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FAQs about Merulinid Corals
Compatibility
Related Articles: Merulinids, SPS
Corals,
Related FAQs: Merulinids 1, Merulinids 2, & FAQs on: Merulinid Identification, Merulinid Behavior, Merulinid Selection, Merulinid Systems, Merulinid Feeding, Merulinid Disease, Merulinid Reproduction/Propagation,
& Stony/True Coral,
Coral System Set-Up, Coral System Lighting, Stony Coral Identification, Stony Coral Selection, Coral Placement, Foods/Feeding/Nutrition, Disease/Health, Propagation, Growing Reef Corals, Stony Coral Behavior, SPS Identification, SPS Behavior, SPS
Compatibility, SPS Selection,
SPS Systems, SPS Feeding, SPS
Disease, SPS Reproduction,
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Hydnophora microconos comp.
11/27/06 Hello guys or gals, <Hey Ryan, JustinN with you
today> I have a question I hope you can help me
with. <I'll do my best> I've been doing
all I can to find help with this problem (books, forums, Internet
searches) with no luck. I have this brilliant
fluorescent green and pink Hydnophora Microconos coral that is
receding on the "cones" only, the rest of the coral
appears to be fine. It's not all of the
"cones" just some of them, almost as if the flesh
peeled off. I also haven't seen the polyps opening
very often, which are very hard to see even when they are
open. Should I feed the coral something, if so,
what? <These lovely, yet extremely noxious corals
are planktivores, and consume filter feeding material, such as
phytoplankton and zooplankton> I have other types of
Hydnophora that are fine and have been for a long
time. <Aha! We may have the culprit!> We also
have a Hydnophora Microconos at the store I work at that has been
great for years. So I am very confused, I don't
know what would be causing this. It's about 6
inches under water, which is about 10-12 inches below my 250 watt
metal halide bulb ( I acclimated it slowly to the lighting
). I've had it in high flow, moderate flow, and
low flow, which doesn't seem to make a
difference. I don't want to bore you with my water
parameters, here's a quick look, all bad things are 0,
calcium 425, Alk 9 dKH, salinity 1.025, and temp
77-78. <All sounds good here> Since I've
received the coral it seems it has gotten brighter in color, the
cones which didn't recede are a more brilliant pink which you
would think would indicate good health. Anyway,
I'm confused about this, any help would be
appreciated. Thanks, Ryan. <Well, Ryan, the only
thing I can assume from what you describe is allelopathy between
the Hydnophora sp. in your tank. These beauties are some of the
most noxious around of corals, actively battling, and winning,
with most other species. Hope this helps you! -JustinN>
Re: Hydnophora microconos
11/28/06 Thanks Justin, I'll try removing the other
varieties of Hydnophora and see if that helps. <Sounds good,
Ryan. Good luck! -JustinN>
Re: Hydnophora microconos - A Follow-up
12/2/06 Thanks again for the help. <No
problem, Ryan... its why I do it> The Hydnophora is now doing
great, polyps are out, it's expanding like a balloon during
lighting hours, it looks better than ever.
<Excellent to hear!> You hit the nail on the
head. Thanks for the help and the most information
regarding corals and fish on the net, Ryan. <Thanks for the
kind words, Ryan. We're here to help. I'll take this as a
chance to offer up a friendly reminder to everyone of the
Christmas spirit, and also of the donation box *grin* Every
little bit helps! -JustinN>
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Montipora capricornis Compatibility 03/31/2008 Hey Crew.
<<Good Morning, Andrew today>> I hope the mice
aren't playing too much while the cat is away. I have a
"professional compatibility opinion" question for you.
I was in my LFS today and noticed a very nice (4" wide and
6" long) coral that I believe to be a Montipora capricornis.
(See attached picture--do you agree?). <<Agreed>>
This coral is in the "all corals in this tank are $25"
tank. I couldn't believe the LFS is selling this for only $25
as I've seen similar corals demanding much higher prices, so
I asked one of the clerks why it was so cheap and he said that
they are trying to get rid of it because it's been at the
store for over 2 weeks with no takers. He tells me that it is an
aquacultured "cup coral" that doesn't have the
coloring that most people like. This coral would look great in my
tank, so I came home and did some research on compatibility and
am a little concerned about its ability to survive/thrive given
my other animals (mostly, my Corallimorphs). I have a 110 gallon
display with 95 lbs of LR and a 30 gallon refugium (DSB, 10 lbs
LR, and large clump of Chaeto). Lighting is 2x250W HQIs (20,000K)
driven by 2 IceCap ballasts and 4x65W actinic PCs. My circulation
is about 15 x per hour between my return pump and my internal
power heads. My coral livestock list is as follows: Corallimorphs
(positioned throughout my tank): 8 small green hairy mushrooms on
one rock 8 medium green Rhodactis mushrooms on one rock 1 small
purple Rhodactis mushroom 14 small red mushrooms spread
throughout my tank 1 medium orange Ricordea mushroom 3 small
cream colored mushrooms on one piece of Tonga branch Soft Corals:
2 large colonies Pulsing Xenia 2 large Capnellas 1 large
Dendronephthya (9 months and thriving!) 1 large red pipe organ
(Tubipora musica) LPS: 1 Pacific Open Brain (Trachyphyllia) 5
polyps candy cane coral (Caulastrea echinulata). I run two 1-cup
portions of activated carbon in my sump that I change out every 2
weeks to help reduce any allelopathy. At $25, this isn't a
huge investment by any stretch, but I don't want to purchase
this coral only to put it in an environment in which it won't
thrive or survive. There is an empty spot about half way up my
tank that is in a relatively high-flow area that would be a
perfect spot for this coral. What do you think? <<Given
enough space / distance between this and other corals, I see no
reason why you could not house this in your system>> Thanks
for your insight/thoughts! Andy <<Thanks for questions,
hope this helps. A Nixon>>
Re: Montipora capricornis Compatibility
04/01/2008 Andrew, <<Andy>> Someone opined to me
that this coral is a Merulina ampliata, not a Monti cap, but the
pictures of Merulina that I've been able to find don't
resemble this coral. However, after reading WWM and elsewhere,
the ridges on this coral make me wonder whether it may be a
Merulina, but . . . Any thoughts on the proper ID of this coral
and, if a Merulina, any difference in your original opinion that
it should do okay in my display? Closer pic is here:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii81/abulgin/DSC_0654.jpg
<<Ampilata do not roll up as the Monti Cap does. Its a more
flat plating coral. I will stick with Montipora
capricornis>> Thanks again! Andy <<Thanks for the
follow and query. A Nixon>>
Re: Montipora capricornis Compatibility --
04/1/08 Andrew, <<Hello again>> Thanks for the
reply. This picture is what got me thinking maybe we were wrong:
http://whelk.aims.gov.au/coralsearch/html/201-300/Pix/240-02.htm
<<I still feel confident of this being a Monti cap. If you
review the following photo's of the Merulina ampliata, to me,
I can see the difference..
http://www.reef-guardian.com/fiches-coraux-pic-76.html ..Flat,
not rose, higher pronounced ridges.>> <<Thanks, A
Nixon>>
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