Pipe organ/Tubipora musica

Delphinus · #1 05-09-2002, 02:06 AM

It is in fact an octocoral (a softey). Here is what Delbeek and Sprung have to say about it in "The Reef Aquarium, Vol. II" (page 180):

<font size = "1">(Shameless reprinted without permission, please don't sue me, Julian and Charles!!)</font>

Quote:

Colour: red to maroon skeleton with white, gray, brown or green polyps.

Distinguishing features: Skeleton is distinctive, being composed of long tubes with connecting terraces. The polyps of the different forms may easily be confused with the different Clavularia spp. and Pachyclavularia (Briarium) spp. [...]

[...]

Aquarium care: Different forms have greater or less demanding requirements. The easiest form to keep has large polyps that are indistinguishable from the larger polyped Clavularia.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">So, there you go. I'm now 100% convinced what I've given you is pipe organ, and not clove polyps (although one could easily forgive the person who told me otherwise, and understand why they thought so).

In "A Practical Guide To Corals For The Reef Aquarium" (page 38), Puterbaugh and Borneman describe this coral as taking a wide range of lighting (from moderately low all the way to full intensity, a "3 to 10" on their scale); water flow "low to high"; aggressiveness "low"; difficulty of care "moderate" (a 4 on their 1 to 10 scale).

I've had this coral in my tank for ... oh, I don't remember exactly anymore but it has been at least 2 or 3 years. Like other corals it hasn't appreciated being touched by mushrooms, but has basically grown in directions away from mushrooms, so it has been very hardy. In my tank it was on the side that would get direct sunlight in the winter; in the summer when no sunlight hits the tank the only light it would get is from the tank lighting and it was in fact the farthest away from the light sources that it could be in my tank. It is also in an area of medium flow in my tank.

I hope this information you may find useful. Have fun with the stuff and please take good care of it.