Two freebie corals and...a sponge, I think.

[EvsReef55]

Hi everyone,

I was given two corals awhile ago and both seem to be doing well but I have absolutely no idea what they are. I’m hoping someone here can shed some light on them for me.
The yellow blob came in as a hitchhiker on my live rock. I think it’s some type of sponge. It’s been pretty much the same size for about 6 months and it doesn’t seem to be hurting anything. I just want to make sure it isn’t a wolf in sheeps clothing. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[S-t-r-e-t-c-h]

- yellow sponge
- goniopora / alveopora (need to count the tentacles)
- galaxea

Just don't put anything too close to the galaxea; they have a wicked sting and can put out very long sweeper tentacles. The sponge is fine, but make sure you don't take it out of the water (can trap air inside of it and kill it).

 

[EvsReef55]

Excellent! Thanks so much for the info. I have noticed some long sweepers coming out of the one. Any info on what they like? Right now I’m going on hit or miss.

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

The second picture looks like alveopora. They are one of my favorites. We feed ours coral frenzy. You can also look into gonipower.

 

[S-t-r-e-t-c-h]

Excellent! Thanks so much for the info. I have noticed some long sweepers coming out of the one. Any info on what they like? Right now I’m going on hit or miss.

The sponge is a filter feeder. Honestly, if it came in as a hitchhiker and survived for months, I'd not put too much thought into it. The tank is probably producing naturally enough resources for it.

The flowerpot (goni/alveo) and galaxea have pretty similar care requirements. They're fairly resilient in terms of water flow, light levels and nutrient levels. Because they're pretty fleshy corals, I wouldn't blast them with powerheads and they really don't need the highest light levels.

With more info on your tank & parameters, can give more specific recommendations, but they look pretty good right now so I wouldn't be too concerned with changing anything. Possibly look into target feeding but otherwise probably just continue doing what you're already doing; keep things stable...

 

[EvsReef55]

Ok. Sounds great thanks so much for the input. I’ll try some target feeding and see how it goes. Now that you’ve given me an ID I can research them a little better as well.

Thanks everyone!