Stereonephthya Keepers Thread

Devaji · Jun 3, 2021

MixedFruitBasket said:
They can be VERY slow growers. Some more than others. I have a couple of quick growers but it seems the more colorful they are the slower they are. Some of my colonies grow about 1/4 an inch in a branch a year. How do I know that exact amount? Because they've been spawned in my tank. When the colonies get large that growth seems like a lot because it's over a larger colony and 1/4 an inch can put a lot of girth on a colony with 50 branches. But yeah, very slow for many.

Best way to tell slow grow vs "fast grow". (The fastest one I have grows about 2 inch a year)

Color: Usually (not always) the more colorful, the slower it grows.
Polyps: Huge polyps few in number with long tentacles tend to grow slower. These seem to do better if supplementally fed.
Small polyps in moderate numbers grow slower. Where as small polyps in thick clumps grow faster.
Med/large polyps in dense clumps usually grow much faster. This seems to be one of the biggest indicators. Dense polyp population means faster growth despite all other characteristics.

As for placement. Mine seem to grow more if they are placed close to the surface with good flow. My tank is only 15 inches or so, so it doesn't take much to be closer to the surface. However colonies placed on the highest rocks seem to outgrow those placed lower down. Keep in mind, many of these stereonephthya species grow close or above the tide line and are often exposed to direct sunlight when the tide is down. While I've never collected these corals in person, when I've imported colonies they have all the signs of a coral that grows very close to the surface, including macro algae growing alongside them as well as what looks like plant roots tangled in the rocks. A few have come in attached to a combination of rotted wood and rock (not coral).

wow I am amazed how slow of a grower they are. beautiful tho.

Dr. Dendrostein · Jun 3, 2021

Just got this, right time, right place.
Exactly the same one as Marine farmers picture

MixedFruitBasket · Jun 4, 2021

Devaji said:
wow I am amazed how slow of a grower they are. beautiful tho.

Like I said, not all or like that. I have a gold colony I just got a few weeks ago and it came off its rock. The tissue left behind has already sprouted about 10 different branches all 1/4-1/2 inch in size. That's super fast for these.

MixedFruitBasket · Jun 4, 2021

shred5 said:
????

Cespitularia – Australia RARE | Corals.com

www.corals.com

Its related to Xenia not stereo.

MixedFruitBasket · Jun 4, 2021

Marine_Addict said:
Got some of "pink kenya tree" from LFS, needs your Id?
1. This is what i thought be koji wada tree?

2.This is another one that i thought also be koji wada but not quite sure, it will shrink at night and inflate when the light is on. Got it from one of the local breeders who said it is easy to care though propagates not that quick

3. This one is actually quite tan in color under 12000k, this photo is taken under somehow violet conditions that makes it look quite "purple", could probably be lythopyhton?

4. This one is not that sure , thought it could be any other species , breeders claimed it photosynthetic but i quite doubt that

Not sure if any one answered you. Yes, the trees are koji wada, the last one I think may be a pink chili coral.

MixedFruitBasket · Jun 4, 2021

That first picture of the Koji, is super saturated, BTW. Some are darker than others though. I've got some that practically glitters cause of the highlights in it.

MixedFruitBasket · Jun 4, 2021

N-A-S-O said:
This find is looking pretty.

I'm gonna disagree with the others who stated this is steronephthya. The polyp arrangement (polyps clustered at the end of the branches not all over the branch) combined with the colored sclerites actually suggests it's chromonepthya.

N-A-S-O · Jun 4, 2021

MixedFruitBasket said:
I'm gonna disagree with the others who stated this is steronephthya. The polyp arrangement (polyps clustered at the end of the branches not all over the branch) combined with the colored sclerites actually suggests it's chromonepthya.

Interesting! Nothing comes up when I search Chromonepthya.

Dr. Dendrostein · Jun 4, 2021

MixedFruitBasket said:
I'm gonna disagree with the others who stated this is steronephthya. The polyp arrangement (polyps clustered at the end of the branches not all over the branch) combined with the colored sclerites actually suggests it's chromonepthya.

