshy polyps.

What do you have for CUC? They might do the work for you. I have a pretty varied CUC. Happy to give recommendation if you'd like one.

If algae really bothering you that much, you could take a SOFT toothbrush and gently brush at it, but be super careful not the get the flesh. Even the slightest nick on an unhappy or unadjusted colony can lead to fatal infection.
Sometimes the best result is to 'do nothing' - what I mean by that is - the more I can add (such as CUC) or non-aggressive and natural filtration that helps me keep my hands out of the tank, the better off the tank has been.

Feeding the coral - depends on what it is. Some coral thrive with spot feeding of meaty foods and/or finer food particles and some only require good lighting. Once it opens and you know what it is - that should give you a better idea what to research.

 

[Tired]

The algae that corals need lives inside them, not on the outside. However, clove polyps do seem to grow algae on their outsides sometimes, which is fine for them.

Post another picture when they open up. I think that might be a pipe organ, not a clove polyp. They look very similar.

It's normal for corals to be closed when first added, but if it doesn't start to open tomorrow, I would check your water. What water are you using? You should be using RODI water for a reef tank, not tap water, as tap often has things in it that can be a problem and is very unpredictable. It can work for fish, depending on your area, but anyone who keeps corals alive in tap water is lucky. Probably temporary luck, too.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I believe the ID as a clove polyp is incorrect, that looks like a pipe organ coral to me. You can tell by the hard skeleton while cloves have none. When open they look nearly identical though.

 

[Drew1600]

Sorry for delayed response. I think you're asking about the skeletal base. A lot of coral have very visible skeletal bases and fleshy polyps.

What do you have for CUC? They might do the work for you. I have a pretty varied CUC. Happy to give recommendation if you'd like one.

If algae really bothering you that much, you could take a SOFT toothbrush and gently brush at it, but be super careful not the get the flesh. Even the slightest nick on an unhappy or unadjusted colony can lead to fatal infection.
Sometimes the best result is to 'do nothing' - what I mean by that is - the more I can add (such as CUC) or non-aggressive and natural filtration that helps me keep my hands out of the tank, the better off the tank has been.

Feeding the coral - depends on what it is. Some coral thrive with spot feeding of meaty foods and/or finer food particles and some only require good lighting. Once it opens and you know what it is - that should give you a better idea what to research.

Thank you very much for the time and detailed response, I really appreciate it!!
I would love some CUC suggestions, all I have now is a single Astrea snail I got earlier to help the cycle
Thank you again for your time and knowledge, you have been a tremendous help!

 

[Tired]

Check out ReefCleaners, they have good suggestions and are a great place to buy snails. Personally, I like a lot of ceriths and dwarf ceriths, they're good multi-purpose snails who will disturb your sand a bit and get into crevices. They may even breed in your tank. Also, the periwinkles are pretty! Toss some in, if you like the look of 'em, but be aware they might climb out unless your tank has a rim and/or a lid. You should really have a lid anyway.

 

[SCH]

Thank you very much for the time and detailed response, I really appreciate it!!
I would love some CUC suggestions, all I have now is a single Astrea snail I got earlier to help the cycle
Thank you again for your time and knowledge, you have been a tremendous help!

Most welcome - I'm definitely no expert - but I'm happy to share what I've learned thus far - and boy is there a lot!!!

My cleanup crew (I have 54 gal corner/bow front and 5gal fuge/sump) consists of: 1 purple reef lobster, 2 peppermint shrimp, a bucket load of ghost/feeder shrimp, 5-6 emeralds, not sure how many hermit crabs are left - maybe 4, 2 very large turbos, 5 or 6 trochus, 1 nerite, 1 stomatella, 4 fighting conches, many different types of nassarius, 12 bumblebees, 12 (or more) ceriths a red fromia star, sand sifter star, a bazillion micro brittle stars (NOT intentional lol), and last but not least a tuxedo urchin.
I also feed heavily and do minimum weekly 10% water changes.
Most snails are good - peaceful. None of my tankmates have any issues - except for the occasional hermit crab tussle over a shell. Note: if anyone attempts to sell you an olive snail - look out! They are total cannibals. They primarily eat other snails!

 

[Tired]

That's an interesting cleanup crew. Shrimp aren't really cleaners, though, neither are lobsters. They're more decorative.

Fromias inevitably starve in all but the very largest tanks (we're talking multiple hundreds of gallons), and sand sifters usually do as well. They take half a year or more to starve, is the problem. They also tend to eat a lot of your beneficial microfauna.

Bumblebee snails are not good for reefs. They feed on small sessile inverts, like fan worms, and may go after corals. Their only potential use is if you really need to get rid of vermatid snails, which they might eat.