Fire Coral tips

xian · #1 12/22/2007, 01:45 PM

Ok I'm looking for advice from those who have kept the other Millepora...

I bought a frag the other day, everything I've read says thats its needs are similar to sps corals: High light/flow and of course DON'T TOUCH!

I've given it room to grow.

Anything else unusual about it?

It does have beautiful yellow orange color. I hope it thrives.

justinzimm · #2 12/22/2007, 02:32 PM

I keep some in a tank at work. It will encrust other corals, rocks or anything it touches. Nice coral just keep an eye on where it's spreading or it will turn into a issue. Can turn into a "weed" pretty quick.

Justin

xian · #3 12/22/2007, 03:12 PM

Any idea which species you have or where I can get help with ID on mine? May not be possible but it looks like what Julian Sprung calls "brittle Millepora"

It's not nearly as "fuzzy" as the stuff down in the Keys.

SuperNerd · #4 12/22/2007, 03:17 PM

Fire coral? Do you have any pics?

xian · #5 12/22/2007, 03:41 PM

Best Pic I could get.

hockeyismylife · #6 12/22/2007, 05:35 PM

that reminds me of digi a little. could be wrong though. nice coral none the less.

xian · #7 12/22/2007, 06:13 PM

Yeah it's a bit blurry...but there is a digi near it and the polyps look nothing alike. The Millipora has tiny polyps that look like tiny glass spines.

pIankton · #8 12/22/2007, 07:37 PM

They're a very hardy and fast grower and will encrust all over the place like mentioned above. Some days it's really fuzzy - other days completely bald. I kept a really nice piece for about a year, then sold it when I broke down my tank.

They are known to attack, kill and take over gorgonians, so if you have any in there (gorgs) you may want to relocate them - or the fire coral.

Shawnts106 · #9 12/22/2007, 09:07 PM

This corals name definatly belongs to it!

Has anyone EVER gotten stung by this coral?

BECAUSE I HAVE!

We recieved one about 2 years ago here at the store by mistake...

I thought it was DIGI in the bag... one of those black bags..

Went and grabbed it up..

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!

My fingers were swollen and acheing like I have never had them do before

It was the equivelant of being stung by a couple of bees...

I do NOT want to go through that again!!!
Ice was the only thing I could do to try and just numb the pain a bit...

I do NOT RECOMMEND TOUCHING THIS CORAL!!!

whatchout!

xian · #10 12/22/2007, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pIankton
They're a very hardy and fast grower and will encrust all over the place like mentioned above. Some days it's really fuzzy - other days completely bald. I kept a really nice piece for about a year, then sold it when I broke down my tank.

They are known to attack, kill and take over gorgonians, so if you have any in there (gorgs) you may want to relocate them - or the fire coral.

I have a large purple plume gorg on a neighboring rock. I'll relocate it to the other side of the tank. I'm actually hoping the fire coral crowds out some of the palys and majanos in the photo.

King-Kong · #11 12/22/2007, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pIankton
They're a very hardy and fast grower and will encrust all over the place like mentioned above. Some days it's really fuzzy - other days completely bald. I kept a really nice piece for about a year, then sold it when I broke down my tank.

They are known to attack, kill and take over gorgonians, so if you have any in there (gorgs) you may want to relocate them - or the fire coral.

I saw a lot of them encrusting over gorgs in the keys... they seem very good at it... and are plentiful.. always had to be mindful of my surroundings...

Gary Majchrzak · #12 12/22/2007, 10:27 PM

Matt- I used to grow the same species of Fire Coral and I traded many frags in upstate NY. (I'd love to find out if we could trace that coral back to me!) It's not the same type that encrusts gorgs in the keys. Give it high light and high flow.

xian · #13 12/24/2007, 01:29 PM

Gary, I wish that I could confirm the the frag was from your colony that but the story of how this coral came to upstate NY is very similar to what happened to shawnts106.

There is a guy here who runs a small LFS operation out of his family's hardware store. He tends to get lots of really nice stuff. This frag came in as an unidentified extra and got identified after he handled it. So the "coral" is a pacific variety. He has no idea where the corals in the shipment originated from, they all came in as mixed box.

Personally I've never seen anything quite this color so I'm quite fond of it at the moment. I traded three purple rim cap frags for this frag and $15.

As you might be able to tell I'm a U Miami alum. I got to see quite a bit of the Caribbean M. complanata. (The big encrusting/plating species that grows in the keys.) The feature that strikes me about this frag is that while the polyps seem to be impressive they are far smaller than those I've seen on the species collected in the keys .

According to James Nybakken Pacific species are not nearly as invasive as Caribbean species.

Thanks for all your tips, I hope that this coral thrives in my system

SuperNerd · #14 12/24/2007, 01:55 PM

Is there a special type of glove needed to handle this type of coral when it comes to trimming? Are fish immune to its sting?

Gary Majchrzak · #15 12/24/2007, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by xian
According to James Nybakken Pacific species are not nearly as invasive as Caribbean species.

I can attest to this as well.
I don't believe fishes are immune to Fire Coral's sting. Personally, I never used gloves to handle it but don't follow my example! An unwitting brush against my Pacific Millepora usually resulted in something similar to the reaction and feeling I get from a big bad bristleworm sting.

broke1 · #16 12/24/2007, 04:00 PM

Isn't it true that these thing are more closely related to Jellyfish and Hydroids that they are to coral?

SuperNerd · #17 12/24/2007, 04:12 PM

apparently it is: http://www.sheddaquarium.org/sea/fact_sheets.cfm?id=93

http://www.mf.uni-lj.si/acta-apa/act.../4-clanek.html

nava405 · #18 12/25/2007, 07:52 AM

i saw a few of those at LFS like few months ago, very nice color almost looks like plastic, and i know those things are pretty deadly if they touch any SPS.

xian · #19 12/25/2007, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by broke1
Isn't it true that these thing are more closely related to Jellyfish

No

Quote:

and Hydroids that they are to coral?

Yes. They are often referred to as Hydrocorals they are very different in their polyp anatomy than corals. I am not as well acquainted with this "coral" as I am with Physalia (the Portuguese Man o' war) but I believe the organization is similar.

In corals the colony is composed of many similar individuals all of whom are exact clones that may or may not share nutrients. Each polyp is a separate animal. In colonial hydroids many individuals take on specific roles. Some are reproductive, others are predatory and in the case of Physalia one lucky polyp gets to be the big gas filled sac. They look like a single animal but they are actually a colony with castes.