What is this coral?

[Ian14]

Anyone know what this is?

 

[cloak]

Some sort of mushroom?

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/10/inverts

 

[Ian14]

Could be. It's been at the bottom of the tank for awhile now and doesn't look like it has been doing that great

 

[Dkuhlmann]

It's a Rhodactis or Fuzzy mushroom. Some of them can get rather large and can eat fish. You can feed them mysis just like feeding an anemone. Very nice one and a great color. Here is a link to our mushroom corals, several guy's there know everything about mushrooms

http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=202

 

[Ian14]

Thanks. Should I place it higher up in the tank? It gets low to mod flow and low light right now. It doesn't seem like moderate flow

 

[shifty51008]

They like low light low flow ime but can handle lots of light if acclimated slow. I would just leave it though, looks healthy there

 

[Ian14]

It started coming apart in the middle, as you can see more in the second picture. Thats why I started getting worried

 

[Coelli]

It started coming apart in the middle, as you can see more in the second picture. Thats why I started getting worried

Could it be splitting?

 

[Ian14]

Not sure. Maybe. Is that good, bad?

 

[shifty51008]

Splitting is good, if it is splitting you will soon have 2 shrooms.

 

[slief]

It's a fuzzy or hairy mushroom. Same thing. They don't need to be fed as they are photosynthetic filter feeders. I've got dozens upon dozens of them in my tank. They don't eat fish or at least not that I have heard of or seen and I've been keeping them for many years. They do get big and can spread like weeds. Some consider them to be a nuisance. I'd suggest keeping it isolated as best as possible so that if it splits or spreads, they are contained. They can quickly take over large ares of your tank in ideal conditions.

Here are some shots of mine. Mine are pretty big and I've got patches of them all over my tank. For size reference, that tang in the foreground is about 8" long.

 

[Ian14]

That's incredible. What lights do you have on that?

 

[karimwassef]

but... be careful, they can easily take over a tank. They reproduce very fast when they're happy and will reach out with tentacles and feet to grab adjacent rock.

If the feet tear, the torn foot can create a new polyp. They're very hardy... and will sting other corals. Here's my hammerhead fending off the invasion:

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/C7A2FB24-99C0-41BF-B8BE-0978E4A1283E_zpsuxvmbiz4.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/C7A2FB24-99C0-41BF-B8BE-0978E4A1283E_zpsuxvmbiz4.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo C7A2FB24-99C0-41BF-B8BE-0978E4A1283E_zpsuxvmbiz4.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/99DFCEE9-917B-45C3-A070-973B78A8CCBF_zpso9dzxoh2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/99DFCEE9-917B-45C3-A070-973B78A8CCBF_zpso9dzxoh2.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 99DFCEE9-917B-45C3-A070-973B78A8CCBF_zpso9dzxoh2.jpg"/></a>

and my acropora fighting them off on the other side

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/51C2AA71-927F-4E10-B043-43823F96525E_zpsry9siocu.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/51C2AA71-927F-4E10-B043-43823F96525E_zpsry9siocu.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 51C2AA71-927F-4E10-B043-43823F96525E_zpsry9siocu.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/6F655235-4FE2-45D6-835A-D70194CFE9D5_zpsxxc7vazt.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/6F655235-4FE2-45D6-835A-D70194CFE9D5_zpsxxc7vazt.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 6F655235-4FE2-45D6-835A-D70194CFE9D5_zpsxxc7vazt.jpg"/></a>

there was a colony of organ pipe coral at the top right of that rock... they killed it off

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/59287E70-FEF5-4B62-B7E2-F8C6B8F4DEFB_zpsgselsmve.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/59287E70-FEF5-4B62-B7E2-F8C6B8F4DEFB_zpsgselsmve.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 59287E70-FEF5-4B62-B7E2-F8C6B8F4DEFB_zpsgselsmve.jpg"/></a>

They are beautiful though

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/15A91001-A7DD-4169-BC17-6B2DDE29D3FF_zpswocuegbx.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/15A91001-A7DD-4169-BC17-6B2DDE29D3FF_zpswocuegbx.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 15A91001-A7DD-4169-BC17-6B2DDE29D3FF_zpswocuegbx.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/A7925E43-BD51-4D41-84DA-74BDA62AB1B2_zpshsmxraxj.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/A7925E43-BD51-4D41-84DA-74BDA62AB1B2_zpshsmxraxj.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo A7925E43-BD51-4D41-84DA-74BDA62AB1B2_zpshsmxraxj.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/4DBAED31-58F0-44D9-A303-3CC53DED8471_zpszksuyq4a.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/4DBAED31-58F0-44D9-A303-3CC53DED8471_zpszksuyq4a.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 4DBAED31-58F0-44D9-A303-3CC53DED8471_zpszksuyq4a.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/5586E736-DD66-40F8-B16D-26169F408FA8_zpswslajc57.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/5586E736-DD66-40F8-B16D-26169F408FA8_zpswslajc57.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 5586E736-DD66-40F8-B16D-26169F408FA8_zpswslajc57.jpg"/></a>

 

[slief]

That's incredible. What lights do you have on that?

Eight Kessil 360WE's over 4' x 8' x 2' deep display.

 

[Ian14]

Eight Kessil 360WE's over 4' x 8' x 2' deep display.

How do you frag it? I'd like to take a piece off and get another one growing in another part of the tank

 

[shifty51008]

How do you frag it? I'd like to take a piece off and get another one growing in another part of the tank

Take a sharp razor and cut it in half through the mouth, place in a bowl with lr rubble in a low flow area and let it attach, then you can mount it anywhere you want.

 

[seamonster124]

You know wht would look really great in your tank?