coral id please

[Nihoa]

im not usually one to buy first ask questions later but occassionaly you spot a good deal and i know i can pass it along to another reefer should i be unable to care for it. generally, we have very similar things in our tank anyway.

this was sold to me as a dented brain but i have my doubts. any other opinions?

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/8457/dsc02804lll.jpg

and while we are at it, this was sold to me as "some sort of brain thing" for dirt cheap and i figured id pounce on it. i cant tell if its a favia or perhaps an acan?

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/2284/dsc02799l.jpg

[Zoaelite]

The first one looks like some sort of donut, can't really tell because the polyps are funny sizes could also be a acan bowerbanki but those are both wild guesses.

The second one is some sort of acan possibly a Acanthastrea echinata, Acanthastrea faviaformis or Acanthastrea subechinata. First one looks like its going to have some great color to it and you never know about the brown ones you could have a real keeper if it colors up on you!
Levi

[brandon429]

lobophyllia hemprichii on the first and acan echinata on the second. it would have sold for 150 in my lfs so if you got it less than that you made money. not bad on the spot-on id eh? :)

[Nihoa]

thank you both for the help. $150 for which one? i paid $25 for each of them!

[Myka]

The first is actually a Symphyllia sp. It is in poor condition, but hopefully it will perk up for you. It is a fabulous specimen. I have one in a different color. $150 is a little optimistic even if it was in perfect condition. $100 in perfect condition would be reasonable, but in the condition it's in probably more like $70-80. Good buy on your part.

The second as others have said the Acan echinata.

[Nihoa]

symphyllia makes it a dented brain after all? i wasnt able to find any pics on the net of symphyllia that came close to what i was looking at but when you have experience with actual specimens that helps a lot i think. thanks for the input.

as far as its condition goes, this fella was fragged off the main colony only hours before being placed in my tank and the photo was taken only minutes after that. ill take another photo later today if the polyps come out. beyond the abuse it saw that day you may still be seeing signs of wear and tear i dont recognise though.

[Myka]

I can tell that the coral was recently fragged (you can see the edges on the left), and this would be the primary cause of the coral's shrunken look, but the coral is shrunken enough that the skeleton is protruding in some places and it has been that way long enough that there is brown microalgae growing on the exposed parts. This shows that the coral has been stressed for some time before you got it. Fyi, it's normal for brains to get shrunken at times. My Symphyllia and Lobophyllias both shrink up just before lights out.

Also, there is old skeleton showing on the right side of the coral, but it's difficult to tell from the photo if that is from the coral partially dying at some time or whether it just happens to be growing over where a coral used to reside. I'm going to bet the former though.

Here is a coral from the Symphyllia genus that appears to be the same species. Different color though obviously. The photo is even taken at a time when the coral is shrunken:
http://golden-ina.net/gallery/B-symph3.JPG



Here is my Symphyllia (with the tissue nicely expanded, yours should look like this once it settles in):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Mar192009.jpg



Here is a Lobophyllia for comparison, you can see the tissue in the middle has the same texture as the outer portion of the coral:
http://www.reefsecrets.org/gallery/albums/Lobophyllia_hemprichii.jpg (http://www.reefsecrets.org/gallery/albums/Lobophyllia_hemprichii.jpg)

[Zoaelite]

Wow bang on ID Myka and that coral you have is pretty sweet looking :biggrin:! Have any photos with the feeding tent's out?
Levi

[Nihoa]

great info, i defin see what you are talking about. by the end of today he had extended quite nicely but i guess he has a way to go. from the reading ive done based on your id they are quite tolerant of different lighting and flow. i have moved him over to the left side of the tank where he is well lit but not directly under the light. some decent flow there but getting hit directly by any of the powerheads. lots of zooplankton in the tank so hope he fattens up. please mention anything else you think i should consider.

I can tell that the coral was recently fragged (you can see the edges on the left), and this would be the primary cause of the coral's shrunken look, but the coral is shrunken enough that the skeleton is protruding in some places and it has been that way long enough that there is brown microalgae growing on the exposed parts. This shows that the coral has been stressed for some time before you got it. Fyi, it's normal for brains to get shrunken at times. My Symphyllia and Lobophyllias both shrink up just before lights out.

Also, there is old skeleton showing on the right side of the coral, but it's difficult to tell from the photo if that is from the coral partially dying at some time or whether it just happens to be growing over where a coral used to reside. I'm going to bet the former though.

Here is a coral from the Symphyllia genus that appears to be the same species. Different color though obviously. The photo is even taken at a time when the coral is shrunken:

[brandon429]

the cost of the specimens varies from region to region. since our local fish store has a monopoly on frags being it's the only place in Lubbock tx to get them at all, they'd easily do 150 for the acan and about 90 for the symph which I thought was a lobo.

people who get corals at a reasonable price would do well to make some coral runs across the border to us forget the pot bring the brains and sps he he i paid 100 for an acan frag at lfs unfortunately that was the same color morph as your acan, and mine was only one inch long with two mouths for 100 which I feel is a ripoff. but when shipping prices are 40 not counting frags the only way for someone to save money when buying corals out here in landlocked texas is to one off them at mr aquarium or spend hundreds at once on the web to offset the shipping for just one frag. if there were any cheaper way to get corals I'd not buy them from a place that charges 100% more than the norm...

[Myka]

That sucks Brandon! We do get pretty good prices in most of Canada provided you're near a larger city. I often end up paying for shipping though. I just make sure that what I order is high quality, and it is usually worth the shipping cost. I rarely buy frags though, I like to buy colonies. If I want to order frags from a vendor I will save up my money and make sure the order is big enough to get free shipping.

great info, i defin see what you are talking about. by the end of today he had extended quite nicely but i guess he has a way to go. from the reading ive done based on your id they are quite tolerant of different lighting and flow. i have moved him over to the left side of the tank where he is well lit but not directly under the light. some decent flow there but getting hit directly by any of the powerheads. lots of zooplankton in the tank so hope he fattens up. please mention anything else you think i should consider.

Mine will bleach out if it is too close to the halides. That goes for all the brains I have. Right now it is directly below a 250W DE, but it is on he bottom of a 24" tank.

If you ever see it with feeder tentacles out you can feed it small pieces of meaty foods like thawed frozen mysis is best. If the tentacles won't come out you can gently brush the mysis shrimp on the coral and that will often make it open up. If you feed it a couple times a week it will fatten right up, and grow quite quickly.

Wow bang on ID Myka and that coral you have is pretty sweet looking :biggrin:! Have any photos with the feeding tent's out?
Levi

Thanks! I might...I will take a look. If not I will get a pic for you. It looks nuts with the feeders out.

[Nihoa]

hahah, brains > pot. defin agree with that!

thanks for the info myka, post that pic here if you find it.

[Myka]

I couldn't find the pic I thought I had of the Symphyllia with its feeder tentacles out, so I took some new ones. Sorry it took so long, but I rarely catch it with the feeders out:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/IMG_1025.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2220092.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug172009.jpg