Couple Coral questions, with pics

[marinenewbie]

Hi,

Just had a couple of questions I wanted to ask...

Can anybody tell me what kind of coral this is? The LFS had it down as a "miscellaneous." I don't know if you can see properly in the pic, but it has little bristle type things on it, and somedays they retract so it looks bald, and it might stay that was for a day or so, and then they reappear. Is this some sort of cycle?

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And I was also wondering about this little guy. He had magically appeared from one of the live rocks. I don't have anything else like it in the tank, and wondered what type it might be? I don't know if you can properly see the detail on it, but it is almost a fleshy-brown colour with very tiny bits of pink and purple dots. It really is quite pretty...

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Thanks for all your help!

 

[michaeldaly]

The top one looks like some sort of leather coral. The bristles would be polyps, they rectract when the coral is tuched or disturbed and usally at night

 

[szwab]

top either a leather or sinularia. and yes the "bristles" would be polys. having them extended is a good thing. you'll want to keep the coral in moderate lighting and flow. the bottom one is some sort of plating hard coral possibly a montipora.

What kind of rock did you get? that could help for identification of the lower coral.

 

[marinenewbie]

I don't really know what kind it was, just basic live rock. (we don't get much in the way of choices up here!) It is either what I call the "cheaper" rock, or what they claim to be Fiji. I've never noticed the variety discussed in many of these threads being offered in our LFS. At any rate, this would have been the Fiji kind.

I chose it because it had sponges growing on it already. This coral first appeared maybe a week or two ago, and is growing quite quickly.

Does that offer any clues??

 

[szwab]

try posting the pic in the sps keepers forum and let someone in there take a shot at it.