[weez1959]

Last week I traded in my bubble coral because he was being a bully, he'd extend his tentacles about 8" and just stick them to the coral nearest to him and hold tight. I decided I needed the extra room for a blue acro.

Anyways now I'm seeing something completely different. I think it's the frog spawn. I'm seeing tiny little clumps of bright green balls (looks like 4-5 of them together) sitting on other corals. Today I found one on my ricordia and I had to pull it off with tweezers. Is this how these guys duke it out? It wasn't connected to anything, it was all by itself. Is this frog spawn warfare?

[mad_dog01]

Sounds like you have bubble algea

[returnofsid]

Doesn't sound like anything I've ever seen a Frogspawn do. With your Bubble Coral, was it getting a lot of flow? Too much flow can make them put out longer stinging tentacles. Also, if they sense other corals too near, they'll attempt to attack them sometimes.

[CSeaSee]

Valonia won't attach to coral directly, it'll attach to the substrate around it- is this what happened? Any chance you can get a picture and post it up? I hear they're worth a thousand words... :-)

[returnofsid]

CSeaSee, can I add one more requirement to your signature...sorry for interrupting the thread....you also need an infinite control of the great desire to KILL!!!! lol.

[weez1959]

Originally Posted by CSeaSee

Valonia won't attach to coral directly, it'll attach to the substrate around it- is this what happened? Any chance you can get a picture and post it up? I hear they're worth a thousand words... :-)

Ya I feel so stupid, I should of gotten a pic first but I panicked when I saw one on my new ricordia, especially since I only have one button!

Anyways it's not bubble algae, and yes I've seen a few attached to the CC near my frog spawn but now twice on a coral and that's a NO-NO

They are the exact same color as the frog spawn and the whole thing (4-5 polyps) is about 1/2 the size of a pencil eraser...

Should I keep removing these little buggers?

[klasikb]

Do you have a fish that could be ripping them off the colony?

[weez1959]

I don't think so, I've never seen any fish hanging around it either...

[CSeaSee]

It might be possible that this is your frogspawn... can you move the mushroom farther away and see what happens? Are any of your other corals affected? Also, your frogspawn could be sending out colonies which move around your tank with the currents, but can't settle down and attach to anything (because this is an aquarium, not the ocean), but when they bump into your ricordea, the ricordea latches on to it. So, it could be just that your ricordea is acting as flypaper, so-to-speak.

And yes, if not to kill, certainly to hurl sharp objects... lol :-)

[charlie]

Louise, if you could take a pic and post it, it would really help a bunch, is that possible?

[weez1959]

Originally Posted by charlie

Louise, if you could take a pic and post it, it would really help a bunch, is that possible?

possible but not until it happens again, right now all is quiet on the frontier

[weez1959]

Originally Posted by CSeaSee

Are any of your other corals affected? Also, your frogspawn could be sending out colonies which move around your tank with the currents, but can't settle down and attach to anything (because this is an aquarium, not the ocean), but when they bump into your ricordea, the ricordea latches on to it. So, it could be just that your ricordea is acting as flypaper, so-to-speak.

That's what I'm thinking too, it did attach to another coral which I don't have to name of. I took that one off too. As soon as I see this again I will post a pic.
By the way anyone know what this coral is called?
It's green under actinic lights. Kind of reminds me of moss...

[charlie]

Originally Posted by weez1959

possible but not until it happens again, right now all is quiet on the frontier

OK, your job for the rest of the day is to watch your tank until it happens again!!! Sounds like a very tough assignment, I know.

Your pic looks like porites possibly???

[weez1959]

I've been watching for the past 2 hours and nothing has happened!

I've added the actinic shot, not that it makes much difference...

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by weez1959

They are the exact same color as the frog spawn and the whole thing (4-5 polyps) is about 1/2 the size of a pencil eraser...

Should I keep removing these little buggers?

It sounds like polyp bailout, a form of asexual reproduction.

[weez1959]

I guess that's a good thing as long as they don't land on my other corals

[kevinpo]

Your coral is most likely a member of the Pavona Genus. Perhaps P. explanulata or P. decussata. Pavona spp. can be found in most reef environments and are very adaptable to a wide range of lighting, flow, and water parameters. When first introduced to the home aquarium it should be slowly acclimated to high light tanks. I have seen this coral bleach when exposed too quickly to high light environments.

IMO an interesting coral and a nice addition to a stony coral tank

Regards,
Kevin

[weez1959]

Thanks Kevin,
I've had it a couple of months now and luckily it never bleached...

[clemenomea]

Hey- My frog spawn did the same thing oncenearly 6 months ago- the tenticles reached a new acro and a few stuck there even after the rest of the frogspawn retracted. It did seem to be some sort of frog spawn defense I moved the acro and no more porblems.... until.... a few days ago I noticed one of those tenticles stuck to a peice of rock right below it next to my hammer coral. This time I had just moved everything to a new tank so perhaps more stress related but all corals still appear very healthy. Interesting none-the-less. I will be watching to see what others have to say

Cheers,
Tracy

[weez1959]

Well at least I'm not alone!
The only difference is I didn't see anything extended...
I'm keeping an eye out a bit more now so it probably won't happen again