Coral of the Week: Turbinaria peltata, the Pagoda coral

[Anonymous]

Welcome All Reefs.Org Members!

This is a new weekly, or thereabouts, feature, called 'Coral of the Week' !

Each week, we'll select a particular coral, and we would like you all to post any pics, experiences, photo's, etc. about that particular species, in this 'mini-forum'

good experiences, and bad ones, too-are equally welcome! (but it's preferable to see constructive answers/solutions/innovations to problems encountered, rather than 'i just returned the bugger to the lfs' )

any tips, or special advice, on how you dealt with any special issues that species involves, would also be most appreciated, as would photos,too!


the idea is to help your fellow hobbyist via your experience, and knowledge, in the captive husbandry of fish you keep, because they turn you on, and hopefully, this wil help other hobbyist's life be made easier, as well as the fishes, too

the first coral we would like to feature is:

Turbinaria peltata-commonly known as the Pagoda, or Pagoda Cup, coral.

any photo's you'ld like to share, anecdotes, husbandry tips, breeding experiences, compatability issues,etc. will be welcome!

Have Fun, and respect each others opinions/experiences



AND:

an added fyi-

as these threads are pulled down each week to make room for the next weeks species, they will get archived

thanx, mods/admins

 

[Robin Goodfellow]

hi.
I have one for about three years, and it did not grow a single micron! However, they are one of the hardiest LPS coral I had.

 

[dragon0121]

I've had my turbinaria peltata for about 6 months now. Looks like this . I have mine located high under the glass brace in my Oceanic 180g. It get direct light, through the glass brace, from 3 140W VHO, but no direct light from the 250W MH. It get occasional high current from the two Sea Swirls, when the current from both collide above it. Detritus seems to settle on top of it alot, I gently blow off every day or so with a turkey baster. Now, mine exhibits good growth! I've also had it come into contact with some zooanthids that were damaging it. After moving the zooanthids, the cup healed right back up. Mine will grab frozen brine shrimp or mysis and gobble them up! I've played with my current a lot in the last 6 months, trying to help the sps in the tank, and the cup seems to do best when it is getting a lot of current. Enough to blow the tentacles around, look like wheat waving in the wind, but not enough to make it close up any.

 

[rBeOeBf]

I've got one that is unfortunately on the brink of death. Bought it about a year ago. It's a nice light purple color, perfectly round, about 3-4 inches in diameter, shaped like a very shallow bowl. Have it in a 29 gal, up high under 2x55 watt PC lighting. During a heat wave last July my tank temp shot up way too high and a small portion of the tissue (about the size of a dime) began to rot away right in the middle of the cup. Over the last 8 months that area has very slowly expanded, and all that's left now is about 9 or 10 isolated polyps around the edge of the cup with a little bit of tissue around each one. The rest is all dead skeleton. Tried moving it to different areas of the tank to change the current and lighting conditions, but couldn't stop the spread of the dying tissue. As long as there's even one polyp left with some tissue, I'll hold out hope for a miraculous recovery. Was my favorite when it was healthy.

 

[Reeffreak]

I had the same problem as rBeOeBf. My tank temp shotup for about 2 days before it finally lowered back down. Once the coral started wasting away it wouldn't stop until now, I only have about 4 polyps left and it has been this way for about 3 months with no new growth.

I loved this coral when it was healthy. It was one of the majestic corals in my tank, with a diameter of about 8". It also appeared to be very hardy and resilient to anything but the heat wave.

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

A great, hardy coral that I can wholeheartedly recommend to beginners. Not the fastest grower though.

 

[DaveinKY]

I also had the same problem with my cup. I bought it at the LFS when it was only 3" or so in diameter. When I installed the MH lights in my 55 it raised the temp but not to an unbearable level until my AC unit went out. It had a small spot in the center to rot away. I changed water regularly and ran the iodide just a little higher than normal. Now, about 2 years later the spot is still there but still the same size. The skin of the coral closed in around the spot and it is now about 6" in diameter and a beautiful peach color. You can see where the diameter is actually larger at the top where it's grown. Thats after a move to the 125 and relocating about 5 miles down the road. Mine also loves brine and the ocassional piece of chopped up squid. In any case it's really been a hardy coral and one of my favorites.

 

[Will C1]

now reading this it must have been the small heat wave i had on my tank this summer that did in mine it was 6" in diameter and a bright yellow some of the polyps turned a darker almost brown yellow after they got under the MH's but the skeleton was still bright yellow. it has saddly passed after 3 years in my tank . it was doing great. i guess the best advice would be to make sure and control your temp.

 

[ReefVan]

Yes, this is one of my favorite corals. As everyone says it's not a fast grower but remains healthy. Have had this piece going on 3 years now.

This coral really enjoys it when I clean the glass and that little algae fog washes over it, mmm meal time.

Here's a pic from last year under vho lighting.

Van