Species Guide

LPS Corals

Trachyphyllia geoffroyi I’ve had this piece since 1998 and it is still growing. The green is brilliant in pure actinic lighting. It prefers a sandy bottom and lower current. Its feeding tentacles extend at night; I feed the tank at night about once monthly.

Plerogyra spp. This hardy coral has been in the collection since 1999. I would like to trade it to someone; its sweeper tentacles do not allow for coral placement anywhere nearby. It eats voraciously and has grown quite a bit since purchase. It was also the familiar white color at purchase, but darkened due to stronger lighting. I may try to move it to a more shaded area to encourage the lighter color.

Trachyphyllia geoffroyi This specimen, introduced one month after the green morph, has never flourished, though kept in the same conditions. However, a daughter colony formed in the middle of the coral and has grown to the size of a dime. Another daughter has sprouted and its tiny trumpet-shaped form is barely visible under the bottom left lobe.

Caulastrea furcata Purchased in 2001, this LPS is attractive, but not more so than similar looking zoanthids, and also without the advantage of fast growth. The yellow spot is an encrusting sponge. This coral has been knocked over more than any other in the tank, no matter what placement is used.

Soft Corals

Actinodiscus spp.

A perennial favorite…with good reason. I started with a colony of five small discs and now have over 40, as well as donating to my bristleworm tank and to other hobbyists. I have both blue stripe and spotted. I’m willing to trade for red or pink morphs with other hobbyists in the area. Let me know! Email KNH

Rhodactis indosinensis
Ricordia yurna New as of 01.02, this discoid coral

Pterogorgia sp.

A captive-bred gorgonian: other than my LPS, all my corals are captive-bred. I was not as aware of the diversity of captive organisms when I started the hobby; now, almost every animal I buy is aquacultured. This little whip is just starting to develop a second branch.

Eunicea succinea

Another starter plug. This gorgonian has been slow-growing, but I didn’t use supplements in my 40G tank. I hope to see faster growth with my new system.

Capnella spp.

Two Capnella share a plug with a small Xenia sp. The plug has been in the system about one month (02.02) in this photo. All colonies show nice growth.

Inverts

Lysmata amboensis

I have three of these guys running around the tank. They provide more movement and interest, like fish, while cleaning up the house- including my fingers if my hand is in the tank! They spar with each other occasionally, but usually they are either picking at rocks or advertising their cleaning services.

Astraea tecta
Turbo sp.
Cerith sp.

And then there are the janitors. These snails keep all surfaces nearly algae-free. Some people also recommend tiny hermit crabs, but they tend to kill snails. Even with plenty of extra shells for the hermits, they killed over thirty snails, not even using the shells afterward. A rogue made it into my new tank and killed five snails in a month..

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