ahh sps/hard coral questions (pics)

[EvilInSin]

ok so last week we got this Xmass tree rock from Jackies. I LOVE any kind of duster so I had to have it. Now Jackie told me the name of the sps on the rock and I forgot it of course. but she said it was low light. She said it would get fuzzy when the polyps are out. OK so I got lil brons things on it. Does it look right to you all? or is it dieing?
http://images7.fotki.com/v106/photos/2/223768/1294339/0410140003-vi.jpg

Next we have this rock we got from GVA in the LR tank. It had this white stoney coral that we assumed was dead cause it looks dead. Its hard to see in the pic cause its at the back of the tank.
Its got il brown polyp tentacles comeing out of it now! they go in at nite and come back when lights on. what is it??? its the brownish round thing right above the white spot on the rocks. we places it down and to the back of the tank cause it was just stark white like coral skeleton. I guess its true if you wait long enuf your rocks starts to show life.
http://images7.fotki.com/v105/photos/2/223768/1294339/0410160006-vi.jpg
http://images8.fotki.com/v107/photos/2/223768/1294339/0410160008-vi.jpg

[LVfishguy]

your X-mas rock looks good for now. I do know that they take a fair amount of care to keep them long term. Haven't ever done much research on them though. And as far as those little poylp/hard coral thingies go. I have yet to get an ID on them. I haven't seen any bad things come of them though.

[EvilInSin]

so the brown on the Xmass tree rock is ok? I know the worms wont live forever no matter how much I wish they would, but not sure about the stony coral they are growing around.

[VegasMike]

The SPS you have with the Xmas worms is called Porites. I hate to inform you that what usually happens is that the Porites don't make it and then the worms die off. Your rock looks good right now though. Good luck with them though.

I am assuming the rock you have is Gulf Rock from the description of the polyp. Do a search on gulf rock or Tampa Bay Saltwater and you find your id nestled within those threads.

Good luck with them.

[EvilInSin]

Originally posted by VegasMike
The SPS you have with the Xmas worms is called Porites. I hate to inform you that what usually happens is that the Porites don't make it and then the worms die off. Your rock looks good right now though. Good luck with them though.


ARGH! I specifically asked if the worms would die if the coral died and was told no!

[VegasMike]

It doesn't always happen that way, but generally speaking that is the way it goes. I have a worm in one of my acro colonies that RTN'd on me that has lived about a month so far.

Jaqui is generally pretty good, but no expert, by any stretch, on SPS. The good news for you is that brown Porites do not require high light.

[opihi]

porites don't usually make it because they periodically form a waxy coat that the flow in our tanks can't remove completely. then algae grows over it. at least that's what happened with a yellow porites colony i tried years ago.

also, i never thought of porites as being low-lighting corals... they're still a photosynthetic coral, no?

i'd assume the xmas tree worms are filter feeders, so you might try target feeding them with something like DT's or bioplankton or something. maybe dusting your LR with a baster is good enough to feed them. here's some good reading (http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2002/toonen.htm) for you.

j

[dallast]

the liverock coral is definitely from florida and is SUPER hardy! i have some in my tank that have been on the rock for 4 years. now all of my rock, back when i had very bad hair algae, has been pulled 5-6 times and scrubbed very hard with a toothbrush. i thought all of these were dead, but everytime, they come back. they have even been returned to the tank facing into the dark and under other rocks, to then be taken back out, scrubbed, and back into tank to re-emerge!
so don't worry too much about them.
i have them id'd on my computer at home. will post to you later today. but in the meantime, focus on the dusters!

[VegasMike]

Jeff,

I guess it's all in how you define "low light". IMO, directly under PC's is still low light. Turbulent flow is much more important.

Mike:D

[opihi]

oh for sure! i just don't think Dusty should worry about them being just a low-light coral and put them deep under the PC's. i had hitchhiker porites on a large Marshall Island rock that i kept pretty much directly under a 250w DE. it turned a nice bright yellow and seemed to do pretty well until i re-aquascaped and covered it up.

[VegasMike]

Yea,

I 've had them under MH and under PC's, they did Ok in either case, but better under the MH. I had to make an effort though not to cover them up though. I never had much luck with Porites Cylindrica (sp?) though, go figure.

Mike

[opihi]

that's the exact one i tried as my first SPS. dufus LFS guy said it's a great starter b/c it stays yellow. i know better now.

[EvilInSin]

Thanks for all the info guys! I have done lots of reading up on the worms and it seems that when the coral dies they do tend to die off as well, mostly becuase of other critters like peanut worms who like the dead coral and can attack the worms while doing what they do. I dont think I have any of the stuff the studies show as being the cause of death in our tank so I can always hope they live with/with out the coral. Otherwise I am spot feeding them like I do with my other dusters with all pumps off and the water mostly still and targeting the bottom of the tree. Whew these guys are much more complicated than my other dusters! but also better looking.
The rock is out in the open ad we have 2x96pc we leave the lights on about 12-15 hrs a day and have heavy flow in most of the tank.
I guess I just gotta hope they make it a few years at least. I read that they unlike other duster type worms can live up to 10 yrs.

[EvilInSin]

O yeah thanks for link Jeff
I had found that exact same site last nite! lol and a few others too. I gotta stop thinking if they look similar they need similar. I should have known they would need more than my other dusters.

[Nanighan]

I've had bad luck with Porites as well. IMO they are not the easiest sps to care for and that waxy experience Jeff had is all true which is why mine never made it.

[dallast]

the live rock coral is tube coral (Cladocora sp.; Family - Faviidae). very common in florida, bahamas and caribbean. commonly found in shallow areas of high sedimentation, so they can really take a beating!

i have these great coral, fish and invertebrate id books specific to florida, caribbean and bahamas!

good luck!

[EvilInSin]

Thanks for the info Dallas! always good to know what things are!

They sure can take a beating cause they spent at least a hour drying out on our table the day we did the scaping! and they dont get much light at all we almost hacked em off but I thought they would help hold the rock in place hehe. Now my hubby look at em in wonder everyday!