first sps

**optical** · 04-30-2006, 10:23 PM

im so stoked! i just bought my first sps today!
its a bit larger than a frag and i was so excited that i totally forgot the name of it. i'll get a pic tomorrow. it blueish/brownish in color and really "fuzzy" looking. its a type of acropora though. just though id share that with everyone. ;;

**charlie** · 05-01-2006, 07:28 AM

Cool, why don't you get a pic, maybe we can help you with an ID!

**optical** · 05-01-2006, 05:21 PM

i think its a Pocillopora damicornis. need batteries for the camera so i cant get a pic until later tonight. it looks like it was fraged a few times before at the base and the remaining branches have no polyp extension toward the base, but nice extension on the upper parts. the exposed skeleton at the base is encrusted with coraline too. is that bad?
i saw you guys were talking about red bugs and stuff. is it common for corals to have diseases comming from lfs? i need to get a good book on sps and do more research, is julian sprungs book on coral a good one?

**optical** · 05-01-2006, 09:01 PM

hey charlie! got some pics for ya.
also, as an added bonus, heres a few more pics.

i was lucky to get such a good shot of the Tubastraea with such a crappy camera, it rarely opens up like that. i need a new camera...one with a macro.

**kevinpo** · 05-02-2006, 09:59 AM

Not bad pictures at all! Nice corals.

Regards,
Kevin

**ErYn** · 05-02-2006, 03:07 PM

great pics! ;;

**Ninong** · 05-02-2006, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by optical

i need to get a good book on sps and do more research...

I highly recommend this book!

**optical** · 05-02-2006, 07:56 PM

thanks Ninong, i just purchased that book on ebay!

still not sure what kind of sps that is....any ideas?

**charlie** · 05-03-2006, 07:22 AM

It does look like Pocillopora.
Nice pics, I sure like the Tubastrea!!!! How often do you feed it?

**Ninong** · 05-03-2006, 07:38 AM

Originally Posted by optical

thanks Ninong, i just purchased that book on ebay!

still not sure what kind of sps that is....any ideas?

You can definitely rule out the Family Acroporidae. I agree with Charlie that it appears to be in the Family Pocilloporidae, possibly Pocillopora damicornis. There are 17 species in the genus Pocillopora and some of them are quite similar.

Identifying a coral by a single picture is really just taking a guess. If I were betting money on it, I would bet that it's P. damicornis, but that's just my best guess.

It's really impossible to ID some corals, even popular ones like Montipora capricornis, from a photograph. All you can do is take a guess. Proper identification requires microscopic examination of cross sections of the skeleton.

**kevinpo** · 05-03-2006, 10:36 AM

It is very likely Pocillipora damicornis.

Regards,
Kevin

**optical** · 05-03-2006, 05:58 PM

thats what i thought ^ thanks for the conformation though.
i feed the tank with cyclopeese once every other day, but i only target fed the tubastrea one time. its too much to move it out from under the rock to feed it. even when i do, the polyps close back up, so now i just leave it in place and it opens up about once every 10 days when it senses the cyclopseese. i just hope im not starving it to death! i will point the power head towards it and place the food in the jet stream and it seems to blast it with food. its the best way.

**Ninong** · 05-04-2006, 05:35 PM

Originally Posted by optical

it opens up about once every 10 days when it senses the cyclopseese. i just hope im not starving it to death!

It won't survive very long at all if it's only opening up "about once every 10 days."

Check out Eric Borneman's recommendations on the care of Tubastrea here.

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