I need an I.D. please

[josh88]

Ok so buddy Krish went the extra mile for me, to try and ID this for me. He said finger coral, but that I should ask the experts. And I'm not even sure I'm posting to the right place but here's what I've found

My tank has only been up and running for 3 weeks, and I have 3 astrina snails, 3 turbo, 2 hermits, and 1 emerald crab that I rescued from my buddy, and now these guys apparently

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[josh88]

Oh sorry about the quailty of pics, It's from my cell.

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[Herefishyfishy]

The polyps you are looking at are referred to as Purple star polyp coral.

Many species in the encrusting type matt corals of clavularia including Pachyclavularia.

I have many rocks covered with three different types.

 

[josh88]

Ah... Thanks man. Do you know what they feed on. My friend said detrius? Care to share some pics

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[Herefishyfishy]

Looking closely at your's, they could be any of the Brairiums including corky sea fingers. All of this group are photosynthetic so good lighting is enough. They also are filter feeders so yes, floating fishfood, excrement, and detritus get gobbled up.

Here is a shot of my Purple star polyps taken by a friend of mine, now out of the hobby

 

[SaltwaterNoobs]

+1 on purple star polyps, I have some in one of my tanks, too. The spread quite well, too, so I'd keep that in mind when you are placing/gluing more coral in your tank. A lot of people put their star polyps on a "island" by itself so it doesn't spread and take over other rock and coral

 

[leena2674]

Also, if they do start to encroach too much on other things, they are fairly easy to 'peel' from the rock and trim. Many people use mats of them to camouflage pieces of equipment in the tank.

 

[josh88]

That's very cool. I do think if I see them gain to much area in my tank I will move the rock from other rock. Thanks for The chime in's

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[kevinpo]

Hello,
I moved this thread to here because the coral in question is a soft coral not a SPS coral. The coral is most likely from the genus Pachyclavularia and I would guess the species to be P. violacea. It does best in low to moderate light (50-250 PAR) and low to moderate flow. Can be fast growing and a slightly aggressive.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[josh88]

Interesting, low light, I have them under a 150w 12k double ended Halid. And They are in a high flow area. Or medium flow. They are what You said I looked up the name. So what would low light be, and low flow?

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[Herefishyfishy]

They will handle any flow and any lighting. If Purple star polyps, they are not peel-able as the thickness of paint with spacing between mantle areas. Most of the other Brairiums (Pachyclavularia sp.) are thick mantled such as Green star polyps.

Interesting, low light, I have them under a 150w 12k double ended Halid. And They are in a high flow area. Or medium flow. They are what You said I looked up the name. So what would low light be, and low flow?

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[kevinpo]

So what would low light be, and low flow?

Low light is about 50 PAR which equals HO florescent lighting at 20"-25". Low flow is little to no polyp movement. At 700+ PAR (700 PAR is a 400W halide driven by a 430W ballast at 15"-20") you get little polyp extension and slow growth.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[josh88]

Ok so at 400+ watts. Not extension and no growth, but I'm runnint only 150w, with a ballast that allows me to go up to 250watts. And there is def. Movement in my water column. Lol. Probably about 32 times the flow rate.

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