Help identifying a coral

[davefromdc]

Hello reefers!
This is my first post so bare with me. Any help won't be appreciated. I am about 4months into my new 75gal set up. Until today I only had dry rock, two picaso clwns, and turbo snails in the tank. I grabbed a piece of aquacultured live rock today from the LFS to get a bit of coralline going. We looking at the rock it has a bit o something that looks like coral on it. Was wondering if you could help me identify it. Not sure if it is alive or not. Any help would be great!

Details on the tank. 75 gal. Dry rock, global fx6 with ceramic bio balls. Remora pro skimmer, 2 power heads in tank for circulation. And current marine pro 72 for lighting.

 

[j_mazzy]

Looks nice

 

[davefromdc]

Thanks now I just gotta figure out what it is, is it alive, and what do I need to know to keep it that way lol

 

[davefromdc]

Another pic

 

[GimpyFin]

Looks like maybe lobophyllia (Lobed brain coral.)

 

[Animagus]

If the coral came with the rock then it's most likely a Caribbean Rose coral. Score!

 

[gone fishin]

Hello reefers!
This is my first post so bare with me. Any help won't be appreciated:lolspin:. I am about 4months into my new 75gal set up. Until today I only had dry rock, two picaso clwns, and turbo snails in the tank. I grabbed a piece of aquacultured live rock today from the LFS to get a bit of coralline going. We looking at the rock it has a bit o something that looks like coral on it. Was wondering if you could help me identify it. Not sure if it is alive or not. Any help would be great!

Details on the tank. 75 gal. Dry rock, global fx6 with ceramic bio balls. Remora pro skimmer, 2 power heads in tank for circulation. And current marine pro 72 for lighting.

I would agree it seems to be some sort of brain coral.

 

[davefromdc]

Sorry about the typo. Untrue but hilarious lol. Any tips with this guy?

 

[eastlake]

What a hitch hiker!

 

[Cloudburst2000]

Yes, it is a brain coral. What types of lighting do you have? What type of flow? Corals require adequate lighting and flow to survive long term. Typically, soft corals (mushrooms, xenia, etc) require less lighting and flow then LPS corals (brain corals, frogspawn, etc) which require less lighting and flow then SPS corals (acropora, birdsnest, etc).

LPS coral (which your brain coral is) stands for large polyp stony coral. LPS corals build a hard stony skeleton and usually have large fleshy polyps whereas SPS corals build a hard stony skeleton that have small polyps. Soft corals have no stony skeleton. Soft corals tend to be the easiest to care for and propogate with SPS being the most difficult. LPS tend to be fairly easy to care for as long as you keep up with your husbandry. Keep the tank clean and the PO4 and NO3 down to really see them flourish. You can even spot feed them. Put a bit of food on their mouth and they will close around it...yum yum.

 

[jraker]

As said above, it looks like a Caribbean Rose Coral. Definitely a score.

 

[gone fishin]

Sorry about the typo. Untrue but hilarious lol. Any tips with this guy?

Personally I would just keep an eye on the coral. It appears to be doing ok from the pic. Give it time to get use to your tank conditions.

You probably should get yourself an Alkalinity, calcium and Magnesium tests, FWIW I prefer Salifert. Since this is your only coral I would speculate that your water changes will maintain the three levels.

Also, at some point you may need to adjust your LEDS but I would just wait and see how things go. Good luck just my 2 cents.

 

[davefromdc]

thanks for the info guys. So this is my first reef tank. Ive been preparing for my first coral just did not think it would happen on this LFS trip! my tank is a 75gal with cured dry rock and a couple pieces of live rock. my lights are CURRENTUSA ORBIT MARINE PRO LED 48-60 fixture (using legs on tank top not ceiling mounted). My flow comes from the output on my fluval fx6 and two KORALIA EVOLUTION 600 wave power heads.

I checked my calcium and alk and i think im good. a: cal=400-425 Alk=9-10 dkh
i dont have a magnesium test, will have to pick one up. I have dosed kalkwasser in the past with a drip system on my fish only tank (just to get corraline on my rock), so maybe i will break out my homemade dripper again. my goal was to go with mostly mushrooms and polyps to start.

after reading up on Caribbean rose coral i'm confused on where to put this coral in my tank??? top or bottom, shade or direct light??? kinda afraid to turn my lights on at this point LOL

thanks again for all the help!

 

[Animagus]

Low to moderate lighting and flow would probably be best for this coral at first. Leave it alone for awhile, see how it responds and go from there. GL.

 

[DrPheel]

nice find :beachbum:

+1 on the brain ID ! I would have to say its looks pretty happy if it is extending its feeding tentacles like on your second picture. Get a small syringe and give it a small squirt of tank water and Mysis or brine shrimp when its feeding tentacles are out

 

[davefromdc]

So thought I would post a quick update. A week later and the bottom colony is doing great. Tentacle extension at night. Mt top guy however seems to be having issues. No tentacles at all. I moved the rock to the bottom of the tank and place the trouble colony in a spot with some overhang. Anything else I should be doing?

 

[killinit123]

its a symphyllia brain coral