Think this is really an alcyonium?

fmelindy

fmelindy

Member
I bought this coral yesterday advertised as "alcyonium sp." at the store where I bought it. I'm not quite sure it's classified right. It seems to "hard" to be alcyonium and the spicules seem too prominent. When you touch it it's like its made out of wood almost, it's so stiff. Anybody want to take a stab at identifying it. My guess is that it could be a nephthea species (worst case scenario) or maybe a litophyton species. Anybody else?
 
shoreliner11

shoreliner11

Active Member
Looks like a dendronephthya sp. to me as well. If I were you I'd bring it back if the lfs will take it. Even the most dedicated of species tanks still have trouble keeping these corals.
Aaron
 
fmelindy

fmelindy

Member
well that's the funny thing. It's been in the dealer's tank now for several months and is growing. He had several other definite species of dendronephthea there that died over a few weeks but they were very vividly colored. He had two of these and they are rather plain looking and prospering so I'm not quite sure they are dendros.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
:notsure:
Why are you all talking about the boring coral when there is a very nice brittlestar right in the middle? Not one mention :mad:
 
fmelindy

fmelindy

Member
Yes, I was going to brag about the hitchhiker but it didn't really seem appropriate in a thread about the coral. But nice hithchiker, eh?

Ophiura, what do you think of his chance of making it? And what's your opinion on the coral id?
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Um, I'm the wrong person to ask about the coral ID :yes: These sorts of questions currently stump me. LOL. Anywho, it looks kinda like an Ophiothrix sp brittlestar, common hitch hikers on soft corals. It is hit or miss in terms of survival. Many are filter feeders (hence the very long arm spines) but a few are basically commensal on the coral...eating mucus or stuff caught in the mucus. Not harming the coral in any way, but still getting a big part of its diet from the coral. So time will tell. If you are dosing with phytoplankton or other types of "Filter feeder foods" it will help. Also see, for kicks, if it will take stuff via spot feeding (even something relatively meaty like a bit of squid tentacle or something.
 
yosemite sam

yosemite sam

Active Member
Going by the texture and shape I'd say it looks like a dendronephthya or something very similar to it. What kind of lights is it under, how about current? Is it open more with the lights on or off? An interesting coral, to say the least, and the hitch hiker is pretty cool too!
 
fmelindy

fmelindy

Member
I'd really like some more opinions. It's under dual 175 w MH in a 55 gallon tank supplemented by 4X96 watt PC actinics. The dealers tank just had two 400W MH's over a 400 gallon tank. It is expanded well night and day, though definitely better in the day. I heven't seen the polyps react to food stuffs (ie. nauplii, cyclopeeze, brine shrimp, mysis, or planktonic food). And it seems a little too brown or plain looking to be dendronephthea. In my opinion it seems to be photosynthetic though I could be wrong on that. Anyway, it's really doing well but I've only had it a couple of days.
 
wax32

wax32

Active Member
I only just now looked at this thread, but the first thing I thought when I saw the first picture was, "Whoa SWEET brittle!"
Ophiura must be rubbing off on me. :D
 
fmelindy

fmelindy

Member
well the lfs won't take it back and I'm dosing with DT's and it seems to be doing better every day so I'm just gonna see what happens and take it one day at a time... damn well wish I had known it was dendro before I bought it though.
 
fmelindy

fmelindy

Member
You know, all the corals we have been discussing some from the same family and it is really difficult to tell them apart sometimes. It would be awesome to have a definitive id guide to that family of corals.
 
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