Galaxea question

[Slocke]

So I bought a bunch of corals last week and they, of course, arrived 36 hours late. Most look good but the gold galaxea looks absolutely nothing like it looked online. Instead I got this pink/brown ugly thing. It's been in the tank since Thursday. I don't know anything about galaxea so I'm wondering if this is normal or if the coral is dead or dying. Would love to know before the DAA expires.

 

[happyhourhero]

So I bought a bunch of corals last week and they, of course, arrived 36 hours late. Most look good but the gold galaxea looks absolutely nothing like it looked online. Instead I got this pink/brown ugly thing. It's been in the tank since Thursday. I don't know anything about galaxea so I'm wondering if this is normal or if the coral is dead or dying. Would love to know before the DAA expires.

It will probably color up a bit once it settles in. Give it a good 6” in all directions. They are super aggressive and have long sweepers. I think they are an underrated coral but still give it space.

 

[bnord]

I have 2 and I thought one was on its way out several times, looking worse than yours - took 6 months to decide it was going to grow...and I did

pay attention to placement suggestion (requirement) mine now has 3 inch sweeper/stringers - doesn't stop clowns from hosting them...

good luck

 

[Bucs20fan]

With good water this galaxea will be fine. Its just browned out due to stress. Galaxea are pretty hardy corals, and for good reason, they are warfare experts. Be mindful of the flow where you place them. Their sting is potent enough to kill any coral it touches, up to and including rock flower anemones.

 

[Slocke]

Thanks all!
I was really excited by the crazy colors in the pics online and have wanted one for a while but it's the only coral I got that looked nothing like the pics so I was worried. Anyway thanks to your advice I guess I'll move it to an island.

 

[Alexopora]

I think it is a combination of probably the seller enhancing the colours as well as the coral being stressed. Also lighting may play a role as well as certain colours are alot more noticeable depending on the intensity of the colour spectrum.

Galaxea are really resilient corals. One polyp is enough to regenerate into a full colony. As you can see in my second pic, this is a single polyp that broke of during fragging and it has already encrusted and started sprouting new heads.

 

[Slocke]

I think it is a combination of probably the seller enhancing the colours as well as the coral being stressed. Also lighting may play a role as well as certain colours are alot more noticeable depending on the intensity of the colour spectrum.

Galaxea are really resilient corals. One polyp is enough to regenerate into a full colony. As you can see in my second pic, this is a single polyp that broke of during fragging and it has already encrusted and started sprouting new heads.

Thanks!
I'm starting to see some gold under blue lights but its still mostly an ugly fleshy color but it does look healthy otherwise.
I can't believe the size of that colony you have. I assumed it was a couple large euphyllia to begin with!

 

[mrpontiac80]

When people mention the stingers they are not joking. Mine was sending off 6” long ones the other day.

 

[Alexopora]

When people mention the stingers they are not joking. Mine was sending off 6” long ones the other day.

Absolutely love your Galaxea. Is it gold I see?

 

[Alexopora]

Thanks!
I'm starting to see some gold under blue lights but its still mostly an ugly fleshy color but it does look healthy otherwise.
I can't believe the size of that colony you have. I assumed it was a couple large euphyllia to begin with!

I actually have more Galaxeas, they do grow pretty well once established. And they can take strong flow. Galaxeas are one of my favorite lps. Always on the hunt for new colour variants.
As they get larger they’ll form a boulder shape colony. In the first picture is an example of that, it grew from a single polyp way back in 2019 after the original mother colony died out. One polyp persevered and resulted in this colony.

Second picture is an example of how a galaxea looks like under stronger flow. Back in the fls tank it had long tentacles and sweepers everywhere. But i placed mine in the middle where the flow from my power heads collide creating a downward tumble flow. Hence it keeps my galaxeas tentacles short.

Regarding looking like euphyllia, interestingly Galaxeas are related to torches. They are under the family Euphyllidae which explains why they look like mini torches.

 

[Slocke]

When people mention the stingers they are not joking. Mine was sending off 6” long ones the other day.

Nice. That’s what I’m hoping my galaxea will look like. Minus the sweepers obviously.

 

[MoshJosh]

Keep in mind lighting, good chance the photos you saw were under different lights than the ones you’re using. I keep my tanks pretty white, and the purples in my Galaxea get sort of washed out.

Here is my purple gold and purple green:

I imagine I could get better purples if I changed my lighting, but my Galaxea seem to be growing/happy, so I’ll leave it.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Absolutely love your Galaxea. Is it gold I see?

Yes it is I guess. It has some gold and orange in the tips.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Keep in mind lighting, good chance the photos you saw were under different lights than the ones you’re using. I keep my tanks pretty white, and the purples in my Galaxea get sort of washed out.

Here is my purple gold and purple green:

I imagine I could get better purples if I changed my lighting, but my Galaxea seem to be growing/happy, so I’ll leave it.

Yes on the lights for sure. I actually got mine from a friend. In his tank it was purple and green. In my tank it turned to a purple/orange and gold. He uses black box lights and I use reefbreeders. My par is higher and after we tested his tank par he increased the par and his also turned colors more like mine.

 

[Pale Morning1]

Great coral but yeah I was surprised to see how far they can wonder.

 

[Slocke]

Thanks all that answered!
As you can see the color came back and it looks very good now.

 

[Alexopora]

I think it is a combination of probably the seller enhancing the colours as well as the coral being stressed. Also lighting may play a role as well as certain colours are alot more noticeable depending on the intensity of the colour spectrum.

Galaxea are really resilient corals. One polyp is enough to regenerate into a full colony. As you can see in my second pic, this is a single polyp that broke of during fragging and it has already encrusted and started sprouting new heads.

An update on the single polyp frag. It has completely covered the spherical rock.

 

[MoshJosh]

They can grow fast when happy. Here is an updated look at mine: