corals ID

[Mihai]

Not really hitchhikers, but rather from the NC frag trade from this Saturday.

I asked for corals that can make it under my NO (4x40W) lights and that's what I got (see pictures).

I have a positive ID on a zooanthid and on a leather coral (not pictured).
The rest I'm not so sure. I'd appreciate if you can ID them (if you know the genus even better). The Xenia is pulsing on and off (see
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=442598), and I have no idea of the genus (Xenia?).

Does any of them require any type of supplemental feeding or special treatment?

Thanks,
Mihai

 

[Mihai]

Thanks a lot!

 

[hdtran]

The button polyp looks like "Palythoa" that I bought at the LFS. Could be Protopalythoa too. I wouldn't know how to tell the difference.

The green grass looking guy is either Briareum or Pachyclavularia, a.k.a. Green Star Polyps. There's a debate as to whether one should distinguish between Briareum or Pachyclavularia. If you hunt back about a month or two, someone posted a picture which was subsequently identified as Green Star Polyps, and there was a heated discussion as to whether that was Pachyclavularia, Briareum, or whether it mattered.

According to Borneman's book, all corals like to be fed (in addition to being lit). When you feed the tank, the coral will get some too.

Very nice photos!

 

[Mihai]

Thanks, as of now I don't feed the tank: it doesn't have any fish in it, and will not have for another month or so until I fix the sump and buy a new skimmer. I only offer 1 small piece of shrimp to my bumblebees and nassarius snails so they don't starve every few days. Should I start feeding some shrimp paste to make my corals happy? how much?
Say, bean size, or pea size daily? Every couple of days?

Regarding Protopalythoa vs Palythoa, that's what I found:

Members of this genus [Protopalythoa] were previously referred to as Palythoa spp. in scientific and aquarium literature. Muirhead and Ryland (1985) separates this genus from Palythoa, which has its polyps deeply embedded in the coenenchyme. The fact that there are species with intermediate structure, such as Palythoa mammillosa, suggests that this distinction is of questionable significance. Borneman (1997) also discusses this issue. Nevertheless the majority of species of Palythoa can readily be distinguished from Protopalythoa based on this characteristic.

Acording to this reference they are Protopalythoa and like solid food. I also found out there that they are relatives of the common zooanthides.

Thanks,
Mihai

 

[hdtran]

You probably should ask the feeding question over in General Reefkeeping.

My personal opinion is to feed the tank with minced seafood, and let that feed both the mobile and sessile invertebrates, perhaps 1x/week.