Balanophyllia
http://i352.photobucket.com/albums/r...G/IMG_4959.jpg
Parent colony http://i352.photobucket.com/albums/r...IMG_5000-1.jpg Polyp close up http://i352.photobucket.com/albums/r...G/IMG_5096.jpg New polyps forming Wanted to share a few pictures of my Balanophyllia on the NPS forum. Balanophyllia reproduces the same way Dendrophyllia and Tubastrea just seems a lot slower though. It has grown 2 full heads and a two small baby polyps in the last year. Mike |
Its beautiful!! How much did you get it for if you don't mind me asking?
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It was one of the first 2 that Kevin (Live Aquaria) brought in from Australia (with CITES) and it went for around $200.
Mike |
Wow! It totally blows that most of the NPC cost soooo much. :(
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Do all Balanophyllia have white polyps like that?
Because i have one that was sold to me as a dendro but all the dendro pics i see they all have yellow polyps and mine has white ones. |
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With NPS corals, there isn't a high demand for them. I have meen on many forums and to more aquarium stores than I can count, the amount of people keeping Azoox corals to LPS or SPS is a drastic difference. With the wholesalers I have spoke to, there isn't the demand to bring these corals in so they dont. There needs to be patience. In time, once reefkeepers catch on to keeping Azoox corals, improve husbandry, it will the next trend in reef keeping. No different from how SPS coral keeping broke out from the 90's. Everyone here, on this forum and other NPS forums, is helping lead the way for future reepkeepers. Mike |
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Mike |
Balanophyllia reproduces the same way Dendrophyllia and Tubastrea just seems a lot slower though. It has grown 2 full heads and a two small baby polyps in the last year.
I don't think thats correct. Not wishing to start an argument but I was speaking to a coral biologist recently who laughed at the way things are identified within the hobby. I asked him specifically about dendrophyllia & balanos. He said balanos are solitary polyp species. As for dendros the distinction between them and tubastrea is usually far from clear unless your looking at a naked skeleton. Even then, the answer is not always obvious. Some obvious exceptions exist eg T. micrantha. And as for colours, well a West Australian collector sometimes offers blue balanos (blue under white light). Admittedly its uncommon in the areas they collect in. How does that fit in with commonly perceived balano colours? Guess I'm just saying colours not a reliable indicator to define a genus / species. If I talk to a collector, the most helpful information he can give me, is about the coral's habitat - as I can use it to modify tank conditions. Its also worth remembering that some incorrectly labelled corals are exported from our end and then incorrect IDs are just carried down the chain of custody. BTW a lot of what I said isn't directed at the OP, rather a general observation of the assumptions we tend to make in the hobby as a whole. :beer: |
Don't worry I wont argue. As for all Balanophyllia species being only a solitary polyp species, I respect your coral biologist's opinion.
Taken from attached link: Some genera (i.e., Endopachys, Eguchipsammia, Balanophyllia) are known to asexually bud smaller coralla from their edges, the parent corallum continuing to increase in size, and one genus (Notophyllia) asexually propagates by transverse division. http://tolweb.org/Dendrophylliidae/19165 Mike |
Aquabacs, I apologise for hijacking your thread.
If I had something to say about IDs in general I should have started a different thread. all the best:beer: |
Mike, that's an awesome little colony you've got there! :thumbsup:
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Austin,
I also have a single polyp Balanophyllia which I purchase from Phishy Business within the last month. I am going to see how this single polyp reacts over the next year to the same feeding regime. http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/s...alanoL0381.jpg Mike |
My DD's balano, you can see baby polyps around the edges
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...tos/balano.png Later, babies growing up and it started popping out more polyps at this stage, you can see them in the middle above one of the babies http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/IMG_0030.jpg Really bad pic of the colony looking very hungry the other night, there is one large polyp, 7 original babies and 3-4 new ones http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/IMG_0171.jpg |
Nice pics guys!
Mike, that top-down shot makes it look like a baby rhizo :p I believe that once Balanophyllia are in good health and are fed well they have enough energy to asexually "bud" babies, as do rhizos. I have had one rhizo in my care for two years that has done this, and I've seen several fresh imports come in with tiny baby "buds" on the like the pic Mike posted in another thread here in this forum. I think the balanos just have a much faster growth rate, therefore allowing them to have a colonial appearance over time; Then again maybe there are colonial species of Balanophyllia... |
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I saw it earlier but didn't pick it up :)
Mike |
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Still available but it is small. Whole mini-colony is 1-1/4" Going for $180.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden...3+8&ddid=81871 Mike |
My Balano which is in my avatar (crappy pic) is very similar to the DD one but 3 heads 2 almost the same size and a baby one and got it for free
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Balanophyllia
I purchased 5 of these not knowing. If there is anyone interested in them let me know. I wanted the ones that open during normal hours, not the Batman kind. If you are in Miami Dade, broward county. Paid $45 a head, nice size just not what I was looking for.
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