AHA! Pictures, coral??

[kathywithbirds]

OK, found the #*&%% camera.
Started a new thread for this one.

Is this Organ pipe coral? And what is in the hole in the middle there?

 

[kathywithbirds]

Thanks for any help... including why the white box around the image is so big!

 

[XBwlr]

I cropped out some of the white for you.

It kind of looks like green star polyps to me.
Mine grow on a purple mat like that.

Is that how it always looks?

 

[kathywithbirds]

It has so far... but I've just noticed white things growing out of the ends of the purple bulbs that look kind of like feather dusters, a bunch of them, mostly towards the back where the powerhead is.
AND I found a new orange colored feather duster.
They're all pretty darn small, there's 5 lbs of LR in my 5g nano with 2 fish in there. I tend to think I've been overfeeding a hair but I'm on top of water changes and there's these tiny round worms that someone else said are good.

 

[DrHank]

Definitely nor pipe organ. I agree that it looks like green star polyps. When polyps extend they are in a five arm configuration with a central button. color varies from brown to neon green.

 

[kathywithbirds]

:verymad: :evileye: :willis:

@^%^*)) sorry I curse alot.
I have a great pic of the polyps but I can't seem to upload it -- it's too big and I can't shrink it with the stupid paint program that's the only picture program I have. And I'm pretty darn good with photoshop!!!
Any suggestions?

The white things growing out of the purple aren't 5-armed, it's more like 7 to 9. There's an arm growing out, which stops and branches into a star-like construction.

 

[kathywithbirds]

White flowering pipe organ coral!!!!!!!

Zoanthus Polyp Corals, Protopalythoa polyps for Reef Aquariums - Aquatic Connection

the pic is far down but that's EXACTLY what it looks like!!! I'm jumping up and down!!!

 

[XBwlr]

Here's a link to a free edit / viewer program.

IrfanView - Official Homepage - one of the most popular viewers worldwide

 

[kathywithbirds]

Thanks Bwlr. I'll try that. Have to get approval from the spouse to download, but it looks promising.

So if I have pipe organ coral, (tubipora) what do I feed it? I've got daphnia and krill, and it's funny the polyps just popped up after I fed both of those to the damsels. Will those suffice?

 

[kathywithbirds]

OK, I'm eating my words, now I'm thinking doc is right and it's the green star polyps -- I went back to the LFS today and saw examples of both the green star polyps and the organ pipe, and it could be either.

 

[elegance coral]

Organ pipe has small hard tubes that it comes out of. Green star polups are soft, grow in sheets like yours and has 8 tentacles on each polup. What you have is not a hard coral like Organ pipe. It is a soft octocoral. Most likely GSP.

 

[michael_cb_125]

I have a Pipe Organ Coral, and GSP. What you have is definately GSP. Pipe Organ Coral has a hard RED skeleton that is in the formation of tubes. The GSP grow in purple sheets just like what you have there. I think that both the POC and GSP are easy to maintain. The GSP can grow really fast and take over, but the Pipe Organ will not.

 

[Kirblit]

Definitly star polyps, Pipe organ grows out like an organ, forms tubes and platforms as it goes, whereas star polyps grow in mats. You don't have to worry about feeding it, just give it light and it will grow faster than you will believe. If you look at my photo gallery I have pics of my pipe organs in my 12g.

 

[DrHank]

Once again, I stand corrected. It is indeed an octocoral. Some days I can't even count. I'm sure that it is GSP. The flat purple base is a give away. GSP are also farily heavy toxin producers as well. Not to worry, all that means is that frequent water changes are necessary and you should be running carbon to help pull the toxin out of the water.

They do grow like weeds. I had a 1" square four months ago and now it's completely covering a 4"+ rock.

 

[lcstorc]

Once again, GSP are also farily heavy toxin producers as well. Not to worry, all that means is that frequent water changes are necessary and you should be running carbon to help pull the toxin out of the water.

They do grow like weeds. I had a 1" square four months ago and now it's completely covering a 4"+ rock.

Really? (I guess it has to be or you wouldn't have said it. )
I have never heard this before. What is the toxin likely to do to the tank or inhabitants? I have a large rock covered with it and a couple of small patches. I only run carbon occasionally and am wondering if this could have been part of my recent trouble with my LPS.

 

[kathywithbirds]

Toxins? Oh boy.
So if I've got a 5g setup with a built-in mechanical filter in the hood (powerhead with just foam doing the filtering) can I plop in a filter baggie of carbon once in a while? how often?
Thanks for the heads up.

 

[BigAl07]

That foam wheel thingie can give you problems if it's not replaced/thoroughly cleaned often! I have what sounds just like that for my FW tank. That BIO wheel will produce more Nitrates than you can shake a stick at.


As for carbon, I run it for 1 week straight out of 4.

I had NO idea that GSP were toxic in any way! I'm off to read up on it because I have a good deal of it in BOTH tanks!!

Allen

 

[lcstorc]

Yes you can just put the carbon in a bag and put it in the back of the tank. Be sure to rinse it first preferably in RO water. Also be sure you have decent flow through the bag so it can do it's work.

 

[kathywithbirds]

OK, thanks Lynn!

And no, it's not a bio wheel, those things give me a headache. It's a real simple water intake that just gets squirted out a flute-like tube with holes every quarter- or half-inch (it's about 5 or 6 inches long) and that water just goes through a plain foam pad. All it's really doing is pushing water around.
I just changed the pad after 2 weeks, it was icky.

I ordered my teeny protein skimmer yesterday!

 

[lcstorc]

You should rinse or replace the foam pad very frequently so it does not produce nitrates from the yucky stuff it is pulling out. Most people who have them clean them twice a week.