Trumpet or Candy Cane? Do you know which this is?

[rhpmiller]

I know they're both Caulastreas and cared for similarly, but not sure which I got. Any ideas?

Bonus points if you know what this encrusting one is too. Ha. (sorry for the image quality). I'm thinking Favia?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Trumpet and candy cane are the same thing I believe, but I’m not sure that’s either. They grow in branches.
Pretty sure that second one is a favia.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Sun coral

 

[Sharkbait19]

Sun coral

That’s a pretty good bet. Would be easier to tell in water.
If it is indeed a sun coral, you have got yourself a beautiful but very hard coral. They need to be fed at night, and do not carry out photosynthesis.

 

[Uzidaisies]

First one kinda looks like a Blastomussa to me. Second one is probably Favia or Favites. I’m an amateur though.

 

[rhpmiller]

That’s a pretty good bet. Would be easier to tell in water.
If it is indeed a sun coral, you have got yourself a beautiful but very hard coral. They need to be fed at night, and do not carry out photosynthesis.

UGH.

Don't get me wrong, it looks stunning, but not the care level I was looking for. Unfortunately was misled by my LFS (they're usually fantastic).

Welp, will now place it much lower in the tank and be sure to feed it a whole lot. Ha.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

UGH.

Don't get me wrong, it looks stunning, but not the care level I was looking for. Unfortunately was misled by my LFS (they're usually fantastic).

Welp, will now place it much lower in the tank and be sure to feed it a whole lot. Ha.

Yeah that is not a candy cane. +1 for sun coral. It’s difficult to take care of. But they are also super expensive in my area. If you paid less than $150 for that you got a great deal. Just for reference this is what candy canes look like when they’re open.


edit: sun coral has little tentacles rhat come out at night when they open

 

[rhpmiller]

Yeah that is not a candy cane. +1 for sun coral. It’s difficult to take care of. But they are also super expensive in my area. If you paid less than $150 for that you got a great deal. Just for reference this is what candy canes look like when they’re open.


edit: sun coral has little tentacles rhat come out at night when they open

I paid $25 for it. So, silver lining? Didn't get a trumpet, but got an absolute steal for a sun coral. Ha.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

I paid $25 for it, and that's in NYC, so probably a little pricier than a normal trumpet. However, seems like I got a steal for a sun coral. Silver lining? Ha.

That’s not pricey at all even if it is a candy cane. I paid 20$ for two heads here in KY and they looked like crap. That’s what they looked like when I bought them. They were infested with burrowing worms.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Yeah the 10-20 candy canes at my lfs are either bleached or just blah.
I paid 40 for my toxic green and thought I was getting a steal when it had 2 captain jerk palys on it…you’ll never guess what the dominant coral in my tank is (and it ain’t candy cane)…oh, and the palys eventually killed the candy cane.

I paid $25 for it. So, silver lining? Didn't get a trumpet, but got an absolute steal for a sun coral. Ha.

25 for a sun coral…keep it. Worst case scenario it doesn’t work, but if it does, you’ll have one of the nicest corals for the cheapest price. Best way to see if you can care for a hard coral is to get it cheap (I tried a 10 dollar acro because there was no way I’d pay any more for such a hard coral, but if it worked I would totally have gotten more).
They are easy for NPS, so if it goes well you’ve taken your first steps into a larger world.

 

[Uzidaisies]

Can we get a picture in water?

 

[rhpmiller]

Yeah the 10-20 candy canes at my lfs are either bleached or just blah.
I paid 40 for my toxic green and thought I was getting a steal when it had 2 captain jerk palys on it…you’ll never guess what the dominant coral in my tank is (and it ain’t candy cane)…oh, and the palys eventually killed the candy cane.

25 for a sun coral…keep it. Worst case scenario it doesn’t work, but if it does, you’ll have one of the nicest corals for the cheapest price. Best way to see if you can care for a hard coral is to get it cheap (I tried a 10 dollar acro because there was no way I’d pay any more for such a hard coral, but if it worked I would totally have gotten more).
They are easy for NPS, so if it goes well you’ve taken your first steps into a larger world.

