Other than acros...

[reefnroll]

I have a couple of reasonably mature corals in my tank that have become more or less set dressing for the ever-popular Acropora. No matter how well (or not) my Acropora or fanciful Monitpora are doing, these corals seem to march on, holding the reef together. For that reason they are no less interesting (to me!) nor less important to my reef. When visitors come by, most never comment on these corals, and almost no one ever asks for frags. I thought I'd give my set-dressers their due, and hope others will post shots and information about their favorite backdrop corals as well.

Here's one of my very first sps. This is Pachyseris rugosa, I believe. It was about 1.5"x3" when I got it about 3 years ago. Today it is wrapped around my overflow, and encrusting along the glass... maybe 5"x10"?

 

[reefnroll]

A detail shot...

...Just for fun. The color of this coral doesn't really translate well in these shots. It's super bright green.

 

[NateHanson]

Lovely Bec,

I've got a tiny green Pavona sp. frag that I absolutely love. Can't wait for it to grow out like your Pachyseris!

 

[wrassefan]

Sure Rebecca....like I don't already feel like my camera skills are lacking. Beautiful as usual...

 

[dad300]

Great shots!! I have something similar in my tank. I'm not sure what it is but...I was thinking pavona.. seeing yours I wonder...
Nate do you have a shot of your pavona?

 

[NateHanson]

No I don't Kevin. It's pretty new, and it's small (about the size of a quarter). If I get a chance to snap a shot I'll put it up here.

 

[jmkeary]

bec nice stuff

I have been trying hard to find different corals to diversify my tank right now i would say 1/2 are acros 1/4 montis and 1/4 misc

although i don't have a Pachyseris rugosa i do have povona, Cyphastrea Decadia, echinophyllia, and afew i have forgotten what they are other than not monti or acro

 

[dad300]

Heres a pic of what I have. Its not the greatest I still haven't figured out this camera to my liking. My next vacation. I think I'll play with it some.

 

[NateHanson]

My pavona has rounder, smoother edges than that Kevin.
(by "my pavona" I should really say "James' Pavona" Thanks James!)

Nate

 

[dad300]

it's weird. It's definately hard but the edges of it seem to float in the flow of the tank. it also is flourescent green under actinics. I love it its doubled in size since I got the rock. I think it needs to mature some more before I (noob that I am) can tell what it is.

 

[NateHanson]

Yeah, the pavona's the same way. It looks all hard, but when the polyps are out the entire surface waves a bit in the current.

 

[jmkeary]

nate my povona is almost healed from the piece i broke off for yours. has yours healed at all?

 

[NateHanson]

I glued the broken edge to a plug, so I can't really say how it's healing. Doesn't look like it's encrusted much yet, but it's certainly looking nice

Do you mean that the broken patch on yours has been almost completely grown-over on your colony? That's pretty fast!

 

[reefnroll]

More photos!

Thanks guys. I started taking shots of these corals after realizing that most need to be severely cut back... so I wanted a record before the big chopping.

I've got Pavona and what I think dad300's coral could also be... which is a type of encrusting Psammocora sp... maybe this one?
http://whelk.aims.gov.au/coralsearch/html/301-400/Species pages/332.htm

Mine is encrusting all over the left side of my tank... hard to get a shot of. If you get a slightly clearer shot of that one, I could be more sure... but that looks like it could be either Pavona or Psammocora. They can look similar when small, but Pavona is usually a little more fleshy all over, and slightly more plating (generally) when it matures.

jmkeary - Post some photos of those corals!

Here's my Cyphastrea decadia... doing pretty well after about 10 months in my tank. This is getting more attention from visitors as it finally begins to settle in and stretch out.

 

[TheUltimateNoob]

woah. interesting growth pattern.

 

[jmkeary]

wow how big did it start and how big is it now? mine is 2 months and starting to grow well. I have mine at teh bottom of my 72 was wondering if it is a good spot where is yours in relation to the light?

you will have to let me know when you start trimming would love to get more non-acro/monti corals i think the tank is healthier with greater diveristy.

 

[reefnroll]

See that little branch that's jutting off at about 8:00? That was the size of my original frag... about 3/8"-1/2."... maybe a little larger, but that was all that was actually alive on the piece I got when it reached me. I prayed over that thing for months before it seemed stable. Its in a spot now that's halfway up the rocks... under 250/10K lights with VHO actinics... and medium flow. The placement was supposed to be experimental because I couldn't figure out where it would be happiest... but the thing encrusted the main structure before I would decide where I really wanted it to live, so I am hesitant to disturb it.
The little colony stands just about 2 1/4" or so.

b

 

[jmkeary]

maybe mine is to low have to move it up

 

[reefnroll]

FWIW -
I don't think mine is growing any faster now than it did when I had it on the sand. I think it just takes a little while to get started... and decent (but not strong) flow around it.

b

 

[jmkeary]

Bec

here are pics of the corals thesecond one i am not sure what it is
the first is a 2 month old frag of Cyphastrea
Decadia
the second i don't know what it is
the third is povona
the last is Hot Pink Echinophyllia