green pagoda cup

kingfisher62 · #1 02/09/2007, 10:01 PM

Just ran out and got my coral fix. It is a green pagoda cup . I was told they were not to difficult to keep . I should have done more research . It has been in the LFS for six weeks and looks great .

Does any one know any thing about it ?

here are some photos a few minutes in the tank and an hour and a half in the tank!

kingfisher62 · #2 02/12/2007, 08:13 PM

Cmon anybody? Am I in the wrong forum? well anyway it was doing great for a couple of days now it hasn't for two days !
Has anyone ever had one of these? sure could use some advice!

ghostman · #3 02/12/2007, 08:45 PM

Pretty color on the cup. I had one for over a decade. Mine was a slow grower, had a very thick dense skeleton, and was indestructable. Polyps should come out all day/night. Mine ate small foods, and didn't like the top surface to touch anything like the rock or the glass. Medium flow kept detritus from settling in the cup. Good luck, a beauty. HTH

kingfisher62 · #4 02/13/2007, 05:58 AM

Thanks ghostman, any ideas why it might not be opening lately?

ghostman · #5 02/13/2007, 08:39 AM

Not sure. Mine always did best when the edge was not touching the rocks. Place it face up or make a resting place where the edges are not touching rockwork. Some pagodas get huge polyp extension and look very fuzzy. LMK

FEEDERFISH · #6 02/13/2007, 05:15 PM

Give the pagoda a good resting place, and give the ployps heavy bursts of flow that are random, it will grow fast and the polyps will start growing closer together, Mine started out looking like yours, polyps were sparse, I have had this one for over 2 years and it has changed from a green to a yellow and doubled in size check mine out

kingfisher62 · #7 02/13/2007, 07:45 PM

yours looks great!
Before mine closed up it was pretty bushy on the top half not like yours though.
It has opened up again today not great but at least its open. I only have a 14 g biocube so i am limited to where i can put it but i will figure it out! thanks for the tips guys.

FEEDERFISH · #8 02/13/2007, 09:03 PM

what is your alk and mag level, keep your mag level up and your polyps will have some nice extension, also make sure you have a nice amount of flow over the polyps they should be out 24/7

kingfisher62 · #9 02/16/2007, 08:54 AM

I repositioned and it is already looking better .thanks guys.
Not another test kit! I already have a drawer full of them.To be honest with you I still need to pick up an alk kit but will probably hold off on the mag for a while. Hopefully my "Reef Crystals" will keep them well.
I noticed that on of the polyps in the center did not open today .Is it possible it is digesting a pc of mysis shrimp or something?

Beach Native · #10 02/16/2007, 04:30 PM

Mine is the center piece of my tank and one of my favorite corals. If I can hunt down some current pics of note, I'll post them when I get home tonight. Yours has great color and is (I believe) a peltata (although I'm may be wrong)!! Give it time it should open up. Mine opens completely most of the time the lights are on (closing if someone walks across it our sits on it)and the polyps are dense enough that you can't see the stone on the face when they are open. As was stated earlier, I also find that mine likes to have flow across the face. Good luck with it!!!

In my avatar, the green patch in the upper left hand corner is the back side of mine.

Bcollins111900 · #11 02/16/2007, 06:38 PM

sweet pagoda. I have one that is local I might go buy now since I have seen yours. Always liked them I am just running out of room quickly.

kingfisher62 · #12 02/16/2007, 07:14 PM

I know what you mean!

Aliie · #13 02/16/2007, 08:48 PM

OH YEAH! I have one on hold at the LFS right now. I am stoked now that I have seen these pics?

Kingfisher: It looks great now that you moved it!! Nice add to the tank for some good coloring!

Chaotic Reefer4u · #14 02/17/2007, 12:13 PM

thats a very nice piece...

lhoy · #15 02/17/2007, 08:30 PM

Do you have all those fish in that 14 gallon tank? If so, you are bound to have trouble with the pagoda down the road with that heavy a fish bioload.

