Coral ID?

[cr500_af]

This frag was sold to me as orange monti cap:

alt="" />

Robb was over and said it looked like scroll coral (turbinaria?).

It doesn't matter to me which it is, BUT it is growing ZERO. I've been told on here that if it isn't turning white then it's alive.

If that is true for scroll also, my question (other than "which is it") is:
Would their preferred evenvironment (light, flow) be different? I'm looking for reasons for no growth, and of course this adds a new twist.

Currently it is 2/3 of the way up in a 90 under 4x54w T5s (will be 6x54 tomorrow), but I've tried it at a few levels with no changes. If it's scroll, I also need to find me some monti cap!

 

[eddie b_]

That looks like scroll to me ,I have a big piece red monti cap your welcome to it.

 

[thagrimy1]

looks like a scroll...i have one i love the way they grow

 

[tgray3]

If it's a scroll you should be able to see nice size polyps extend from the eyes. I bought an orange ORA monti cap from Creation yesterday and it doesn't look like yours. From your pic it looks kind of like a chalice. Their growth is very slow.

 

[tokejr]

Are the polyps clear? I have a monti similar in color (it has a purple rim).

Kinda hard to tell from the picture.

 

[lilrobb]

Definitely no chalice - smooth surface with those different colored indents.
Looks 100% like something I looked at at Keen yesterday which was a scroll coral.
I always say: "as long as it is pretty - I don't care what someone else named it"...


Robb

 

[hellfire]

Yeah, looks like scroll to me.

alt="" />

Tyler

 

[lilrobb]

Thanks Tyler,

that's it!

 

[cr500_af]

I got it at the Twisted Taco meeting... and I've seen tentacles ONCE (but they were about 1/2" long, looked like tall grass waving). That was last week. Color is still the same as the day I got it. Gotta figure out what it wants.

 

[cr500_af]

And what the heck is the green thing right above it? It looks like a bean sprout, and there are two of them on the rock.

 

[cr500_af]

That's it; thank you!

 

[budsreef]

The picture looks like scroll coral but the polyps wouldn't be 1/2" long. Can you get a little better picture?

My scroll coral does not like bright lighting. I have it on the bottom of my 120G and keep it a little shaded at that.

cr500_af;357582 wrote: I got it at the Twisted Taco meeting... and I've seen tentacles ONCE (but they were about 1/2" long, looked like tall grass waving). That was last week. Color is still the same as the day I got it. Gotta figure out what it wants.

 

[cr500_af]

OK, maybe 1/2" was a a little exaggerated, Bud. Sorry; it had been a long day. They just looked very long in relation to the thin size of the coral. I'll try slowly lowering it and see if that produces any results.

 

[budsreef]

Ha! Even a 1/4" polyp or 1/8" would still be long for a scroll coral. The have very tiny polyps.

 

[budsreef]

Does it have yellow edges? I can't tell by the picture, but a scroll coral will also have yellow edges.

 

[cr500_af]

Bud the polyps were ABSOLUTELY longer than 1/4". They looked just like the polyps on my toadstool... a skinny "string" (clear in this case) with a little tiny "flower" on top... only longer. They were all out at once, and I've never seen them before or since!

The edges are... yellowISH, but not yellow. Really, it just looks a shade lighter than the rest.

 

[budsreef]

Then I don't think it is a scroll coral. The polyps on the scroll coral I have and the few others I have seen had polyp extension of only 1/16" at best. Can you get a better photo?

 

[cr500_af]

I'll try, but the camera always wants to focus on something NEAR it.

 

[chefrepo]

Looks like a scroll Barry. Mine is a slow grower but the upside is that it gets some really cool shapes to it which IMO makes it a really cool coral. I have mine about halfway in the tank and shaded slightly but I am running MH's on mine but I have had it under PCs back in the day and never had any problems. As far as feeding goes I have never directly fed mine and have never had any problems.

 

[cr500_af]

Thanks. The only time I saw the polyps was when I removed it's twin from the frag plug. The smaller of the two frags (glued to the same plug) turned black along one edge and then got some green bubble algae, so I decided to be safe and get it away from the one that looked healthy. After putting it back in the tank, the polyps extended and stayed out a few hours, and I've never seen them again.

I think that (other than care) is what confuses me the most.