Haha. That sucks about the candy cane.

And very good point about the sun—i'll do my best and hope for the best.

 

[mdb_talon]

Haha. That sucks about the candy cane.

And very good point about the sun—i'll do my best and hope for the best.

It is definetely a sun coral, but i disagree about them being difficult. Time consuming maybe because they do require spot feeding or a very mature tank with a ridiculous amount of natural food(pods/etc).

A little one like that though a small squirt of mysis/lps pellets though every couple days and should do just fine. If it has been neglected(and i assume it has if the LFS did not even know what it was) then the hardest part may be getting it to open for feeding. If they go extended periods without food available they stop opening. Once it is used to getting food it will open every night(or can be trained to open during the day).

Make sure where you put it has very good flow. They are considered an LPS, but have much higher flow requirements than most coral we identify as LPS.

 

[rhpmiller]

It is definetely a sun coral, but i disagree about them being difficult. Time consuming maybe because they do require spot feeding or a very mature tank with a ridiculous amount of natural food(pods/etc).

A little one like that though a small squirt of mysis/lps pellets though every couple days and should do just fine. If it has been neglected(and i assume it has if the LFS did not even know what it was) then the hardest part may be getting it to open for feeding. If they go extended periods without food available they stop opening. Once it is used to getting food it will open every night(or can be trained to open during the day).

Make sure where you put it has very good flow. They are considered an LPS, but have much higher flow requirements than most coral we identify as LPS.

Yeah, it wasn't opened at the LPS, which is why the staff (and myself) thought it some kind of candy cane. Hopefully I can coax it to open up.

That's really interesting to hear about the flow, and I'll keep that in mind. Might need to move it around a bit over the next several days, if I can get it to open up and feed. A couple of my hermits keep knocking it off this rocky area that would be perfect, and I don't want to fix it to anything if it isn't going to thrive.

 

[mdb_talon]

Here are some of mine. Sorry the pics suck the healthy ones are in my frag tank i have right under my gyre so they are shaded. The unhealthy ones are recent additions in a DT that need to coax back to health.

Healthy ones like these get plumper fleshier polyps even when closed.

When unhealthy you can see the flesh dissapears between polyps and they look less "fleshy"

 

[rhpmiller]

Here are some of mine. Sorry the pics suck the healthy ones are in my frag tank i have right under my gyre so they are shaded. The unhealthy ones are recent additions in a DT that need to coax back to health.

Healthy ones like these get plumper fleshier polyps even when closed.

When unhealthy you can see the flesh dissapears between polyps and they look less "fleshy"

Yeah, mine is looking more like the latter right now. A little opening, but not close to being fully open.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Here are some of mine. Sorry the pics suck the healthy ones are in my frag tank i have right under my gyre so they are shaded. The unhealthy ones are recent additions in a DT that need to coax back to health.

Healthy ones like these get plumper fleshier polyps even when closed.

When unhealthy you can see the flesh dissapears between polyps and they look less "fleshy"

That’s awesome. I’ve never seen sun coral grow out like that before. Most of the ones my LFS gets in grow in a sea cucumber like shape with polyps in all directions.

 

[Rmckoy]

I know they're both Caulastreas and cared for similarly, but not sure which I got. Any ideas?

Bonus points if you know what this encrusting one is too. Ha. (sorry for the image quality). I'm thinking Favia?

Top is a sun coral ( research feeding requirements . As it’s a NPS

the next picture is a favia

 

[Tamberav]

I know they're both Caulastreas and cared for similarly, but not sure which I got. Any ideas?

Bonus points if you know what this encrusting one is too. Ha. (sorry for the image quality). I'm thinking Favia?

Neither, it is a closed sun coral. Non-photosynthetic.

Smelly food like a little reef roids sometimes can get them to open, then feed something larger like mysis.

 

[Rmckoy]

Neither, it is a closed sun coral. Non-photosynthetic.

Smelly food like a little reef roids sometimes can get them to open, then feed something larger like mysis.

They will remember feeding time and eventually open at the same time .

use a sofa bottle cut to make a funnel over them creating similar to a dome .
They are guaranteed to eat