Enlighten us any pictures

MixedFruitBasket · Jun 5, 2021

Dr. Dendrostein said:
Enlighten us

first I want to say chromo and stereo are VERY hard to tell apart. Considering they are pretty much the same thing and being different species has been argued about for around 100 years (from what I understand).
Any how. First 2 photos is stereo according to polyp location. See how the polyps go almost all the way down the branch.
Second set of photos is what I believe to be Chromonephthya. Note the colored sclerites and how the polyps are almost isolated to the tops of the branches Some of the scratches* (sclerites) can be seen as dark purple lines and gold at the tips. The one without gold type has purple polyps where as the body is very pale lavender. This is the confusing part to me as from what I’ve seen and compared to pictures, read and been told I’ve now seen what I feel is a species of litophyton that also comes in two colors and of course stereo in two colors. But the isolated polyps are are supposedly an important detail especially combined with the colored sclerites.

MixedFruitBasket · Jun 5, 2021

N-A-S-O said:
Interesting! Nothing comes up when I search Chromonepthya.

It’s hard to ID and the only info I have honestly is based mostly on papers and not photos. But I’ll see if I can locate a photo other than mine.

Dr. Dendrostein · Jun 5, 2021

MixedFruitBasket said:
first I want to say chromo and stereo are VERY hard to tell apart. Considering they are pretty much the same thing and being different species has been argued about for around 100 years (from what I understand).
Any how. First 2 photos is stereo according to polyp location. See how the polyps go almost all the way down the branch.
Second set of photos is what I believe to be Chromonephthya. Note the colored sclerites and how the polyps are almost isolated to the tops of the branches Some of the scratches* (sclerites) can be seen as dark purple lines and gold at the tips. The one without gold type has purple polyps where as the body is very pale lavender. This is the confusing part to me as from what I’ve seen and compared to pictures, read and been told I’ve now seen what I feel is a species of litophyton that also comes in two colors and of course stereo in two colors. But the isolated polyps are are supposedly an important detail especially combined with the colored sclerites.

You probably seen this, but many soft corals or Corals in general morph into something a little different or a lot different from the wild especially when they're dietary needs and water flow are different in the wild than in close systems. Do you have any photos similar to the ones you posted but in the wild, the ones you posted are in a closed system that's my guess. Let us know

Dr. Dendrostein · Jun 5, 2021

Stereonephthya/chromonephthya got yesterday.

MixedFruitBasket · Jun 7, 2021

Dr. Dendrostein said:
You probably seen this, but many soft corals or Corals in general morph into something a little different or a lot different from the wild especially when they're dietary needs and water flow are different in the wild than in close systems. Do you have any photos similar to the ones you posted but in the wild, the ones you posted are in a closed system that's my guess. Let us know

Yes, I'm aware they change. Which is why when you can't ID something and need it looked at they don't want to try if it's been in your tank more than a couple months cause it can change that quickly. One of the colonies I posted is a wild imported colony I acquired 2 weeks ago. And at least one more is one I acquired about a month or so ago so it hasn't changed either.

P.s.

As for photos. Correctly ID'd photos of stereo and chromo are about non existent. Plus there are well over 50 sub species of stereonepthya documented. Can't tell you on Chromo cause, as I said, there is argument as to which is which so I'm sure some of the subcategories may be ID'd by some as chromo. And for whatever reason, biologist sketch what the polyps and coral look like. They don't document with photos, even today, unless of course the poor coral has been pickled in a jar then you honestly can't tell what the heck it is.

MixedFruitBasket · Jun 7, 2021

Here are some photos on an article: https://reefbuilders.com/2015/12/10/stereonephthya-portrait-uncommon-soft-coral/

I don't think the article is accurate though saying chromo appeared in 2005 as a new genius considering I have a paper written on the argument that covers 1 century.

MixedFruitBasket · Jun 7, 2021

Dr. Dendrostein said:
Stereonephthya/chromonephthya got yesterday.

Very nice

MixedFruitBasket · Jun 7, 2021

Dr. Dendrostein said:
Stereonephthya/chromonephthya got yesterday.

Is there a way you could send me a small sample in a ziplock baggy with a really wet paper towel via USPS priority mail? It can be sent in an envelope or small box. Put one baggy inside another baggy to insure it doesn't leak. I'm not asking for a frag, but one or two polyps and maybe some tissue. I'm trying to catalog various types of stereo that have or don't have zooxanthellae.