Reefer from Orang County, Ca
- Thread starter Curgan
- Start date
blue_eyes53813
Well-Known Member
Welcome to RS.. Thanks for sharing your tank with us... Your tank looks great...
Curgan
Member
Thanks Vicki, Just some info on my tank... its 55 gallon, with about 75 pounds of live rock that is CAKED with purple and red coraline... i have all sorts of zoa polyps, puprle star polyp things (that i cant find anywhere else online), green star polyps, neon green shrooms, green frilly shrooms, a blue stripped shroom, a few random LPS's, and one SPS ( which isnt doing so good cause my lighting SUX!!! I NEED to upgrade!!!), some soft corals( that i dont really know what they are), a bubble coral, a green flower pot that hosts my True percula... 
a pepermint shrimp, a cleaner shrimp, 20 hermits, 15 snails, 2 emerald crabs, a fighting conch, a pencil Urchin, 3 inch sand bed, a true percula, a yellow eyed tang, a pajama cardinal, a two tone wrasse, and a lawn mower blenny...
a pepermint shrimp, a cleaner shrimp, 20 hermits, 15 snails, 2 emerald crabs, a fighting conch, a pencil Urchin, 3 inch sand bed, a true percula, a yellow eyed tang, a pajama cardinal, a two tone wrasse, and a lawn mower blenny...
Sorry it took me so long to get back to this thread. First, on this ID
They're either Calvularia sp or Briareum sp. My guess would be Briareum. The difference is that the Clavularia are usually "loosely" connected at the bottom (almost like a vine), where Briareum sp forms an encrusting "mat" - usually flexible, often purple.
They're often mis-named, and Briareum is often referred to as Pachyclavularia.
Okay, as far as the Linckia, I wouldn't say they are "hard' to care for, but there are a couple important things to know about them. First, they are extremely sensitive to salinity and temperature fluctuation. You really need to make sure you buy one from a reputable place who has acclimated it properly. They require a drip acclimation over several hours. Once acclimated, you have to be sure to avoid any sudden changes in temp or salinity (be cautious with water changes, always have a backup heater, etc).
The other thing is that nobody truly understands exactly what they eat. It is some type of micro-algae/microorganism on live rock. They will not accept direct feedings. For this reason, they do best in a large, well established, mature tank with a lot of live rock. Even given that environment, they almost always tend to die fairly quickly. Our system was a 180g display tank with over 200 lbs of live rock. The linckia was healthy and thrived for a about three years, then during it's fourth year, it slowly shrunk and wasted away, only to one day dissapear into the rockwork and never return.
They are beautiful creatures. If you've got a large, mature tank, I'd say they are worth it, and might have a better chance if you have the ability to change out or add pieces of live rock over time.
HTH,
They're either Calvularia sp or Briareum sp. My guess would be Briareum. The difference is that the Clavularia are usually "loosely" connected at the bottom (almost like a vine), where Briareum sp forms an encrusting "mat" - usually flexible, often purple.
They're often mis-named, and Briareum is often referred to as Pachyclavularia.
Okay, as far as the Linckia, I wouldn't say they are "hard' to care for, but there are a couple important things to know about them. First, they are extremely sensitive to salinity and temperature fluctuation. You really need to make sure you buy one from a reputable place who has acclimated it properly. They require a drip acclimation over several hours. Once acclimated, you have to be sure to avoid any sudden changes in temp or salinity (be cautious with water changes, always have a backup heater, etc).
The other thing is that nobody truly understands exactly what they eat. It is some type of micro-algae/microorganism on live rock. They will not accept direct feedings. For this reason, they do best in a large, well established, mature tank with a lot of live rock. Even given that environment, they almost always tend to die fairly quickly. Our system was a 180g display tank with over 200 lbs of live rock. The linckia was healthy and thrived for a about three years, then during it's fourth year, it slowly shrunk and wasted away, only to one day dissapear into the rockwork and never return.
They are beautiful creatures. If you've got a large, mature tank, I'd say they are worth it, and might have a better chance if you have the ability to change out or add pieces of live rock over time.
HTH,
Curgan
Member
Thanks for the info teri!!! 
Truth be told, i had a linka for a few months and it must of been eating cause it was pooping up a storm! but after about three months i found it curled up and cross-legged on the substrate. :smack: I was wondering what went wrong, it very well could of been either temp. or SG, change.
As for the purple star polyps, they seem to be a cross of the two sp. they are really simular in size and shape to green star polyps, but have the "hairy like fans" of the clove Calvularia sp. what ever they are i enjoy them and the spread really fast... :bouncer:
Truth be told, i had a linka for a few months and it must of been eating cause it was pooping up a storm! but after about three months i found it curled up and cross-legged on the substrate. :smack: I was wondering what went wrong, it very well could of been either temp. or SG, change. As for the purple star polyps, they seem to be a cross of the two sp. they are really simular in size and shape to green star polyps, but have the "hairy like fans" of the clove Calvularia sp. what ever they are i enjoy them and the spread really fast... :bouncer:
Here's some good information on both Clavularia / Briareum. If the polyps are "feathery" - they are more than likely Clavularia.
Saltcorner Guest Article: James Fatherree: The Stoloniferans: Clove Polyps, Star Polyps, and Pipe Organ Corals
Saltcorner Guest Article: James Fatherree: The Stoloniferans: Clove Polyps, Star Polyps, and Pipe Organ Corals