[smidoid]

Just for me folks (!) since I'm in stupid mode tonight. Can someone point out the difference between corals please?

I just discovered to my delight (I think) and shock that I've inherited some - at least I think that's what they are - that I thought were, ahurm, dead. Poking and prodding them did nothing at all, and then, just when I wasn't paying them any heed a couple of them sorta flowered! All are fairly small - one is barely 1/16" at a guess, but I can see an tiny orange "crown" on it.

This is surely the most exciting thing with LR - even the cured stuff I got.

However, I'd like the family to think that I'm really (really) smart and be able to say that's a ".....". Pictures to follow when the macro lens arrives (soon I hope).

I also have some soft "things" that look like chewing gum splats on pavement/sidewalk. Same sort of colour too. Any ideas?

Finally, I suspect I might have some of that nuisance stuff - Xenia (?) - my LFS calls it a glass coral and thinks it's OK to have (they sell it too - surprise, surprise!).

I read it's a nuisance and should be exterminated. Problem is - how do I tell that stuff from, well, something that's OK? For instance this thing seems to be able to retract some way into the rock - a bit like what we call "feather duster" worms here.

Suggestions as to how to identify said creatures gratefully received.

[optical]

probablly zoos, sponges, or feather dusters on the rocks. xenia is not a nuisance, its awesome...your probablly thinking of a type of anemone called aptasia. its brownish in color with a long stem and long pointy tentacles with pretty strong nematocysts "stinging cells". their not really a problem unless you see lots of them though. just keep them under controll, they can spread fast. you can search this site for related threads or post a pic of it. i think most will agree that its fun to identify corals and inverts here.

[smidoid]

It was aptasia - there's me showing me ignorance (thanks). It certainly looks like it may be aptasia (spot the newbie! LOL!). I'll keep an eye on it - especially now that I hear these things can roam around the tank! <eek>.

I'm guessing these orange (and red) things are some sort of hard coral - which is a shame because I'm only using flourescent light and everyone seems to agree that the need VHO lamps. Sadly, that's outside my running budget so whatever corals I do keep have to survive on a fairly low light.

Thanks for clearing the aptasia question; I know what to look out for now. Any help in indentifying the other critters is appreciated.