Australogyra zelli ???? A mystery!

spoggy

Member
Hi,

I'm in the process of acquiring a specimen of Australogyra zelli. I've noticed that some reefers were attempting to keep this back in 1998. I've not seen that many references to it being kept with any sort of success before or since then.

Does anyone here have any experience with this little beauty? Any hubandry information that anyone has would be greatly appreciated. Even if it's just to say, "Yeah, I've killed that one!".

Thanks a lot,

Steve
 
I've kept two separate specimens. One was from the Solomons back when Bob Mankin was still farming out there, around 1999. It was receding when I bought it, so I fragged it and salvaged what I could.

The other was more recent, 2 years ago. The latest piece came from Reefermadness. It was poorly shipped, bag was too small for the colony. It RTN'd all but a few branches. I kept one branch, and gave the rest to friends. The branch I have has barely grown. It is a very slow grower.

The first piece I acquired did not grow much either. And my corals have experienced a wide range of lighting and flow. I'm under the impression that it doesn't ship well and doesn't 'thrive' in captivity.
The lack of growth lends itself to this impression.
 
I've had two pieces, both in SPS tanks, that eventually died. I've seen shipments of them, and agree they ship awfully.

joe
 
Mark do you have any photos to document this coral in captivity. I also have scene a few specimens but they never look "good"
 
Only decent photo I have is of when I received it, and it was rtn'd out of the bag:

128Autralogyra-RTN.jpg
 
Wow thanks Mark all the ones i have scene have been way way smaller, pardon the expression but could size matter? It seems that i have much better luck with smaller specimens that are "impossible" to care for as long as they are smaller like in the 1/2'' to 1'' range?
 
Brian, all of the ones I've seen come in have been around 2-4" colonies. I've gotten 2 large pieces like Mark is holding, and they always look just like that too.

joe
 
Yes i would say 4'' is the size i have seen as well i have not seen any in person that are as big as the one in the photo above. I have also never seen one with one bit of totally healthy tissue on it.
 
Well, I got mine on Tuesday. About 3" and in the same condition as Mark's. If I can, I'll take a couple of pictures and post them. Does anyone know if you can do any type of supplemental feeding to help them along? Has anyone every seen the polyps extended? I've got it in a 10g quarantine tank to see what happens.

Wish me luck!

Steve
 
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