Pipe Organ.

[Dean812]

I notice that I have a small patch of Pipe Organ growing on a piece of live rock. Didnt buy it, it just hitchhiked I guess. Anyone have any info on this one? Easy?

[Dean812]

Is it an expensive coral?

[rvitko]

Pipe Organ is a coral that we have learned alot about in the past 10 years. It used to be considered impossible. They do frequently appear on Indonesian live rock. Anyway to keep them successfully you need very strong light- usually metal halide and fairly high flow. This octocoral has an added element of complexity in long term care- personally I haven't kept one for more than 2-3 years without it turning into a hairball of bryopsis algae as their are just so many crevices to trap detritus. Just give it your best shot. But flow rate of 10* an hour and lighting of at least 5 watts per gallon are probably nominal requirements.

[Dean812]

Thanks rvitko! Thats helps me understand it better. Its beautiful and the more I look into this area of my tank, the more of it I see! Its everywhere. thanks again.

[rvitko]

No problem, regarding expense a nice head of about 6" across that is full with no dead spots typically fetches about $50. It grows fast in the right conditions. In the 3 years I had my last one before the bryopsis took over- didn't kill it but I gave it to someone with more patience than myself. The 3"*6" green polyped piece I had nearly doubled in size. Like the other octocoral we see Blue Ridge- Iron is supposedly fairly important to growth.

[Dean812]

The importance of iron may explain why mine is taking off like weeds! Since I started my reef, I have doubled the dose of Coral-Vite that I add weekly because someone told me it was good for them. Looking on the package it says it has iron in the mix. Maybe all the extra iron is making it grow this fast. I mean it is everywhere! I moved one of the rocks to look behind it and the whole back of the rock that gets good light is absolutely COVERED!