Bubble Coral question

Dustin83

AC Members
Nov 17, 2005
370
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0
Orange County, CA
Hello all,

I have a question about my green bubble coral. I've had this guy for about 5 months or so now, and it has been looking great (and it still does!). The only thing is... recently the coral seems to have "opened" up more. It has opened up so much that I can always see the mouth now. Around the mouth is... (I'm not sure what it's called).. the tissue (?) that extends out to where the bubbles are formed. All the bubbles are looking absolutely gorgeous.. and they're HUGE! But since the coral seems to "open" up so much, all the bubbles are towards the outskirt of skeleton. I've read somewhere that lack of bubbles can be caused by high water movement. I'm not sure if this is the same case. I always thought they were really referring to ones that don't expand enough...

I guess my main question is... is this ok? is this a bad sign? Is there way to keep his mouth little bit more shut so that there is no huge empty space around the mouth? :rolleyes: I guess I don't mind as long as it's healthy, but it does look nicer when all the bubbles are together!
 
it isnt a bad thing, nor from too much flow as long as the bubbles are large.
if you want them to go back to the mouth try feeding it
 
As been said it may be hungry. During the day mine is just bubbles, but at night it changes, The mid-point I think looks the best the mix of bubbles and tentacles. Then as the night goes on the mouth comes out more, the bubbles almost disappear and the almost monster looking skeleton is very visable, that is when I feed it. Mine does not goes through the transformation in the day, but it may if hungry.
 
If you're going to feed it, you could try a piece of silverside or other fish (base the size of the food on the size of your coral). It's a slow process, so if you have cleaner shrimp or hungry fish in the tank, it's best to feed them first and try to keep them away from the bubble while it takes in the food. Otherwise, the shrimp and fish will steal the food. It's fun to watch it eat and I was surprised how much it can expand its mouth to take in food the first time I fed ours some fish.
 
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