Lee

kingfisher62 · #16 02/17/2007, 09:41 PM

Don't worry,lhoy!
The only two fish in my biocube are the ones you can see in the photo. A perc. clown and a hifin banded goby.
All the other fish in my stock list are in my 55g FOWLR tank.
Someday I would like to put a green clown goby in the cube, we will see!

thanks for the nice comments, everyone!

A question for the people that already have a pagoda.
As mentioned earlier I noticed one polyp that did not open and I thought it might have gotten a piece of shrimp and was digesting it or something . tonight when I got home the green matting blistered up where the polyp was . I imagine now that some how that polyp died . When i dusted with a turkey baster (which I do if I see sediment on specimens) the "blister" popped and the matting seemed to back down.
Has any one witnessed this before ? should I concern my self? Will the coral heal itself?

Beach Native · #17 02/18/2007, 03:01 PM

For what it's worth, here's mine. If nothing else you can see how densely the polyps are packed now. This guys almost exactly 12" across.

smoney · #18 02/18/2007, 03:10 PM

Is the Bright yellow cup coral bleachead at all? or what? Because I saw some at the LFS a while back and didnt get it because I assumed it was somehow bleached, I had never seen somthing that bright.

ghostman · #19 02/18/2007, 03:12 PM

IME a blistered polyp is not a big deal and will easily repair itself. Keep the area clear of detritus with a stronger current once in a while. The polyps will retract, but they'll be back out shortly. My pagoda was a yellow green and looked just like feederfish. The bright yellow ones are dyed/lacking zoo IMO. HTH

kingfisher62 · #20 02/18/2007, 09:07 PM

Awsome pagoda,Beach Native!

simion3 · #21 02/19/2007, 01:31 PM

I keep mine low in the tank, about an inch from the bottom, with medium to high random flow. Here's a pic:

sjfishguy · #22 02/20/2007, 02:24 PM

I think this coral has been dyed (the green one). It will probably end up pink (like everyone else's) in a few months IF it survives. You usually see them dyed yellow, but I have seen green on occasion as well. The blistering you are discribing sounds like the tissue is necrosing from the dye. Turbinaria peltata (common name: pagoda cup coral) should be pink with a greenish hue at best, not green, florescent pink or bright yellow. If this is the case, they have been dyed. Turbinaria renifomis (yellow scroll coral) can be bright yellow and sometimes purple (very rare variant). The prognosis for this coral does not sound good IMO, but good luck. I would also try not to buy corals from a LFS that get dyed corals from thier distributor, let alone tells you they are easy to keep (obiviously they dont even know they are dyed).

kingfisher62 · #23 02/20/2007, 04:32 PM

Sjfishguy, The LFS i got this pagoda from definitely know their fish but are almost clueless about coral . It seems that my knoweldge of corals has surpassed theirs and I only started a reef tank 6 weeks ago.
I don't think that they knew they were getting dyed corals but next time i am visiting i will let them know about it.

I gotta say my pagoda is looking better every day so I do have high hopes for it . I will keep you all posted and thanks.

kingfisher62 · #24 02/20/2007, 04:35 PM

Oh BTW simion3, that is one nice pagoda! Took a while to get some feed back about my pagoda question now it seems like everyone is climbing out of the wood work!
Keep it comin!

Beach Native · #25 02/21/2007, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sjfishguy
I think this coral has been dyed (the green one). It will probably end up pink (like everyone else's) in a few months IF it survives. You usually see them dyed yellow, but I have seen green on occasion as well. The blistering you are discribing sounds like the tissue is necrosing from the dye. Turbinaria peltata (common name: pagoda cup coral) should be pink with a greenish hue at best, not green, florescent pink or bright yellow. If this is the case, they have been dyed. Turbinaria renifomis (yellow scroll coral) can be bright yellow and sometimes purple (very rare variant). The prognosis for this coral does not sound good IMO, but good luck. I would also try not to buy corals from a LFS that get dyed corals from thier distributor, let alone tells you they are easy to keep (obiviously they dont even know they are dyed).

Well then I guess I need to figure out which variant I have. Mine has always been green when/where it's healthy. Here's a picture of the backside and the front under the polyps is the same color. This one has been healthy and growing for about 4 years now.

Mine has never been as light as the others in these pictures and I think the density of it's polyps attests to it's health!?