View Full Version : soft coral ID please?
joshuacpr99
06-22-2008, 6:56 PM
went to lfs to get ppmint shrimp and yellow tang. the mngr had an overstock of this type of coral and he gave me 2 frags for 5 dollars. he told me the name but i guess i am not spelling it right or something because it wont come up on any site. can someone give me a correct name and spelling please so i can find out more about it? thanks!
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r206/joshuacpr99/0622081733a.jpg
journey0820
06-22-2008, 6:57 PM
I can't see it really well but maybe a type of xenia?
joshuacpr99
06-22-2008, 6:57 PM
see if i can crop pic.
joshuacpr99
06-22-2008, 7:01 PM
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r206/joshuacpr99/0622081733a1.jpg
joshuacpr99
06-22-2008, 7:15 PM
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r206/joshuacpr99/S4010005.jpg
joshuacpr99
06-22-2008, 7:16 PM
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r206/joshuacpr99/S4010004.jpg
Amphiprion
06-22-2008, 7:40 PM
Can they completely retract into a tube-like structure? If so, then they are "clove polyps" and if not, then they are Anthelia. Judging from the pics, it looks as though they have a "tube" or calyx, so I would say a type of clove.
Dale W.
06-23-2008, 12:44 AM
Possibly stereosoma sp. I was thinking Anthelia at first as well. either way they are both part of the Xeniidae family.
joshuacpr99
06-23-2008, 6:54 AM
it is anthelia. thanks for the info! on alot of the web sites they say they're a very difficult peice to maintain. in yalls experience is this true? i have had no problems keeping corals such as zoas, gsp, hammer, candy cane, kenya tree, shrooms, and sun corals.
kay-bee
06-23-2008, 10:37 AM
Yep, that's anthelia. Grow's like a weed in my tank.
Pufferpunk
06-23-2008, 10:45 AM
Clove polyps do not retract. I agree on Anthelia.
Amphiprion
06-23-2008, 11:44 AM
Clove polyps do not retract. I agree on Anthelia.
They certainly do--they and their relatives (e.g. star polyps, etc.) can all retract into a calyx. If the polyps retract, they absolutely cannot be Anthelia.
Pufferpunk
06-23-2008, 9:40 PM
I wish my pink cloves would retract out of my tank! I've never seen them retract like GSP. I would rather they did, so I could just peel them off. Just kalked them again yesterday & started plucking them with a big tweezer today. I hate those things!
Amphiprion
06-23-2008, 9:50 PM
You may not have cloves, then. I was beginning to doubt myself after thinking about it until I checked Borneman's Aquarium Corals, which said "the autozooid solitary polyps of varied colors arise from the calyces and can retract completely into the base of the calyx." I agree, however, that both Anthelia and clove polyps can spread like the plaque. I am glad (well, sort of, anyway) that my star polyps died off in the crash. They had managed to spread everywhere. It didn't affect my mushrooms, however, which continue to be a problem.