I agree with 007. I have an orange one. They are not photosynthetic, and i've even read they like being hung upside down, or sideways on rockwork (they are often found under overhangs in the wild). I found a different spelling for the scientific name than 007 listed, i'd try to look it up under both (scleronephthya). I moved mine from a lower current to a stronger one, and the polyps really opened up. You are probably going to have to supplement the food source in your water, since it does not use photosynthesis. I've had mine for a month now, and so far so good. Yours is awesome! You got lucky and got one that looks semi-transparent and has great color. Hope it does well in your tank.
Edit: Just looked up the Dendronephtya per SPSfreaks post, and he may be right also. In either case, the physical conditions i listed earlier are valid for both. Both corals are listed as nearly impossible to keep. I took this excerpt from another site:
"Without the symbiotic algae, these corals require a continual wash of phytoplankton across their polyps in order to survive. Dendronepthya hemprichii, sinaiensis and Scleronepthya corymbosa have been found to be almost exclusively phytoplankton eaters, and to actually capture very little zooplankton. This makes complete sense, since phytoplakton is smaller, easier to capture, and these soft corals have relatively undeveloped stinging cells. Thus zooplankton, as previous thought to encompass their main diet, would be hard to capture with such "wimpy" nematocysts. Indeed, captive conditions may be possible using a regular feeding of phytoplankton, however, the amount of food required would still be extraordinarily difficult to cope with in a closed system. "
"In the aquarium, all the amazing properties of Dendronephthya become insignificant. Why? Because they don't survive. Despite massive importation of these corals, many refuse to expand even once upon introduction to captive conditions. They remain in a collapsed state until the tissue dissolves away. Some specimens may adopt a more Goniopora-like pattern where they may expand well for a time, and then slowly begin to expand less and less until they have wasted completely away."
from an article by Eric Borneman
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Please respect the natural environment that makes this hobby possible. Be responsible and be informed. Support aquacultured/tank raised species.
