Staghorn Coral

Oooohhhhhhhhhh take in it's beauty!!! Newest hard coral addition - the Staghorn Coral! ^_^ Let's hope I don't kill it!

that's very pretty!!! Congrats. I wish I could keep sticks!!!!

Nice green color. What do the polyps look like and does it put out sweepers at night?

we need polyps!! hehehe

it kinda looks like a branching hydnophora too to me - will be nice to see it as it grows out

Originally Posted by estanoche

we need polyps!! hehehe

it kinda looks like a branching hydnophora too to me - will be nice to see it as it grows out

Thats what it looks like to me as well. Congrats on the purchase. Good luck with it.

Originally Posted by chris&barb

Nice green color. What do the polyps look like and does it put out sweepers at night?

Uh...polyps?? And sweepers???? I have no idea O_o I traded an extra mini maxi I had for this piece that the reefer called a Staghorn coral. Is that not what I have? I am hard-coral-identification-illiterate.

Originally Posted by estanoche

we need polyps!! hehehe

it kinda looks like a branching hydnophora too to me - will be nice to see it as it grows out

Yeah, I've never seen any "polyps" on it yet. Just this nice green, which as luck would have it, IS SLIMING!!! I give up with hard corals.....

ohhh sliming is a good sign when it doesnt slime, and still has no polyps, thats when you are in trouble

give it time, and if it starts to RTN on you, pull it out and superglue around the edges where the skin is sloughing off, that will stop the RTN in its tracks... these corals are resilient, save 1 millimeter and it will grow back

Staghorn coral is a nickname most often heard when the vendor doesn't know the real name, lol... But either way, it's only a common name. Horn coral is another...

Yours is a hydnophora.

Here's some deets... Don't let the pic in the article confuse you, cause the pic they have isnt very clear, but it is the same cora.

Hydnophora

Originally Posted by Tizzo

Staghorn coral is a nickname most often heard when the vendor doesn't know the real name, lol... But either way, it's only a common name. Horn coral is another...

Yours is a hydnophora.

Here's some deets... Don't let the pic in the article confuse you, cause the pic they have isnt very clear, but it is the same cora.

Hydnophora

Yeah, this is the third type of "staghorn coral" I'd seen, and they all look quite different

Thank you for the link! I will have to do some more research before I try again. I'm just so nervous now with any SPS that isn't a monti, just because of my track record with them.

Btw, what does RTN stand for? You're the second person to throw the term at me, and I have no idea what it is O_o

RTN = rapid tissue neucrosis

The tissue (or skin) of a coral sloughs off very quickly. Can be complete skinless within 24 hours.

Originally Posted by Tizzo

RTN = rapid tissue neucrosis

The tissue (or skin) of a coral sloughs off very quickly. Can be complete skinless within 24 hours.

Oh man, that's exactly what happened with this coral, too

Wish there was a place that collected skeletons of dead coral to use for bone grafts. Heck, they'd be able to make a LOT from all the frickin' SPS I've killed >.<

Sorry to hear that you lost the Hydnophora! That really sucks. On the other hand, they're a MEAN coral, so maybe for the best!

On the name of it, are you sure it wasn't told to you, that it was an Elkhorn coral? That's a typical nickname, for branching Hydnophora.

"Staghorn" refers to the growth pattern, of many "branching" Acropora corals, but can also refer to the growth pattern of other SPS.

Originally Posted by returnofsid

...On the name of it, are you sure it wasn't told to you, that it was an Elkhorn coral? That's a typical nickname, for branching Hydnophora...

I'm pretty sure he said Staghorn, but knowing me and my SPS-illiteracy, he did say Elkhorn and I remembered it as Staghorn

I'm curious though, what makes them a mean coral? May deter me from putting one in my future 72 gallon if it will take out any coral near it

They are mean because they have long sweepers and a strong sting. They are fine to keep but you have to keep them away from other corals. Sounds easy but they will grow fast and the sweepers can get 6"+ long

ohhh I had always meant to take a video of it but never did before I got rid of my hydno....

I could drop a small frag of say, montipora on the coral, and within 10 minutes, the entire frag would be engulfed in the hydnophoras sweeper tentacles, stripping all the flesh off - it is a fast killer!!!

Oh man...looks like I WON'T be investing in one anytime soon then. Not until I'm stinkin' rich and have like a 1200 gallon tank. Then I can give it its own corner all to itself, and still have allllllll the other corals I want ^_^

I had an encrusting variety and a branching variety. They'd literally EAT any coral they could reach, except Xenia. They both actually let Xenia grow ON it, with no issues at all.

Originally Posted by returnofsid

I had an encrusting variety and a branching variety. They'd literally EAT any coral they could reach, except Xenia. They both actually let Xenia grow ON it, with no issues at all.

Yikes!! Maybe it was the Fates then that killed this coral, since it would have nuked about 5 zoanthid colonies that were near it O_o That would have been very, very bad!