I know this is long LOL but this is one of the articals that i read about them so here it is sorry so long. I am still looking for the other artical I wish this wasnt on a competitor site though LOL
Mike
Dendronephthya: A Seduction of Allusions and Illusions (revised, 2001)
Eric Borneman
The Carnation Corals
(Christmas Tree, Cotton, Soft Tree, Cauliflower Soft)
Phylum Cnidaria
Class Anthozoa
Subclass Octocorallia
Order Alcyonacea
Suborder Alcyoniina
Family Neptheidae
Genus Dendronepthya
Species – approximately 250 species
The members of the genus Dendronephthya are quite possibly some of the most beautiful corals in the entire world. They can exist in spectacular arrays of color and, when expanded, present a gaudy array of spiky polyps. It is no wonder that they appear with such frequency in stores across the country. However, this temptation of color and beauty is very misleading. All members of Dendronephthya are extraordinarily difficult to keep in captivity, and their purchase should be avoided. Unfortunately, the lack of survival of many corals leads the hobbyist, both beginner and advanced, into a world of unknown variables and theoretical dilemmas that give rise to more basic problems discussed herein.
The Carnation corals, as they are most commonly referred, are a large group of soft corals found throughout the Indo-Pacific. They are particularly common throughout the Red Sea. They are exclusively azooxanthellate, meaning all species lack zooxanthellae required for photosynthesis. Without the symbiotic algae, these corals require a continual wash of planktonic material across their polyps in order to survive. Many azooxanthellate corals are found in shaded or mostly shaded areas of the reef, as well as in very deep or cool water. Although Dendronephthya are indeed found in the wild under ledges, overhangs, and in caves, many can also be found on reef slopes in full sunlight. This is especially true for those examples found in the Red Sea. Light is not harmful to them.
The sclerites of Dendronephthya are particularly needle-like. They are frequently visible when the coral is collapsed and not feeding, as well as in the expanded animals. It has been supposed that the sclerites, which can protrude from the coral, may help facilitate gas and water exchange. This seems likely, since these corals expand tremendously and must be able to have a capable system that allows for such enormous inflation with water. It is hard to imagine how such an unimpressive lump of contracted tissue can become such an elaborate display of feeding branches. The energy expenditure needed for the active transport of substances across cell membranes to the ******** of these corals and the concomitant passive transport of water must be significant. Without photosynthesis, these corals require a significant nutrient input for their metabolic needs. It is known that Dendronepthya species can uptake dissolved organic material and bacterioplankton in significant amounts, along with feeding on particulate material (detritus), very small and non-motile zooplankton, and most significantly, are large consumers of phytoplankton. The types of food items captured will depend largely on the spacing of the tentacle pinnules. The flow rate to which Dendronepthya are exposed is also very important. If the flow is not strong enough, the animals will not feed and may be unable to maintain a feeding posture. With too much flow, the tentacles may be bent or deflected to prevent ideal particle interception filtering. r />
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 deteriorates. 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. This is highly consistent with starvation. Of course, like many corals, there are occasional citings and claims of hobbyists who have kept Dendronepthya alive for years. I have never personally known this to be the case. In any event, I believe the factors that would allow for the success of this coral in aquariums, even if the claims were true, would be incomplete and not entirely reproducible.
It seems as though very heavy feeding of phytoplankton and detritus, strong continuous current and adequate placement would be essential to their survival. In any situation where such heavy feeding must occur, there is the downside of having to somehow dispose of the high nutrients that would predominate in such a closed system, either mechanically or biologically. Wilkens has suggested that heavy skimming and heavy feeding has allowed him to keep certain species for a period of years in systems designated almost exclusively to the needs of these and similar corals.
However, it has not become the goal of captive reefkeeping to allow for animals to merely survive for a short length of time. They must be able to survive, grow, and hopefully reproduce in captivity. I feel that attempts outside these guidelines are usually an exercise in futility, and a deleterious mismanagement of life and ecosystem. It is my position that not only should these corals not be kept in captivity at the present, but also every effort should be made by responsible aquarists to inform dealers and suppliers to stop the harvesting of these dazzling corals for the aquarium trade. Hopefully, advances in the hobby, such as the use of refugia to provide natural sources of plankters, and the proliferation of habitat style tanks, will allow the contents of this article to be proven false in the future. With some work, Dendronephthya may one day become a commonly aquacultured coral and a welcome addition to an aquarium. However, hobbyists should not succumb to allusions that others are keeping this coral with any degree of success, nor to illusions that they are capable of prevailing with no basis besides an otherwise thriving reef community.
There have been so many advances in the reefkeeping hobby in the past several years, most of which are unknown to beginning and intermediate hobbyists. This brings up what I feel to be a grave and unfortunate occurrence within the community of reefkeepers. Despite rapid advances being made, the influx of new captive reefs by beginners is far outpacing the dissemination and availability of current knowledge. It has become obvious that no matter how many books are available and how many articles are written, the majority of people unfailingly believe whatever the uninformed retailer tells them to be true -and many retailers are still telling them to buy Dendronephthya.
A wide void still exists between the small percentage of advanced hobbyists and all the rest of the people keeping reefs. Every day, hundreds of people go home with equipment and supplies to start a reef tank, often blindly. Books, magazines, and other information sources that publish advanced findings are either too complicated for someone without a scientific background, or are priced so high that it is impossible to convince a beginner to spend the money on these helpful resources. The serious hobbyists are predominantly the ones willing to pay large sums of money for books with information that, for the most part, they already know. Fortunately, the plethora of resources now available on the Internet is able to alleviate many of these problems to those with the desire and ability to access the information. Unfortunately, there is an equally large amount of misinformation from many such Internet sources, and it is difficult for the beginning and even intermediate aquarist to know what is accurate. I feel it is the responsibility of the educated and knowledgeable aquarist to continually and patiently help explain basic information to newcomers in the hobby that they may wrongfully assume to already exist.
There is no reason that good products and proper livestock cannot be the means of profit for all people and places. However, so long as cyanide and poorly collected reef creatures comprise the lowest priced available species, and retailers can market whatever animals are being collected, there will be wanton destruction of species and inappropriately stocked aquaria. So long as what is obvious to the advanced hobbyists is unknown, unavailable, or out of reach to the beginner and retailer, the advances made in the hobby may turn out to be fruitless.
The result is predictable. As long as there are irresponsible or unknowing people buying or marketing inappropriate species (such as Dendronephthya "at unbeatable prices"), this hobby will suffer.
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