What Is It?

[KC36330]

the pic is a VERY zoomed in macro shot, the whole thing is about the size of a #2 pencil eraser.

 

[brandonberry]

It is an Alveopora. It is a great hardy alternative to Goniopora which rarely survive long term. It can be easily distinguished by counting the tentacles (or whatever you call them) on each polyp. Alveoporas have 12 while Gonioporas have 24. Keep it in a lower flow area and it should grow and do great.

 

[KC36330]

Thanks

 

[cindre2000]

I don't know if I would call them hardy...

They generally like "dirtier" water.

 

[brandonberry]

You calling my tank dirty? Huh? Just kidding. Seriously, I know of several people keeping and growing them with success. I really don't consider any of their tanks dirty. I don't think all of our acros would be growing like weeds and showing superior coloration if our tanks were dirty.

 

[SnowManSnow]

i think the id is on good job.

the flowerpots aren't hardy though. unless you are the exception .. it won't survive a very long time.

b

 

[brandonberry]

I think you are thinking of Goniopora that isn't hardy. A lot of people get them confused and I've even seen a lot of Goniopora mislabeled as Alveopora. I know of quite a few people keeping this in our local club and all have had great success. Maybe we just have a super resilient strain or something, but it looks just like the one in the pic above. I will say that they are really sensitive to being stung by other corals. Where most corals may get a little tissue damage from a sting, this species seems to have a much larger area that dies off when touched. I really think the key is low flow. At first I had mine in a medium flow area, midway up my rock, and did not get good polyp expansion. After moving it down to a low flow area level with my sandbed, it started looking great and has for a year and a half now.

 

[KC36330]

unless you are the exception .. it won't survive a very long time.

it developed as a hitch-hiker on the bottom of one of my Scolymia vitiensis, had it about 18 months but it's just got to where it's all that noticeable.

They generally like "dirtier" water.

i keep pristine water quality, zero NO3 w/ PinPoint NO3 monitor and <0.01 PO4 w/ Hanna colorimeter, that might explain its slow growth. i feed rotifers 2x a week but it doesn't seam to latch onto any, any suggestions on what to target feed it???[/quote]

 

[brandonberry]

They really don't eat. They likely just absorb nutrients, similar to Xenia. There really should be no shortage of these even in the most pristine tanks when compared to the ocean where they come from. It is possible that they grow faster in tanks with higher nitrates. Mine doesn't grow that fast either, but another guy in our club, who I got my frag from, says that his grows extremely fast.

I've also noticed that, in general, corals that start off as small hitchhikers often grow pretty slow until they hit a certain size and then gradually seem to grow quicker. This is probably due to the limited number of polyps and the fact that individual polyps can only split so fast. As the colony gets bigger, it seems to grow quicker even though the polyps may be splitting at the same rate or possibly even slower.