Coral ID 6/29/05 Hi, I have been trying to id this coral with no luck. Any help would  be greatly appreciated. Thx Jim _ http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/negncic/DSCN0330.jpg_ ( http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/negncic/DSCN0330.jpg) <From what I can discern in the image... it appears to be a Lobophyllia. Kindly, Anthony>

Coral ID 4/2/05 I saw this coral one time that is red, white and blue striped and has a round shape at the bottom. I have seen it in my marine aquarium screen saver also. I have no idea what it is called. Do you know? Thanks - Joe <It's... dyed. RMF> <It sounds very patriotic. Do visit your local aquarium store to browse through Eric Borneman's Aquarium Corals... or seek photo galleries online such as coralrealm.com Anthony> 

Goniopora & Yellow Cup Coral 4/1/05 I'm in a bit of a bind. My parents surprised me with 2 gifts, Goniopora and what the store told them, yellow cup coral. They picked it up while on a road trip, and don't even remember the name of the store. I'm having trouble finding out info. on the yellow cup, <It's tough to say... it may be a dyed coral (Yellow Turbinaria peltata)... or it may be one of the real yellow species like reniformis. Do look for pics of Turbinaria species.> ...but was horrified with what I learned about Goniopora.  <Yes...> My parents thought they were doing a good thing. Little did they know. Now, I'm stuck with these 2 corals that I know very little about. They have no idea what store they bought it at, so there's no chance of returning these items. First off, is there anything I can do to sustain my Goniopora other than pray?  <Actually... if it's a free-living green G. stokesii, then keep it on a Deep Sand Bed and stir the sand around it a couple times each week minimum> I've read a lot on your website, and I normally never introduce coral unless I've thoroughly researched it. But, now I'm stuck. The Gonio seems okay, it gets bigger and bigger every day it seems. The yellow cup I have as high up as I could put it in the tank, but the edges seem to be fading in color , and there is a brownish lining around the tubes. Here are the parameters of my 30 gall. Cube tank---ammonia btwn 0 and .25, nitrates at about 20, nitrites at 0, alkalinity btwn 80 and 120 (though I don't know how this element affects the tank), ph at 7.8. I've got mushrooms, 2 open brains, polyps that seem to be turning white (probably not a good sign), a yellow leather coral, and the 2 new corals mentioned above, along with dozens of hermit crabs, snails, and 4 small fish. I feed the gang Cyclop-Eeze which everyone seems to love, and DT's Phytoplankton.  <Do consider adding DTs "Natural Diet" to the mix here. Fabulous food!> I add iodine, strontium/Molybdenum. once a week, and I was adding calcium every few days, but I also use Oceanic salt which has a lot of calcium in it. I need to buy a calcium tester this week, so I can't tell you the calcium levels of my tank yet. I've got a Prizm skimmer, huge wet/dry AMiracle filter and 176 combined wattage. I was doing 10 gall. water changes weekly until about 2 mos. ago, when I started doing 10 gall. water changes every 2 weeks instead.  <Ughhh! Please be more generous with the water changes> Can you give me any info. on the yellow cup coral as far as feeding or otherwise, and is there any hope for Goniopora? Thanks for your time, and sorry for this lengthy email. <Best of luck! Anthony> 

Strange polyp classification I own a marine tank and some strange polyps started to grow on my heater about a month ago. I am doing an honors bio project on them and want to classify them. I have narrowed it down to either scyphozoa or anthozoa classes. Here are their characteristics:   1.. white tube-like body with clear mesophyl layer surrounding it   2.. central body cavity with very fine tentacles surrounding the mouth of the cavity   3.. algae grows on them but they do not appear to be harmed   4.. about 1-1.5 cm long at most. Can be down to 2mm (appx.)   5.. sessile   6.. reproduction through budding Do you know what they are? <Mmm, no... but do agree as to their being cnidarians most likely> I have a friend with access to a lab and wish to section one. Do you know proper sectioning protocol or what stains are best for soft bodied invertebrate marine organisms? <In my day Hemolysin and Eosin were the dyes of choice... soaking, relaxing cnidarians in isotonic KCl (about 5% if memory serves) and then cooling to death (in a refrigerator)... embedding in paraffin and sectioning (in a microtome) at various thicknesses... Bob Fenner> Thank you for your help. From, Brandon Pietras ><)))">

