Neph ID 8/18/10
What type of coral is this peach colored stuff in the center? Looked to me like Scleronephthya only closed up. What do you think?
<You are probably right. Cheers, Marco.>

Re: Sea Slug ID: Likely Tritoniid Nudibranch, now Nephtheid - 5/24/10
Hi Lynn,
<Hi Nick!>
Thank you so much (I must also say WWM is brilliant)
<You're very welcome and thank you!>
It is indeed a soft coral, and the only coral I currently have - I can't remember its name now, could it be a Nephthea?
<Well, coral ID's aren't exactly my forte, but that does indeed look like something in the family Nephtheidae (order: Alcyonacea). Unfortunately, Tritoniids love to eat Alcyonaceans.>
There are some photos attached if that helps.
<It certainly does, thank you.>
I wasn't sure I was able to keep corals alive in my tank, now it looks like they might have just been eating them.
<Likely so>
I think you are right, it may have been the white vs. orange that made me miss the pictures.
<I can certainly understand. That particular species varies from white, to orange to a reddish orange but if you don't know that, you can easily dismiss it as a candidate. I've done the same thing myself a time or twenty!>
On closer inspection, it indeed looks like they have laid eggs all over the base of the coral,
<Yikes! I'd hoped that wasn't what I was seeing in one of the previous photos.>
I thought about using a freshwater dip, but I believe I read on your site that the freshwater dip could kill the coral,
<Yep, corals do not like freshwater dips.>
..so will probably go with gently scrubbing them off in a bucket of tank water.
<Sounds good. Definitely get rid of those eggs and keep an eye out for more Nudi's.>
Regards
<Take care>
Nick
<Lynn Z>

Help with proper coral name please 2/2/2010
Hi, I was wondering if you could help me find the proper name for this poor unhappy coral? My LFS told me it was a flower tree coral. I would like to find out more about it since it is now very unhappy.
Thank you
Tina & Nigel
<Umm, you're not going to be any happier... Please see here re this Nephtheid: http://wetwebmedia.com/nephtheids.htm
Not easily kept. I'd return this specimen pronto. Bob Fenner>

Coral ID Please 10/10/09
Hi crew!
My name is Ariel from Johannesburg, South Africa.
<Hello Ariel>
First off let me say thank you very much to everyone involved in WWM for providing all us reefers with an unbelievable wealth of information.
<You're welcome.>
Without further ado, onto my questions:
I recently received this frag and have been having trouble with the ID .(pic attached)
The two possibilities that I think it could be are either Lemnalia or Dendronephthya.
Please could you provide me with a positive ID on it?
What are the chances of this surviving in my tank if it is Dendronephthya
<Appears to be a Tree Coral (Stereonephthya sp.), family Nephtheidae.>
System Specs: (All in metric)
My system has been running for 15 months now.
Display Tank 1200x600x650 (+/- 20KG of Liverock [combination of Bio-Rock,
Kenyan and Fiji])
30Gal Sump
10Gal Refugium located above and gravity feeds into display (+/- 5KG
liverock)
Water Movement:
2 X Seio Prop (2500LP/H each)
1 X Hydor Koralia 4 (3500 LP/H)
1 X Return to Display (2500LP/H)
1 X Feed to Refugium (2500LP/H)
Skimmer:
Reeftek TS1
Lighting:
4 x 54W T5's (Display)
2 x Compact Florescent (Spiral Type) [Refugium]
Corals receive a daily photoperiod of 11 Hours
The refugium is run on reverse cycle lighting.
Heating:
2 x 250W heaters
Livestock:
Inhabitants of the tank are:
5 x Blue/Green Chromis
1 x Jumping Bean Angelfish
1 x Sailfin Tang
1 x Lawnmower Blenny
1 x Cleaner shrimp
Bubble Coral
Trumpet/Candycane Coral
Zoanthids
Sinularias
Star Polyps
Plating Montipora
Protopalythoa
Sarcophyton
Discosomas
Assorted CUC.
Water Parameters:
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
P04: 0
Ammonia: 0.25
<Hopefully reading residual of test kit.>
PH: 8.3
DKH: 14
<A little high here.>
Calcium: 390
Thanking you in advance and looking forward to your reply.
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>

Tree Coral identification 9/10/09
Hello again WWM crew.
I have another coral I need identified.
<See here: http://wetwebmedia.com/nephtheids.htm>
I`m finding this one deceptively hard to identify.
I've tried having forums identify this before and everyone says its simply a Kenya tree and that
"everything" tends to look like a Kenya tree.
I am Reasonably Certain this is not what they are saying it is.
At best it is some other type of Capnella.
<Is this genus>
As you can see from the image its coloration is quite different, having a Whitish pink coloration with
a strong green hue Present in the stolon.
The polyps are much smaller and much more densely arranged then my two regular Kenyas.
The polyps also seem restricted exclusively to branches where as the Kenya trees seem to have random polyps everywhere except at the base.
This corals polyps also don`t extend as far out, forming a cup shape with the tentacles.
The polyp coloration has darkened considerably since I acquired it "it was originally entirely white"
The tentacles now have a strong brown coloration while the bodies of the polyps remain the same color as the stolon.
I am uncertain how useful this information will be in identifying this coral but I thought I had better write down as much as I can about it.
Cheers.
<Color means little here. Bob Fenner>

Hopefully Simple Soft Coral ID 6/11/09
Good Afternoon Crew;
<Hello Hans>
Thank you again for answering my lighting question a couple of days ago regarding my PC lights, I feel much better about my tank setup as a result.
<You're welcome.>
I was hoping you could help me nail down the ID of a soft coral I recently picked up, with photo attached. I believe it is a form of Neospongodes, which I feel comfortable in keeping right now. However, I just really want to make sure it's not Dendronephthya or some other near-impossible to keep species which would necessitate returning it to the store. It is currently mounted on a smallish conch shell of some sort, so I do plan on cutting up the shell to separate it from the polyps that came along for the ride. I can't imagine both species doing well long term in such close quarters.
<It appears to be a Kenya Tree Coral, family Nephtheidae, genus Dendronephthya, and likely a Roxasia. Unfortunately, this is a most difficult coral to care for and most will wither away in a matter of weeks.
This coral does not derive its energy from the byproducts of photosynthesis but feeds almost exclusively on phytoplankton, and requires both a steady supply of phytoplankton and sufficient flow to carry the food to its polyps. Do look/read here.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/dendornephthyaart.htm>
Most Appreciative;
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
-Hans