Black coral? What about Crimson?

[martygreene]

Are there any corals that are black in color? What about crimson? I've done a bit of googling, but everything I find about black coral is either jewelry or looks yellow.

 

[NaH2O]

I'm not sure if there are any corals that would be naturally black - none that I can think of off the top of my head. The symbiotic algae residing in the coral tissue contain pigments that flouresce certain wavelengths and utilize others inorder to make food for the coral. Also, the lighting that is used will effect the color we see.

 

[martygreene]

Hrm. Soo... would that mean that there IS a way to have "black" coral, albeit via algae, or no?

Why is it the colors that I actualyl like don't exist in nature?

 

[Curtswearing]

Well you can have black tubastrea if you have excess time on your hands. I had orange tubastrea and they are a royal pain in the bottom to feed because they don't host dinoflagellates...you have to feed EACH AND EVERY polyp to prevent starvation...what a pain!!!. I gave my tubastrea away because I was sick of their very high maintenance.

There are also black encrusting sponges which are also an pain in the bottom because they smother coralline algae, corals, and other sessile invertebrates.

 

[mattseattle]

speaking of black sponges - i noticed that in a part of my tank there are white, red and black sponges. i thought they were good for a tank. do i need to worry about having these types of sponges in my tank? if so how do i get rid of them?

 

[Curtswearing]

Matt,
Black sponges are an annoyance to me. Who knows...maybe other people like them. It's just that in MY tank, they grew over a lot of things I wanted to keep. I'm not willing to say that black encrusting sponges are all bad but I am willing to say that I don't like them.

 

[martygreene]

hrm... are sponges something you can frag? If so, and I get this tank up and cycled soon, or at the very least find someone willing to house it for me for a while, I might be interested in some of that black sponge.

edited to add: I just googled the black tubastrea, WOW! That is exactly what I'm looking for appearance wise. So, you have to feed each one individually... I can handle that I think- is there anything in particular that these like to eat?

(the image I found was here, is that typical or atpyical appearance and color? I couldn't find many other photos)

 

[Curtswearing]

That's typical at first and atypical if you are willing to be dedicated for a while. That pic is them when they are in a closed position as they normally only feed at night. However, the can be "trained" to stay open during the day and all of their tentacles will show during the day as well. A google of feeding caps +tubastrea should show you how to do this.

 

[plumber_bob]

I've seen some Black zoanthids .

 

[martygreene]

I've seen some Black zoanthids .

really? where?

 

[Alice]

Curt,

I'm with you; feeding my "Tuba" got to be a PITB after awhile. I loved the way it looked but ack, what a chore. Not to mention, that tank was low-flow lagoonal and a nice patch of hair algae developed around the tubastrea.

martygreen, if you're really going for looks rather than a natural environment, maybe you should look at some of the synthetic corals. Pretty low maintenance, too, I hear.

 

[Curtswearing]

LOL Alice....

I have never researched prices with the following company because I'm guessing they cost big $$$'s. However, they are worth a look if you wanted to go fake. They say they will color the coral any way you like and because their fake corals are made from molds from real corals, they should look better.

Fake corals made from molds of real corals


PS....I think your link had this labeled wrong. Octopus corals are Tubastrea diaphana I think.

 

[mattseattle]

i have to say after looking at that site that fake corals well look fake. i wasn't impressed at all. maybe they look better once you add water or something.

here is a prime example :

 

[martygreene]

I agree- I think they look very fake as well. I'm willing to take the extra time and make the extra effort to see if I can do this. If I can I think it will be quite stunning. If not, then I'll do something else with it.

 

[Alice]

I know for a fact that the Walt Smith synthetics fooled a few "experts." :lol:

Walt's everlast corals

 

[mattseattle]

yeah, a few of the Walt Smith corals do look real but I'd say 90% of them don't. At least from the pictures I looked at. For the price and the up keep of having to keep them clean I wouldn't want them but I'm sure some do.

I liked this picture

 

[Llarian]

Hi Lily.

Like Nikki already mentioned, most corals use a symbiotic photosynthetic algae for providing nutrients to themselves. Black isn't a particularly good color for absorbing light energy.

One thing you might consider is a fish-only tank with liverock and focus on the fish and inverts that will have the colors you're looking for. For a coral tank, you're pretty much guaranteed to get blues, greens, purples, oranges, etc if its well kept and healthy, which obviously every reef should be.

-Dylan

 

[martygreene]

Hrm... perhaps... but you know me- stubborn as all get-out.

I'm tempted by the idea of black sponges, the black corals that I found the photo of, maroon corallite algae...

must...try...*twitch*

 

[MtnDewMan]

Those synthetic corals may not look completely real, but they sure do look cool ... Something fun to put on my desk at work maybe

 

[Alice]

Hrm... perhaps... but you know me- stubborn as all get-out.

I'm tempted by the idea of black sponges, the black corals that I found the photo of, maroon corallite algae...

must...try...*twitch*

You might want to look at the black Tahitian sand.