Polyp ID... hello, << Hi. >> Thank you for all of your wonderful information.  I have received a round ball of polyps that is not attached to any rock.  The person I received them from said they are from the Caribbean << Are they Blundell Buttons?  Mostly a tan brown color about the size of a quarter? >> and they are frequently found this way.  My question to you is, do I need to attach to rockwork and if so how would I do this. << I'd put a rubber band around the polyps to hold the whole colony onto a rock.  Then just see if they attach over time and grow to the rock.  I'd have a hard time believing that they don't naturally grow on reef rockwork. >> Thank you, Jennifer. <<  Blundell  >>
 

Coral ID For A Friend In Need! I'm trying to advise an email acquaintance on the dismal selection of marine life that she bought for her new/used 35 gallon dimly lit tank. <I can only imagine!> She described one as a "nano" coral. Any ideas what she could be referring to? I've heard of nano reef tanks and Acropora Nano (which I hope it's not). Thanks, Suzanne <Well, Suzanne, I can only wonder if the coral is an Acropora of some sort. Without a description, we're just grasping at straws! Common names are usually a dreadful way to identify a marine animal, as you know. Just think of all the fishes known as "Blue Tangs" or "Yellow Wrasses"...Any possibility that she can send you a pic? Otherwise, do work on your psychic skills...Sorry I couldn't be more helpful! Regards, Scott F> 

Coral ID For A Friend In Need (Pt. 2) Thanks for your response, Scott. <You're quite welcome! Sorry I couldn't be more helpful in ID'ing the coral!> I'll work on the photo angle if she ever answers my last email. I think I may have depressed her when I told her that what she described as "strictly beginner" was definitely NOT: 35 gallon tank with one white, one pink, one blue normal fluorescent bulb, so she bought a rose anemone, the mystery nano coral, a mushroom rock (fine!) and a "flower pot". Oh, and of course, a Yellow Tang. Sigh. <Double SIGH!!!> I told her to keep the mushrooms and try to get rid of the rest. Do you know anybody in the Chattanooga TN area who might like a nice Yellow Tang and some not-beginner corals? <I'll bet there are a bunch of hobbyists out that way who would step up, and maybe even trade for some easier-to-keep specimens!> Too bad people don't realize how nice, easy and herbivorous Rabbitfish are in comparison to Tangs. I won't even try to keep Tangs anymore since I discovered Rabbit Fish! I even kept a Black, Yellow and Magnificent Foxface together in one tank until I tired of seeing all three of them trying to make tight turns all at once as they schooled happily around the tank, like the Queen Elizabeth in a bath tub. <Yep.. They can get pretty large; one of the only real downsides to keeping them. And,, of course, caution must be paid to their venomous spines> And not one case of Ich the whole time I had them. Suzanne <Thanks for being a good friend, Suzanne! The hobby needs more helpful friends like you! Regards, Scott F> 

Atlantic corals ID 2/17/04 Hi, Bob or whoever answers now. <Anthony Calfo in your service> Thank You very much for Your I.D. of the anemone. I also received some rock fragments with live corals on them. Could You i.d. them for me. They were collected on the same Cayo in shallow water, 3' here in the Caribbean. There are 3 corals. The finger coral in the front, the yellow cone like coral in the middle and the light brown one far in the back on a rock that has 2 more on them. My photos are not so good, that's why I send You several of the same corals for better id. Sorry to rob you of your valuable time. <no worries... its an easy ID too: looking at the last photo (file name MVC-002S), the finger coral is a hydrocoral - the dreaded Millepora Fire Coral... the yellow stony is "Mustard Hill" Porites (astreoides)... and the brown coral looks like it may simply be encrusting Porites porites (may branch to fingers in time)> Do You have a web site with Corals from the West Atlantic? <Hmm... I'm not aware of a dedicated web site as such, but there is an excellent book series for you of Atlantic corals, fishes and invertebrates by Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach. Look them up on Amazon.com. "Reef Corals" in this case> Thank You very much and Saludos Bernd P.s. Should any of You ever come to this corner of the world, Honduras, Bay Islands, You have to visit me and try some of my home  made "moonshine" called Mangowitz. Distilled only from Mangos. The only in the world. (Don't tell the authorities!) <ahhh... that sounds fantastic. Was thinking of a trip to Belize in the next year... perhaps a steal away to Honduras is in order! kindly, Anthony>