Hydnophora rigida

[DonW]

Got a green one of these at the frag swap. I cant find any real info other than the ID gallery description. I know it doesnt like high flow. How about lighting? I cant firgure out if it needs to go down low or up high. Its very fragile so I'd like to get it glued into place.

Thanks
Don

 

[NaH2O]

Don, I think Anthony is out until next week, so I'll give it a shot. According to the "Aquarium Corals" book, Eric Borneman says

page 281
Hydnophora rigida prefers bright lighting and moderate currents

In Julian Sprung's "Corals" book (page 118), the bar graph on this coral indicates for lighting and water flow, 5 - 9 (0 = lowest, and 10 = highest strength).

Hope this helps.

 

[DonW]

Thanks Nikki. Dont you just hate it when the books give you such a broad range.
I guess I should put it up high and change the flow a little.


Don

 

[johnehr]

I dont know if they like bright lighting. I stuck mine (Im not sure what species of Hydnophora, but its bright green) at the top of my tank and the tips started to bleach out. I thought that I had to put it so high since I only have 400 watts of PC... Was this from too much light of maybe the heat from the lamps that high? I put it a little farther down. Ill let you know how it looks in a day or two.

 

[dnjan]

They seem to be fairly light-tolerant in my tank. I had one close to the top of the tank (under 175 6500 MH's) and when it got broke off due to a rockfall, it did quite well on the sandbed. (You might have the one I brought to the frag swap. It had been on the sandbed for at least a month, still looking as bright green as ever).

 

[CarlaW]

Don, Ive got my hydno about halfway up in the tank in some indirect light. Is this the coral you have?

 

[DonW]

Don, Ive got my hydno about halfway up in the tank in some indirect light. Is this the coral you have?

Thats the one! Beautiful fish Charlie. Ive got it right on top of a rock that is about half way. Sure seems to be happy.

Thanks
Don

 

[reedman]

Don, did you get that hydno from me? I have had mine at the bottom of the tank, top of the tank, and in the middle and it seemed happy in all places. Likes medium flow (enough to keep detritus off of it) and that's about it. Only thing I found that bothered it was very high flow.

-Reed

 

[DonW]

I got it from Paul (Fragman). I do agree it doesnt seem to care to much about light. It does not like high flow. Should be really nice after it grows out a bit. Does the base fully encrust??

Don

 

[CarlaW]

The base will encrust, and it will encrust to anything it touches.

 

[reedman]

Just make sure nothing else touches it. Very strong fighter. Like Tyson in his good days.

 

[DonW]

Just make sure nothing else touches it. Very strong fighter. Like Tyson in his good days.

That means I should keep my head out of the tank. I wouldnt want it to bite my ear off.

Don

 

[Elmo18]

That means I should keep my head out of the tank. I wouldnt want it to bite my ear off.

Don

LOL :lol:

- Elmo

 

[PrimalScream]

I have had several under 400 watt XM's at the bottom and mid level spots in my 135 with moderate current and it has done well for me over the last 2 years. As mentioned earlier it will encrust over anything that it touches. It has short but very potent sweepers too, so keep some distance between it and other corals. It is pretty delicate and easily damaged if bumped

 

[Anthony Calfo]

Cheers, Don
[and thanks Nikki, et al. ]

I'm back home now and ready to go

to address some points:

- the reason for the broad range cited in some books is because some corals naturally occur over a (literally) broad range on the reef. Some species can be separated on the same reef by more than 60 feet! Without knowing where your specimen came from, one cannot say exactly what kind of params to apply

- which speaks to the issue John raises: proper acclimation. Without knowing where the coral came from, we must assume a low/common denominator for the species and aim conservatively low. Otherwise, a coral like Hydnophora that can easily live under MHs may bleach if not acclimated properly (slowly over several weeks pushed up the home-reef or simply with the "screen method" of some such to filter light for a couple of weeks). Such bleaching occurs with animals not QTed, not screened, and simply tossed in the top of a brightly lit aquarium.

The rest is true as stated above/beyond: Hydnophora specimens in the trade and remarkably hardy, aggressive and adaptable in the aquarium. Moderate to strong (random turbulent) water flow and moderate lighting gets my vote. I prefer heavy blue weighted MHs of moderate wattage or (better) fluorescent lights for most in this genera.

kindly,

Anthony