+KimP Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Just curious if anyone knows what this is? It was a hitchhiker on some LR I bought for my ol 47gal seahorse tank. I never knew about it though until I broke it down. There was this big one looking nice and healthy, then several, maybe 5, smaller ones that look like the tissue is only half the size of the skeleton. I can tell right away they are NPS (which I love!), and the tentacles are identical to my dendros except the head/skeleton is much more oval and the tissue is blue and clearish. Also the skeleton is white vs orange on the dendro. I was able to cut this big one off the rock to put in my LPS tank. The rest I couldn't get off without damaging and they went with the rock into my frag tank. So this big one I started feeding with my dendro and the small ones in the frag tank rarely get fed, just when I feed the frags, there's no fish in there. A few weeks ago I notice this big one looked completely dead. No tissue to be seen, just a gleaming white skeleton. I was majorly bummed. I couldn't figure out how feeding it killed it when the small ones that rarely get fed are out 24/7 and happy Then this big one started peeking out about a week ago and has very slowly come out more and more each day. I finally got a chance to stare at my tank this evening, and guess what???? There are 3 huge baby heads around the big one I haven't been this excited about my tanks in a long time. I'm ecstatic!! One head is about half the size of the original and the other 2 are smaller. I know for sure they weren't there when I cut it off the rock because I examined them all very closely and barely managed to get under the skeleton of this one. Anyway that was long, but no one else would care or understand like yall Any idea what it is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Grog Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Looks very similar to the hidden cup corals I have. They are a booger to get a good pic of but look SO COOL in person. Hard to tell from your picture but I think it is a hidden cup coral. Does it look like this? Open http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/aquarium-corals/29797-care-hidden-cup-coral.html or this? Skeleton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Grog Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 BTW mine are starting to multiply. Took months but they finally are... I have two new heads as of last week. Definitely one of my faves in the tank. When they are open they look ghostly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 I think you nailed it! Yay! I've been wondering what they are for months. How cool, now I can read more about them. It's definitely one of my favorites too. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 They've gotta be one tough coral, especially to be NPS. I've had this LR for, geez, 2 or 3 years? Never knew about them until recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 It looks very similar to a fungia (plate coral). They have been known to grow out of live rock and also to regenerate from dead skeletons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Grog Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 They've gotta be one tough coral Was my first coral. Came with the rock, survived the initial tank cycle, and is still kicking, so I would agree that they are tough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Cool! One more reason I love live rock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannerfish Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Neato! I also like live rock to see what interesting things end up in the tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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