Broken Coral

[saltymom]

A month or so ago, I bought some kind of a really hard coral. I dont know what it is... they didnt even know what it was..
It was on a plastic spike of somekind..they lfs said to just stick the spike down inside a hole in arock and let it go. It was doing fine, until about a month ago, when I accidentally dropped a rock right on top of it..and it broke in half. The piece that broke off the plastic spike I stuck into a hole..and left the other alone where it was. The broken off piece looks like it is alive..but I think maybe the peice still attached to the plastic is dying. It looks kind of brown on one side, but the other side is still bright green. Will both pieces grown or have I killed the whole thing?

 

[saltymom]

Its a hard coral if u touch it..it feels like rock..but to just watch it, it has very short tenicles that wave softly in the current. It is a bright green in color.
Im trying to get a decent pic of the thing..but where it is in the tank...I cant get a good pic, it blends in with the rock

 

[ags]

sounds more like an SPS frag to me or maybe a hydraphora. There are a lot of SPS people on this board. Hopefully one of them will chime in and give you some guidance.
hydrophora is green and hard and a frag could/would come on plastic plugs. I have accidentally broken pieces off of mine. I just super glued them in the holes of some LR. both the frags and mother colony are doing fine.

 

[saltymom]

Okay! Good... I was afraid that since I broke it..I might have killed it. It is on a "plug" I guess..now that u call it that!
I never could get a decent pic of the thing..I tried, tomorrow Im getting a shipment so Ill move the rock closer to the front and get a picture..then we can get a correct id.
Ags. Do the kinds of corals u mention grow large are do they stay small?
Thanks again both of u!

 

[dburr]

Do the kinds of corals u mention grow large are do they stay small?
All corals keep growing, unless their is no more room to grow.

 

[saltymom]

well..goodie! I hope the two pieces get big enough to see them at least! LOL Does anyone have a good picture of a hydrophora I can see?
*EDIT* Nevermind..I found a good pic..and its exactly what I have..a hydrophora..

 

[dburr]

Keep it away from other corals, they have a potent sting

 

[ags]

glad to see you got a id. and yes both the original frag and the new frag should be fine so long as it has proper lighting and water quality.
here is a picture of my hydrophora mother colony

 

[ags]

and here is a picture of the pieces that broke and I super glued in LR holes

 

[ags]

if you look in the picture of the mother colony you can see the two fragged pieces in the right side of the picture.

 

[saltymom]

That coral looks awesome, Ags... you know..mine is tiny! It looks like it must be a tippy top of a branch..because your frags are twice the size! Must take it years and years to grow that big huh? I bet mine was about half an inch tall before I broke in half..and it split down the middle...thats why I was afraid I maybe killed it. I dont know It will probably be okay I guess. If it does die will it start to rot will I be able to tell and should I get it out?
and Dburr..thanks, I will keep that in mind, as it is the only coral I have on the right side of the tank right now, so I really appreciate that advice.
Here is a zoomed pic, makes them look huge...but theyre not even bigger than the snail in the background!