Green Bubble Coral

[Gujustud]

I've been in search for a bubble coral for a while now, but haven't come across one that I liked. Last weekend at OA, I finally did. I've never seen a bubble frag there before, let along a green bubble coral. It was somewhat bigger frag than I was looking for, but I thought it would be a nice touch. Only probably was that it wasn't doing as well. It looked receeded (sp?) and didn't seem good, however Jack said with some daily feeding of mysys and Cyclopzee it should recover fine.

Well he was right, and its been coming together VERY well. I've feed it once a day, with a good feeding of mysis mixed with cyclopzee, and today its looking better than ever.

Here are a few pictures:
click on picture for bigger image

Day 4


Day 5


Day 6: Today! Christmas day!


Just to give an idea of size, in that last picture in length it is about 6-7".

[IluvHockey]

Looking good. That is a nice find. Where did you put it in your tank.

[Gujustud]

Originally Posted by IluvHockey

Looking good. That is a nice find. Where did you put it in your tank.

Right now I put it in the back left side (kinda under the filter of my 802), just so it wasn't in direct direct light, and not too much flow. I'm still contemplating where to move it, just because of the size of it. I finally got my sump going, so I may move one or two peice of the live rock down there, which should make a little more space to play with.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Nice pics!

I really like green bubble corals too. Just bought my 2nd one a couple of weeks ago & daily feeding will make them grow like crazy (for a coral). I usually give it some mysis when I feed my seahorses or some chopped scallop when I feed my anemones.

Anthony

[sumpfinfishe]

Looks good

Watch out for those nasty sweeper's though

[Gujustud]

Originally Posted by sumpfinfishe

Watch out for those nasty sweeper's though

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

What Sumpin' meant was:

Bubble corals can send out stinging sweeper tentacles that are long & translucent, whereas their feeding tentacles are usually short & stubby. This is how many corals fight for space to grow, by stinging any corals that are growing near them to clear an area around the mother colony. This is also the main reason why some corals need to have several inches around them in your tank to prevent the stinging wars. Galaxy corals are notorious for sending out 5-6" sweepers.

However, some corals have little or no sweepers: the lovely fox coral, xenias, pipe organ corals.

Others depend more on chemical warfare & release chemicals into the water to attack other corals. This is how sponges compete for space in the wild. Another reason for using activated carbon or ChemiPure in your filter.

Anthony

[sumpfinfishe]

Tank's Anthony
Couldn't have explained it better myself.

I wanted to add: that my old roomie has a bubble that is around 18" in diameter and it has sweepers over a foot long
This sometimes makes it hard to keep anything else in the tank, nevermind about an inch or two around it

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

You're welcome, Rich. I'm luckier I guess. Mine are smaller (4" & 6") & well behaved. The small one stung my Derasa once but has since made its peace. Could be the small daily feedings are keeping it too fat & happy to sting

Anthony

[Gujustud]

Gotcha! I've seen a few tentacles that come out during the day (only about 1" long) so far. But this coral seems to grow daily almost. I hate to say it, but I may infact need to get rid of it soon, if it continues to grow like this!