COTW: Blastomussa

j21kickster

Active Member
Due to popular request I will be submitting this coral of the week.
Blastomussa wellsi, merleti AKA Pineapple Coral, Blasto, Open brain and sometimes falsely called a Moon coral.
Blastomussa corals have a phaceloid skeleton (a stony colony formation where seperate corallites extend from the central skeleton). When fully extended, the polyps cover the entire skeleton. The most common species sold is B.merleti, which is what i have and is pictured below. The most common color morphs found for sale are usually pink or brown with green centers.
The Blastomussa coral is a relativly hardy reef addition. They prefer moderate water flow- not direct current. They also thrive best under moderate lighting, If kept in a tank with strong MH lighting, the polyps do not usually open fully, if they are in a higher location. That said they should be placed lower in the aquarium and will thrive under PC and VHO lighting. Occasional feedings of vitamin enriched brine as well as mysis will also ensure their success although this in not a must. There are often other inhabitants found living in the branching skeleton of this coral which may include, Sponges, Mollusks, a variety of pods as well as other sessile inverts. Also they do not have sweeper tentacles so they may be placed in close proximity of other corals but are somewhat vounerable to stinging damage
Blastos are very easy to propagate via cuttings by simple breaking off a group, or single, for that matter, skeleton branch.
Maintaning calcium levels as well as trace elements help in their growth and overall success.
Here is a picture of my colony theat is thriving and reproducing in my 20 gallon under 4x32w PC lighting and no Skimmer, (2xMonth water change)
Mine is the more common Blastomussa merleti- B.wellsi is the same as far as care, the major difference is the polyp size- B.wellsi has significantly larger polyps
 

nm reef

Active Member
Good post j21kickster...another outstanding addition to the COTW series.
Either a Blastomussa wellsi or a Blastomussa merleti would be a welcome addition to my reef...but I've never been able to find a good/healthy speciman locally. I'd be interested in seeing some of the ones ya'all keep.
 

j21kickster

Active Member
Nice Pic Wamp- That is easy to identify as B.wellsi- Those polyps are nice and big-
NM- No problem, i am happy to do it.:)
 

wamp

Active Member
j21kickster
It was an absolute beautiful coral... Unfortunately it has since passed on. Richard had it in his tank and he thinks something might have touched it and stung it... To bad, it was awsome.
 

jonthefb

Active Member
i saved my guy from the lfs i work at...he had been in the sop for about 3 months and no one had purchased him ,so i took him home(he was expensive too, cost on the guy was 25 bucks...)but since then, he has been reproducing like crazy... a very cool coral that grows rather quickly with regular feedigns and supplemental calcium, and alk additions!
good luck
jon
 

teatime

Member
lol. I just returned with one from my LFS. I did a search as soon as I got home and found out it was COTW.:)
 

overanalyzer

Active Member
Whooo Hoo - I too have the coral of the week - it may look familiar as it started out as a frag from J21Kickster - Thanks man.
Here is a pictrue of it on Day 1:
 

overanalyzer

Active Member
But since then it has recovered. Here is a picture from about 3 hours ago..... a little over 3 weeks since I got him....
 

overanalyzer

Active Member
I've counted about 12 new "mouths" since he has gone into my tank. The one thing is that this suckers will give you a little sting if you get your hand right in their space. Was cleaning the front glass for the above picture and he got my nuckle a bit ... turned it a little red but not as bad as a bristle worm ...
My youngest daughter calls it a PlayDough coral .... think she has issues saying blasto ....
With the eye popping green mouth everyone notices it right off!
Excellent job Kickster!
 
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