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How difficult to keep pipe organ coral?
- Thread starter dz6t
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RichConley
Attack of the Killer Cute
Hi Dong, I've never kept one, but I do remember something that Calfo/Borneman (can't remember which) said at Imac.
Pipe organs are actually a softie, and have flesh down all the way through the skeleton (unlike LPS that just have the surface basically). One of the major issues is that collectors tend to just bust a chunk of rock off and dont go deep enough, so they dont get the matt part of the coral, just the heads, and if thats the case, theres nothing you can do to keep it alive.
Borneman/Calfo said to look at the bottom of the coral, and if it looks like rock, its ok, but if it looks like skeleton, its just going to die on you.
Pipe organs are actually a softie, and have flesh down all the way through the skeleton (unlike LPS that just have the surface basically). One of the major issues is that collectors tend to just bust a chunk of rock off and dont go deep enough, so they dont get the matt part of the coral, just the heads, and if thats the case, theres nothing you can do to keep it alive.
Borneman/Calfo said to look at the bottom of the coral, and if it looks like rock, its ok, but if it looks like skeleton, its just going to die on you.
My experience has been 50/50. I had one many years ago that grew for a while, then died unexpectedly, for no reason I could determine. I was still kind of a newbie back then. I know that Tropicorium was selling them for many years tank raised.
About 3 years ago I acquired one when a friend was shutting down a tank. It was in poor condition, but recovered in time. It about tripled in size since that time, and about 6 months ago I fragged it out because I could no longer keep it in my 400 G tank because my Navarchus angel decided it was tasty. Anyhow, I still have pieces of it in three different tanks that are doing okay. I think it needs pretty strong light to grow well. I'd say 175-250 W MH is a good idea.
This coral is best in a tank that does not have hair algae problems as hair algae can get all tangled up in it, and cause it to open less frequently, and go into decline.
There are some really nice color morphs of this, some have really white polyps, or green polyps. For mine, unfortunately, the polyps are just a bit green.
About 3 years ago I acquired one when a friend was shutting down a tank. It was in poor condition, but recovered in time. It about tripled in size since that time, and about 6 months ago I fragged it out because I could no longer keep it in my 400 G tank because my Navarchus angel decided it was tasty. Anyhow, I still have pieces of it in three different tanks that are doing okay. I think it needs pretty strong light to grow well. I'd say 175-250 W MH is a good idea.
This coral is best in a tank that does not have hair algae problems as hair algae can get all tangled up in it, and cause it to open less frequently, and go into decline.
There are some really nice color morphs of this, some have really white polyps, or green polyps. For mine, unfortunately, the polyps are just a bit green.
Actually, I disagree with the info from Calfo/Borneman (not the first time, lol). IME, really, only the upper sections of the coral are alive. If you were to cut just the top 2 inches off I think you are likely to get the living polyps.
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