Kenya Tree good?

[daudelus]

I've read many negatives about Kenya Tree corals and there tendency to be a 'weed.' Are there any of you that actually like your kenya trees?

 

[moneytimetycoon]

I do. Its nice to sell or trade the new growths to my LFS.

 

[mile sq. reefer]

Here is what is in my tank and it works for me atm. Hardy stuff.

And if u look u can see the swollen tips ready bud off the main colony. Center of pic.

 

[daudelus]

Seems like you have really accepted it! I actually love the way it looks in your tank, but the fear is placed in me when I read about others having to remove live rock and cook it in order to remove the coral becaue they can't get rid of it! I know I should go with what I like, which is large patches of a small number of corals (mushrooms, ricordia, zoanthids) rather than small amounts of alot of corals.

 

[mile sq. reefer]

Well i used to keep SPS when i had more time but my family life and work have taken priority. This was my old system.

an earlier pic

One day il be back to SPS but for now the softie system works for me and I still get to say I have a reef tank, lol.

 

[drew1]

Yes. Kenya trees are a nice, easy coral. Before you know it you'll have a forest, but that doesn't have to be a negative. They'll grow equally as well under PC's as MH lighting. There is something to be said about an easy-to-grow coral. And my son started his nano with one tiny tree, along with several other easy-to-grow frags for $20. He has made back this initial investment at least 10X selling frags from this tree. And he still has several dozen trees ready to go. I always recommend Kenya trees as a first coral, just to see if you like reefing.

 

[mile sq. reefer]

Depending on whats on ur plate sometimes easier is the way to go. Its nice to see a healthy coral grow and reproduce in your little ocean in a box. And like said before either sell your new offspring or give them to fellow aquarists.

 

[daudelus]

Thanks for the input guys! mile sq. reefer, how long did it take for your Kenya tree to fill your tank?

 

[mile sq. reefer]

Np, um its been in there for about 1 year. I cut it back and gave away alot of droppings.

 

[kingfisher62]

I bought a tiny frag a few months ago and it bloomed into a beautiful tree and is has now begun dropping offspring and I love it. I am hoping to get some trades in soon. If you like the look of them get one, you will not be sorry.
Couple of pics of the ones i have in my biocube
<a href="http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r174/Kingfish62/?action=view&current=DSCF0588.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r174/Kingfish62/DSCF0588.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r174/Kingfish62/?action=view&current=DSCF0583.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r174/Kingfish62/DSCF0583.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[daudelus]

I went ahead and got one, which looks to be a few small frags on one piece of rock... so far it has stayed pretty crumpled and deflated... I'm hoping for survival, but it sounds like it is a bulletproof type of coral.
Question... if this coral needs higher amounts of flow, how do the buds attach when they fall? It would seem that they would fall and be blown into a corner or a spot of dead flow.

 

[mile sq. reefer]

Hi. You can place them in between two small pieces of live rock and use a rubber band to hold it together. It should attatch in no time. Daudelus, if u keep it on its own rock your tank will be fine, just collect the new frags. A sharp razor can also work to cut off any corals in undesirable places.

In this video u can see how much this coral grew. The pic up top is all from this one piece that was two branches botton soft coral below the neospongodes species on the right side of the tank. Good luck with new coral.

 

[daudelus]

That's really amazing growth!

 

[Guygettnby]

as long as you like the way it looks and are ok with taking the frags out of your tank on a regular day to day basis then go for it. i had 2 huge trees in my 58g tank and finally got tired of dealing with them so i took them both out along with every frag i could find and now almost 6 months later i have 1 pretty big tree and atleast 5 small trees growing again out of no where. if you ever decide you do not want them anymore they are very hard to get rid of... i did however enjoy the way they looked in my tank.

 

[kingfisher62]

Welcome to the club ,daudelus . I think you will enjoy this coral. Mine did not open much till I moved it to a lower flow. They seem to like that better in my tank. The fallen branches are unbelievably and will find something to stick to in a matter of hours, mine always seems to find a well lit spot.

 

[daudelus]

Welcome to the club ,daudelus . I think you will enjoy this coral.

Thanks! I used to have a colt coral that became relatively gigantic in a short span of time, then I lost it in a tank crash, so I'm happy to have something soft in my tank!

I've read that Kenya trees are less likely to drop buds if they are happy and do it as an urge to propagate before death... but this seems to be going against what you guys have been saying about yours.

 

[WhoDey64]

I dont knock any coral because beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder but I have a Kenya tree plague at the moment. I bought a small frag to put in my frag system with thoughts of giving plugs to new reefers, well before I could get the frag tanks built the colony had dropped about 20 offspring. I also purchased a bio-cube stocked with nothing but kenya tree coral, I have had all the rock-work in blacked out containers for over 5 weeks trying to get rid of dozens and dozens of kenya trees and the things look almost as healthy as the day I put them into the container.... Not trying to discourage, just fair warning that they reproduce quickly and are tough to kill.

 

[rogersb]

I like mine, but as stated, be prepared to pull out the branches. Mine seems to go through phases where it will shed 10-15 branches, then have several weeks to a month with no droppings, then POW branches everywhere. Still a nice looking coral though

 

[daudelus]

If the kenya tree changes its look before dropping branches, would it be best to simply go in and prune off the branches before falling and attaching? or is this just wishful thinking?

 

[mile sq. reefer]

The branches that fuse and drop off become swollen. A big visual difference between them and the mother colony.