Is frogspawn really an "expert only" coral? (like swf.com describes)

[kilofey]

swf.com says this coral is only for expert reefers.... But it seems to be doing great in my tank and im fairly new with only 8 or so months of experience. I was wondering why it says theyre so challenging. Am I jumping the gun and thinking its doing well when maybe it might not be?
Ive had my 2 head frogspawn for about 5 ish months now. I dont see any new heads, but the heads do seem to be a bit bigger nowadays. How quickly do they sprout new heads? Anything I can do to make it grow faster? And mine is super well behaved, it never sends out sweepers, is that normal or does that mean its unhealthy? Overall, the coral has great color and the heads are big, but after seeing the thing on swf, it makes me wonder if its not doing as well as I think it is because im by no means an expert. Any thoughts or knowledge u can share?
Btw, it sits pretty low in my tank with medium flow. I have 300w kessil led and 54w t5. Theres a teenie bit of nitrates, but im working on slowly removing my bioballs to see if it will help because id like to have the coveted 0 nitrates lol

 

[bang guy]

Not sure if it should be called Expert. It is more susceptible to brown jelly disease than most corals.

 

[kilofey]

Glad I got rid of my indo elegance then, cause I think they get it easy too. How does a coral get BJD? Bad water or something?

 

[reefkprz]

brown jelly disease is a bacterial infection, can be caused by damage, poor water quality a combination or other factors as well. there is not really "one" vector for infection. and once it gets it its damned hard to defeat.

 

[nycbob]

shouldnt be expert imo. mine grows like crazy but i am also an expert. i have it in other tanks with not so great water and it thrives. as long as they get decent flow along with lighting, it is very easy.

 

[kilofey]

Mine isnt growing at all but it is living and seems happy. ive had the same 2 heads for 5 months now but those heads are really big, they stretch out and seem very healthy. They will readily take food too, I just dont understand why they arent growing in numbers ? Ive moved it to a few different places and it seems to like this spot the best. ive considered buying another one from a different lfs and see if I get better results. Ive read some grow like crazy and some just dont. Ive got a $65 credit at a lfs, and they just got a new coral shipment today, maybe ill see what theyve got.
:flame: I WANT GROWTH!!! :flame:
:laughing:

 

[bang guy]

In my experience good light, good waterflow, and maintaining a steady Alkalinity will allow these to grow. You are already feeding so that also helps.

 

[kilofey]

Definately have good light (300w 15k led and 54w daylight t5) and I have plenty of flow and kh stays at about 11... I think kh is alk right? So, ehh, I suppose I just have a dud.

 

[kilofey]

So I bought a new frogspawn today and this one looks very different from my other one... Its not fully open yet, but this ones skeleton is considerably lighter in color compared to my other fs. And the new one has heads that when its closed, the heads look more "boney", unlike my other one that curls up inside itself and looks more soft. The old one looks like 2 heads that are glued onto the skeleton, this one looks like they are growing from the skeleton (i didnt explain that very well). The new one has 7 heads... Im hoping its just a different kind of fs and not a sick one. But they looked so different I just had to give it a try and see if I can get some growth from this one.

 

[kilofey]

^^^^^^^ fts, just for fun

^^^^ new fs, notice the different color of skeleton and the way the heads are attatched differently. these ones look more "bony" (just put this one in the tank, ill try to post another pic in the next few days after it adjusts and heads fully open)

^^^^ old fs, notice the darker skeleton and the way the heads look like they are almost glued ontop (i know they arent, they just seem to be attatched differently)

 

[spanko]

E. divisa (non-branching): Frogspawn coral
E. paradivisa (branching): Branching frogspawn coral
"Euphyllia paradivisa is a well-known member of the Euphyllidae family, and is often confused with E. divisa. The subtle difference between these species lies in the morphology of the corallum. E. paradivisa has a branching skeleton with separate corallites, also referred to as phaceloid, whereas E. divisa displays flabello-meandroid morphology."

 

[kilofey]

Ahhhh, so I have 2 different kinds. Does non branching typically grow slower and have a darker skeleton? Does my branching fs look ok (other than it being pissed atm since its only been in the tank a couple hrs)

 

[spanko]

They both look fine to me. IMO the branching ones seem to grow faster because they grow multiple heads and look more full because of it. The heads will grow from the skeleton and will look like bumps at first as they start to grow. Can't comment on the skeleton color because I don't know if color is an indicator of the kind it is or just an anomaly.

 

[spanko]

edited out

 

[kilofey]

Yay, hopefully ill get some growth in the near future then ill just leave the non branching where it is and if it grows, great, if not... Wutever lol