Rare soft corals?

[apex003]

Originally posted by michaelg
One I haven't seen mentioned is Dampia. I have a chunk growing in addition to the pulsing sinularia, and another I don't have a name for....
Dampia isn't the prettiest, but does have a neat growth pattern and sure seems to be uncommon. Only ever seen it one place, and that was the tank I got a frag from.

Can you post a pic? I googled Dampia and didn't get much. Just interested to see it. Thanks...

[michaelg]

might take a couple days, but will try to get one put up.

[Sangogo]

Originally posted by phishlet
So anybody else have success with the Scleronepthea corals? Thanks for the comments reefnewbie but I'm not really inquiring about true dendros here. I'm hoping somebody has info about the Scleronepthea I pictured above.

If it's what I think it is (Umibenitosaka), I have an orange one. I have never seen the term Scleronepthea used here though, but classification is extremely fuzzy here, unless you are going by Japanese names. Here is a pic of the common orange one: (pic courtesy of online corals guide)

They're extremely common here and considered "B" difficulty. "A" being easy and "C" being for experts. Many SPS are C and many carnations are C.

When I ordered mine, they forgot to pack it with ice, so the water was extremely hot when it arrived. I was pretty sure the thing was melted and not going to survive. At the very least, I thought I could keep the rock in my tank. So I stuck it in my tank, slimy as it was, near a powerhead, expecting nothing. (Mailorder company sent me a pineapple brain coral as an apology gift.)

It has not only recovered, but the polyps open nice and wide at night and when I put food in the tank. Granted, I haven't had it very long, but I'm amazed that it recovered at all. That water was hot by human standards, much less coral standards.

I also have one of these (birodo togetosaka): (pic courtesy of random mail order co.)
Which is related to carnations (Togetosaka). Considered difficult, but it was on sale for less than $17 US dollars and very pretty, so I gave it a try. It has grown in my tank so far and actually though it came with no rock, it has rooted itself on the live rock I put it on and stands up straight by itself now.

Being that I'm quite the newb, I'm not sure how long I can keep either, but they're already doing pretty well. And everyone has different experiences with these ratings. Plenty of people do keep carnations here in Japan, but I think in general the attitudes on keeping stuff here is much laxer.

[GuidoReefer]

What about the Green Nepthea? Everytime I see one its an arm and a leg for a frag or the person doesnt wanna give it up lol does this count??

[jbittner]

I think the thing with Green nepthia is it doesnt grow. Mine is almost 2 yrs old and it has maybe tripled from its frag size.

[WarrenG]

Originally posted by phishlet
How about this? Anybody have one or had one?

http://www.marinecenter.com/corals/c.../redsilkcoral/

These are common in Fiji. They close up during slack tide in areas with moderate light (less than 50 feet deep) and then open up like you see in the picture when the current runs. They like the flow of plankton for hours at a time. They tend to live in darker areas like under overhangs and in small caves with good circulation. If they are out in the open they tend to be in the range of 50-130 feet deep where the light is not intense.

I've seen some specimens in bright red, magenta, purple, yellow, blue'ish, white, and orange. Some are white with other color on the tips. I recall that the yellow ones were in areas with more light than the orange and red ones. Some areas will be be covered with one color or another on vertical walls-thousands of specimens.The largest single specimen, (I have it on video) was bright orange, had a trunk about a foot in diameter and was about four feet tall and three feet wide. It was in a dark swim through.

[xclan]

I had a Carnation coral and it didnt survive. I also bought a goniopora at the same time....both died within 6 months. The gonioproa isnt a soft coral though. I do agree I loved my carnation coral...it seemed like everyday was different...one day it looked good, the next it was leaning badly, then the next shriveled up....2 days later it was fully extending. So much for buying corals i know nothing about before hand.....this was 3 or 4 years ago.