Nonphotosynthetics

viper_930

Active Member
I just snapped some pics of my 32g for you guys and gals. Currently only nonphotosynthetic corals are in it as I haven't setup the halide to convert it to my main display yet. Enjoy the pics!
First off, a full tank shot.

Here's three different color forms of Dendrophyllia coccinea, even though the first two are pretty similar. The two pink/white ones in the third pic are my favorite, but they're only small polyps right now. The tentacles actually look more white than the picture shows.



Dendrophyllia arbuscula
. This one used to have an orange base like the other arbuscula in the very back of the full tank shot, but it faded to yellow a while ago.

I'm not 100% sure on these IDs, but the one on the left was sold to me as a D. coaretata
and the one on the right is Balanophyllia sp.
Both are encrusters.

This little guy is my newest dendrophylliidae. I do not have a clue what the species could be, so if you've got an idea let me know! This one's only four polyps, but I'll be picking up a bigger frag soon. The mother colony looks amazing in person.
 

viper_930

Active Member
The two-polyp piece in the foreground was a hitchhiker on a toadstool leather rock that I found while perusing a local wholesaler. The closest ID I have found is Rhizopsammia verrilli.
The taller piece in the back is the Dendrophyllia arbuscula.

Balanophyllia ponderosa


This is a branching Tubastrea sun coral...I think.


The biggest coral in the tank: Rhizotrochus typus
. The skeleton is about 3" wide and some of the tentacles are an additional 3" or longer.

And last but not least, a red waratah anemone. This one just spit out two baby waratahs a couple weeks ago.

I have another white dendro and a black sun coral in another tank that I do not have pics of. I'm expecting a few more odds and ends to my collection within the next couple weeks. Comments and questions please post!
Feel free to post pics of your own nonphotosynethetics!

~Justin
 

murph145

Active Member
very nice there! i dont have any of those types of corals yet but i think they will be some of my next purchases!
 

steve24

Active Member
awsome collection

seeing a pic of your dendros awhile back was when i knew i had to get one.
 

sharkboy13

Active Member
wait, i like the corals, but how the heck can they be photosynthetic since they dont have chloroplasts or chlorophyll? last i checked that was a plant/protist thing...
 

viper_930

Active Member
Thanks for the comments guys!
Sharkboy, photosynthetic corals have algae called zooxanthellae that lives within the corals' tissue. This algae is what gets the energy from the light to create sugars to support itself and the host coral.
All of the corals and the waratahs I've posted above don't contain zooxanthellae at all, so they must be fed a couple times per week with meaty foods. It gets to be a pain sometimes.
 

shrimpi

Active Member
arent the wartah anem. cold water? how do you keep them with the others? whats your tank temp? are those reef safe?
I looked into them a few times, but always came back with a colder-temp requirement.
 

viper_930

Active Member
Shrimpi, they do come from temperate tide pools, but many people have had luck with them in tropical reefs. I decided to try two first and seem to be successfull. Mine spit out two babies and just this morning my coworker called and said one that we have at the shop (fish store) spit out one baby. I keep the tank at about 77.
I'm not sure if they would sting corals, as none of mine have ever come in contact with one, but they are as sticky as a haddoni carpet anemone so I would imagine small fish would be an easy meal.
 

rara12

Member
Hey where did you find a Rhizotrochus typus? They seem to be hard to find but i sure would like one.
 

jawfish101

Member
I absolutely LOVE you Dendros and Tubastrea! I have a large collection myself, they are by far my favorites in my tank!
Great Tank!
 
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