Plate coral

[oldhead]

Picked up a plate coral at the LFS



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PitViper]

Originally Posted by oldhead

Picked up a plate coral at the LFS



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is a gorgeous piece of coral.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[oldhead]

Originally Posted by PitViper

That is a gorgeous piece of coral.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They were having a sale. It's about 4" across and was $40

[PitViper]

Originally Posted by oldhead

They were having a sale. It's about 4" across and was $40

What are their requirements? Flow? Light? Would def consider getting one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[theshaman]

I have always liked plate corals but for some reason feel like they won’t last long in my tank.
Have any of you guys had long term success with plate corals? I always see them at the lfs and the next time I’m there it looks like algae is growing on the skeleton and a lot of flesh is gone.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[oldhead]

Originally Posted by PitViper

What are their requirements? Flow? Light? Would def consider getting one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Flow, low to medium. Light, moderate


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[themagicman]

Originally Posted by oldhead

Flow, low to medium. Light, moderate


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

+1

Low to moderate lighting & flow has always worked well for me too. You don't have to feed these things either, but they do have a voracious appetite. They can move too if need be.

[Tripod1404]

Originally Posted by theshaman

I have always liked plate corals but for some reason feel like they won’t last long in my tank.
Have any of you guys had long term success with plate corals? I always see them at the lfs and the next time I’m there it looks like algae is growing on the skeleton and a lot of flesh is gone.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have one for about 5-6 years. Grew from a dime sized baby to 5 inches across. It was a short tentacle place but recently its tentacles started to get longer and longer, so I am wondering if it is actually a long tentacle plate. It liked to move around when small, but not since it grew and tentacles came out.

I have never seen a small long tentacle plate, this makes me question if they look like short tentacle plates when they are young.

[jar41]

can they attack other corals?

[Chuckd76]

Originally Posted by jar41

can they attack other corals?

Supposedly they can but the four I have don't seem to be aggressive.
I've come home from work or woken up in the morning and found them in all types of compromising positions ranging from piled up on top of each other to lying underneath other corals that have fallen on them. Each time it's only resulted in at least one extremely confused plate.

[Chuckd76]

Originally Posted by theshaman

I have always liked plate corals but for some reason feel like they won’t last long in my tank.
Have any of you guys had long term success with plate corals? I always see them at the lfs and the next time I’m there it looks like algae is growing on the skeleton and a lot of flesh is gone.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They used to scare me too but honestly they're pretty simple to care for. I think it's mostly the long tentacle ones that have a reputation of wasting away.
They're kinda like anemones in that they'll drift across the bottom looking for a spot they like and then they'll stay put.
Once they do you just leave them be.
You don't have to feed them but they tend to be voracious eaters and it's pretty cool to watch.
Only thing that still weirds me out is that they will randomly expand and shrink and sometimes stay shrunken for a week or so. Then they'll puff back up and resume sitting there.