My new fav coral...name pls

[Action]

OK this is my new favorite coral...picked it up a few weeks ago...I knew what it was called and found it on the net, but now I have forgotten http://www.hardcoreaquatics.com/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif and am way too lazy to look again...I remember the name was close to Nepthia but not exactly...has any one else kept a coral like this...from my reading a few weeks ago I heard it was difficult to keep...but so far he seems to be growing and is out like in the pic at night...maybe it is due to AD's Phyto http://www.hardcoreaquatics.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gifhttp://www.hardcoreaquatics.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif
Also wondering what to feed care etc...

[vaporize]

Carnation coral, requires very frequent feeding :) Keep up with the feeding schedule and best of luck.

[Mugster]

Carnation Coral

Care Level: Expert Only
Light: Low
Water Flow: Medium to Strong
Placement: All
Tank Conditions: 72-78°F; sg 1.023-1.025; pH 8.1-8.4; dKH 8-12
Color Form: Orange, Purple, Red
Temperament: Peaceful
Ideal Supplements: Iodine, Strontium, Trace Elements
Origin: Fiji, Indo-Pacific, Indonesia, South Pacific
Family: Nephtheidae



The Carnation Tree Coral or Dendronephthya Carnation is one of the most beautiful and peaceful corals, and is also known as the Cauliflower Soft Coral, or Strawberry Soft Coral. There are over 250 different identified Dendronephthya species. It is found in a variety of flamboyant colors with red or orange being the most common.

It is extremely difficult to maintain in the reef aquarium, and should be housed in an established reef aquarium, by the more advanced marine aquarist. It requires low lighting combined with medium to strong water movement. It is necessary to have a constant current with an abundance of algal plankton. For continued good health, it will also require the addition of strontium, iodine, and other trace elements to the water.

It does not contain the symbiotic algae zooxanthellae. Therefore, its diet should include live, baby brine shrimp, micro-plankton, and other small foods designed for filter feeding invertebrates, in order to survive in the reef aquarium. These foods must be available almost constantly. Again, only expert aquarists should attempt to keep this coral.





Kev :twitch:

[Atomikk]

All I have to tell you is .... goooood luck. This baby need feedings like 3 times of day. Trust me, I couldn't keep up myself. It eventually died on me. Unless you have an automatic phyto doser, you will have a hard time with this coral. Sorry to discourage you...

[Detrituss]

Looks like a Dendronephthiae species as others have posted. Try to attach upside down underneath a ledge so that the coral is not exposed to too much light. I did this to one and hooked up a powerhead @ 200 gph with a line attached to the venturi part of the powerhead. The line went into a container that held freeze dried phytoplankton and therefore the coral was fed 24 h a day. The coral was alive for a few months until the nutrient overload on the tank made me stop feeding. The coral then dies within a month. With new sources of live phytoplankton perhaps you will have better luck than I did.

[Action]

THX for the advise, That is what I recall reading however I was hoping I was mistaken...Guess time will tell, I will not keep my hopes up...On the positive side of things I've had it for over three weeks and it has grown since the addition. Now I'm wondering if my un-orthadoxed keeping of the coral is making a difference...ie. I currently have it placed high in my tank in high lighting...orriginally it was in a dark cave but seemed to be withering away so I moved it. Now during the day it remains closed while MH are on and opens up with the atinics and moon lights. This is usually when I feed phyto and also scrape the glass.
I'll keep my fingers crossed I guess...& here I was thinking about fragging it :).

[tonytwist]

All I have to tell you is .... goooood luck. This baby need feedings like 3 times of day. Trust me, I couldn't keep up myself. It eventually died on me. Unless you have an automatic phyto doser, you will have a hard time with this coral. Sorry to discourage you...

I did not have luck with this coral either. Wish the LFS had told me before I purchased it. It lasted about 4 weeks and then withered away.

[Action]

Well almost 3 AM just got home and gave it a feed of phyto and started another batch of brine ... thank god I have the new skimmer!

[Action]

Just an update...coral doing well and growing...go figure...frags anyone lol......:)
I'll post pics when I get the energy.....

[mr.wilson]

Not to discourage you any more than everyone else has, but dendronephthya is a slow grower. What you may be seeing is the coral stretching in an attempt to collect food. If they are malnourished, they will shed their ciliates (hair-like filaments that collect food).

As stated in the other posts, dendronephthya is autotrophic (has no photosynthetic ability). Some people have had success feeding them ReefRoids. This is the easiest option out there.

If feeding them isn't enough trouble, they are also very sensitive to warmer water. They are from deep water and haven't adapted to temperatures over 78F. If they get hot they will eject there spicules (sharp, rod-like structures within their tissue).

There's a good thread about them here. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=524097

Neospongoides (lemnalia) is heterotrophic (partially photosynthetic) and is subsequently easier to keep. It looks very similar to dendronephthya, and is a good candidate for propagation. Here's a picture of one. http://www.marinecenter.com/corals/coralssoft/orangesoftcoral/

[Fishlips]

I've had one for about 3 months, can't say it's grown or shrunk. I don't go out of my way to feed it but i don't run a skimmer either. I do intend on picking up some reefroids when I come accross them however. My tank does get over 80 regularly so that's worrisome.

[Action]

I figured I'd post an update... coral has not grown much but still appears to be doing well...guess I should consider myself lucky... coral seems to have adapted over time as it is now "open" during the day and at night... probably trying to feed. Does not get any direct feedings as I am only back in the matermonial home a few times a week...joined the single life again lol... now the next challenge is when where and how do I move this tank...

[mr.wilson]

I figured I'd post an update... coral has not grown much but still appears to be doing well...guess I should consider myself lucky... coral seems to have adapted over time as it is now "open" during the day and at night... probably trying to feed. Does not get any direct feedings as I am only back in the matermonial home a few times a week...joined the single life again lol... now the next challenge is when where and how do I move this tank...

Judging by your forum name and recent break-up, I would recommend a series of nano cubes scattered around various womens apartments (where the action is).

[Action]

Cute Mr. Wilson...but I was thinking of updating my form name to "need some" as in Need-some-action" LOL

[Sea MunnKey]

Action,

Some pix of my Tonga Dendronephtyhn aka Carnation from last nite...

http://www.aquariumpros.ca/photopost/data/1/medium/Dend1.jpg

http://www.aquariumpros.ca/photopost/data/1/medium/Dend2.jpg
Glass was kinda messy....still in process of aquascaping!!

Feed 'em DT Phytoplankton, Zooplankton etc. every other day (with skimmer off for say overnite) plus lots of water changes too....

Good Luck.

Paul