Trachyphyllia or Scolymia

jasonrusso · Jan 23, 2018

So I am still learning about corals after starting my nano reef a couple months ago. Pretty much everything I've bought (a bunch of euphyllia, birdsnest, monti) is growing well.

I've always loved the look of the bright colored corals sitting in the sand. I like the rainbow trachyphyllia because they glow and the color is amazing, but there are some beautiful scolymia as well.

To be honest, I'm not sure about the difference. Is a trachyphyllia like a soft clam?

Is either on easier to keep? I'm looking for slow growing but vibrant color that glows under the actinics.

I bought this little yellow guy (upper right) as frag (I don't remember what it was) but I love it because it looks like it has batteries. That's more what I want.

Moonfruit777 · Jan 24, 2018

Good to hear you and your corals are happy

Scolys and Trachys are both very nice and "easy" LPS corals!
They both glow really nice under Actinics. Especially the green and red colors.

Scolys have flat colors which do glow nice under actinics (red, green, orange, light blue).
Trachys have somewhat transparent color and a very fleshy polyp I'd say 2 times the size of the skeleton which glows insanely bright under actinics- especially the green ones.

Having two different scolys and two different trachys I can easily tell you- Nothing in the tank comes close to the neon green color of the trachy (see my profile pic)
So if you really want some neon color - I'd say go with a nice green trachy. (It is also not breaking the bank like a scoly

)

Your neon colored coral on the picture looks like a Caulastrea sp. - if you want a coral with similar or even brighter glowing color - trachy all the way

Top - neon green Trachy
Bottom - Scolymia master and warpaint

A different, multicolored Trachy where the neon colors are less intense but still very nice

jasonrusso · Jan 24, 2018

Thanks for the information!

I've been leaning towards a rainbow trachyphyllia, but the warpaint scolymia looks really nice also.

How do you feed? Do you target feed (I've been using reef chili) or is it like a anemone where you have to give it food a couple times a month.

Moonfruit777 · Jan 24, 2018

You don't have to feed them at all- they are perfectly fine with light. You can however feed them if you want to.
They will show their feeder tentacles almost every night after lights out (IMHO best time to feed). On daytime they get "triggered" as food lands on them and shortly after the tentacles should show up to grab some food.
I'd not recommend to feed more often than once a week.
Maybe once or twice per month is a good amount. And don't feed too much- feeding them is more like a treat

You can offer mysis shrimp or LPS pellets like the ones from fauna marin. Less is more: 3-4 mysis shrimps or maybe 5-10 pellets depending on the size of the coral. I am unfortunately not familiar with reef chili.
Feeding is said to enhance color and growth of the coral- I personally can not really confirm that as those types of corals usually don't really grow a lot. BUT feeding seems to make the corals quite a bit more fleshy (maybe that is what people call growth).

Just be careful if you have hermit crabs or shrimps. Even if the coral "ate" the food they almost always rush in to grab the food out of the corals tentacles or even go and dig around in the coral to rip the food back out.
Does not sound healthy for the coral, does it?

Dsnakes · Jan 24, 2018

I like them both. I've got 2 scolys and 2 trachys. If you have the space, get both! My Trachy tried to eat one of my Scolys ;Blackeye

DSC reef · Jan 24, 2018

The care requirements are similar between the 2. I'd try a trachyphillia radiata first and see how it does. You can get nice specimens for good deals. I prefer feeding our trachyphillia and LPS. IME much more colorful, fluffy and good growth versus not feeding. A couple times a week I mix oyster feast with reef roids and broadcast feed to get a feeding response then it picks up chunks of LRS reef frenzy when the tentacles come out. One of my favorite corals.

jasonrusso · Jan 24, 2018

Dsnakes said:
I like them both. I've got 2 scolys and 2 trachys. If you have the space, get both! My Trachy tried to eat one of my Scolys ;Blackeye

This is a 32 gallon Red sea. I'd love both but the space is running out. Hence the growing slow requirement.

Dsnakes · Jan 24, 2018

Here is my Trachy when I noticed it going at the Scoly. Very deceiving how large they inflate to. Easily doubles in size.

jasonrusso · Jan 24, 2018

Dsnakes said:
Here is my Trachy when I noticed it going at the Scoly. Very deceiving how large they inflate to. Easily doubles in size.

Could it actually eat it? Is it aggressive? They don't move, correct?

Dsnakes · Jan 24, 2018

jasonrusso said:
Could it actually eat it? Is it aggressive? They don't move, correct?

They don't move, I think my tank is just too full and it inflated larger than expected. I'm not sure if it could actually consume it or not. It had its stringy white tentacles pulling it over.

jasonrusso · Jan 24, 2018

DSC reef said:
The care requirements are similar between the 2. I'd try a trachyphillia radiata first and see how it does. You can get nice specimens for good deals. I prefer feeding our trachyphillia and LPS. IME much more colorful, fluffy and good growth versus not feeding. A couple times a week I mix oyster feast with reef roids and broadcast feed to get a feeding response then it picks up chunks of LRS reef frenzy when the tentacles come out. One of my favorite corals.

There is a local guy who works out of his basement. He's retired so I don't think he is really in it for the money. He said he can get me a 4-5" rainbow trachyphyllia for $150-180. From what I have seen, that is a pretty good price.

Fwiw, reef chill has a bunch of ingredients :

All the key ingredients are included in BRS Reef Chili:

Bio-engineered Zooplankton
Spray Dried Phytoplankton
Freeze Dried Rotifers
Freeze Dried Copepods
Dried Daphnia
Spirulina Powder
Artemia Nauplii Replacement Diet

This is what I have been feeding. I DO need to keep up with my water testing. I have added a bunch of new frags so I am using more calcium and magnesium than before.

DSC reef · Jan 24, 2018

Might want to start smaller. A 4-5" trachyphillia can swell up to 7" easy. Once you have one it's hard to see your tank without one.

jasonrusso · Jan 24, 2018

DSC reef said:
Might want to start smaller. A 4-5" trachyphillia can swell up to 7" easy. Once you have one it's hard to see your tank without one.

Wow, that much? Do scolymia swell up that much as well?

I'm looking for a centerpiece that I can put front and center.

My LFS has bleeding apple scolys. I'm going to stop in there tomorrow.

To be honest, I like the rainbow trachyphyllia. I hope I can find a bright one.

DSC reef · Jan 25, 2018

Scolys won't swell up nearly as big as a trachy. A rainbow will definitely be a centerpiece.

jasonrusso · Jan 27, 2018

I actually saw some very nice bleeding apple scolys at the LFS and thought that I might like that more, then I saw this. Mind blown! [emoji15]

jasonrusso · Jan 31, 2018

I know I said I wanted a rainbow, but that is before I knew they came in black!! Yes, I know it's not black, it is dark red.

I saw 2 on divers den that I liked, one rainbow and one black. I printed them out and held them by the tank and I had to go with the black one. I think the green and purple will really fluoresce and the dark contrast with the sand will pop.

DSC reef · Jan 31, 2018

That's nice looking but in person I think the rainbow will grab your attention. The darker ones looked good in certain light but the rainbows look great in all spectrums. Trachyphillia are amazing corals. I say grab both

jasonrusso · Jan 31, 2018

DSC reef said:
That's nice looking but in person I think the rainbow will grab your attention. The darker ones looked good in certain light but the rainbows look great in all spectrums. Trachyphillia are amazing corals. I say grab both

Space constraints, unless you want to send me a present?