First Dendro!!!!!!!!!!

[CuttleKid]

I got an email from my lfs with their weekly Livestock and they listed that they had gotten in 2 Aussie tubastrea and I said to myself that they might be mislabeled dendros. I was right and i got this beautiful coral at a steal. It cost me $60 and I'm pretty sure it would have gone for much more had it been labeled correctly. I think it is a branching dendro ( just cant remember the scientific name)

Well here it is and I will be updating this thread as it starts to open for me.

And another

 

[Thepopo]

Do the polyps open at night or during the day? To me it looks like a sun coral. Sun corals open at night I believe. Dendros during the day.

 

[saltwater freak]

That is definitely a sun coral not dendros.
Dendros are separate polyps and are not connected by tissue in between polyps.
The price will give it away (i have never seen dendro polyps sell for less than $25 per polyp(and from what i can see you have at least 60 polyps) that would make your coral worth at least $1500 so i doubt it was sold for $60 if it was a true dendro.

You can train them to open during the day by feeding them at certain times that you want them to open.
After a while i have heard that you can get them to stay open for most of the day (when lights are on ) but it will take a while.
Be patient i have a dendro coral that took 3 weeks to open and it still does not open all of the way yet but it is getting there .

Mine stays open 24 hours a day but has not opended fully yet.

I have only had the corals 1 month and i feed them every day a bit of a pain but it is worth it.

From what i have read sun corals take more tlc in the beginning to get them to strive since it came from the fish store i assume it has not eaten in a while
(out of the sea,wholesaler,transit to wholesaler in north America, to the fish store to,you) i am sure its hungry.
hope this helps

 

[CuttleKid]

I had a feeling people would say that it is indeed a sun coral. However it IS and dendrophyllia gracilis (branching dendro)

take a look at this link
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1773991&page=7

 

[fishnerd]

Congrats cuttlekid

it IS a dendro. but harder to keep than the others. A lot pickier as far as feeding goes.

Bryan

 

[lisafoster]

Wow congrats.I would have thought that was a sun coral.

 

[Thepopo]

How do you tell a dendrophyllia gracilis apart from a regular Sun coral?

 

[saltwater freak]

microscope

i recant my previous statement sorry there is a possibility that it can be a dendro

sorry again
i think it looks like a sun coral though
but i do not have much experience with these beautiful corals

 

[pha]

looks nice

 

[SWINGRRRR]

I had a feeling people would say that it is indeed a sun coral. However it IS and dendrophyllia gracilis (branching dendro)

take a look at this link
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1773991&page=7

What in the post says its Denrdo? I cant find it.

How do you tell a dendrophyllia gracilis apart from a regular Sun coral?

X2?

I ask because I got an exacting piece that was sold as Aussie Sun Coral.

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

How big are the poylps,I have a branching suncoral that looks like yours,my polyps are small.When I got it it was about dead.It is recovering and doing good.I will get a pic later.

 

[Phishguy]

I'm wondering how to tell them apart also. I saw one at a lfs and thought it was a sun coral. The guy looked it up in his papers and said it was a dendro. Was nowhere near $25 a polyp tho. It was $89 for at least 20 heads

 

[All Delight]

I'm wondering how to tell them apart also. I saw one at a lfs and thought it was a sun coral. The guy looked it up in his papers and said it was a dendro. Was nowhere near $25 a polyp tho. It was $89 for at least 20 heads

There are different types of dendros. The dendros posted has heads that are about 1/3" while the more conventional dendro heads (adult heads) that most people are accumstomed to can be around 1". There is a big difference in coloration as well. The more expensive dendros with bigger heads that go for $25+ a head are more intense in coloration.

 

[All Delight]

Here's a picture of a micro blano. These are really cool.

 

[v4victory]

so lucky your lfs had that in stock.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

Here's a picture of a micro blano. These are really cool.

Umm, I don't think thats a balano. Never even heard of such a thing as a micro balano.

 

[silentcivilian]

Now, im going to throw this out there, as I have alot of sun coral, and ive been waiting a year for dendros coral. Those look identical to the Black Branching "Sun" Coral I have. Currently I have black sun coral, white sun coral and orange sun coral. Typically they dont come out when day times out, they will kinda poke their heads out in the dusk lighting, but the trick is to tease them just before it switches to night lights, and they will extend out with avengence in the nightlights. It will take up to a month or more for them to become regular openers. My whites took the better part of 6 months before they were regular, and now they like clock work open at 11:37pm for feeding and are quite possibly the coolest looking coral I have in my tank, each head almost the size of a canadian loonie with almost see through extension feeders.

But here is the best description ive read on the differences:

"Sun Coral" is a common name for Species from the Genus Tubastrea. "Dendro" is a common name for Species from the Genus Dendrophyllia. Both Genuses belong to the family Dendrophyllidae.

Generaly speaking Tubastrea sp. are in the distribution chain (collector to exporter to importer to wholesaler to LFS to you) much, much longer than Dendrophyllia sp. making them weaker upon receipt due to the fact that no one feeds them along the way... until we get them. Tubastrea sp. also seem to require more consistant feedings IME. In short, "sun coral" will require a little more TLC when it gets into your hands compared to "dendros".

Physicaly speaking, as mentioned above, Dendrophyllia typically has larger oral discs (polyps) than Tubastrea, but both can vary greatly in color (pink, orange, yellow, black, red, clear) and growth patterns (branching, balling, etc.).

 

[silentcivilian]

Here are some pics of my sun corals. All of which are sun corals.

Has only ever come out at night, they hate any and all light. but have the largest heads of suns ive seen in captivity, and clear extensions

A grouping formation of suncorals, orange extensions

My newest ones are the Branching black corals. This is the same formation and head size as the ones you have, just mine are black tissue with dark teal mouths

 

[CaptiveReef]

Nice color morph!!!!!!!!

Nice color morph!!!!!!!!

Here are some pics of my sun corals. All of which are sun corals.

Has only ever come out at night, they hate any and all light. but have the largest heads of suns ive seen in captivity, and clear extensions

A grouping formation of suncorals, orange extensions

My newest ones are the Branching black corals. This is the same formation and head size as the ones you have, just mine are black tissue with dark teal mouths

That is a nice color morph!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[demonclownfish]

here is one of my old dendros-