has anyone kept mediterranean red coral in a reef tank

[Rocketfish]

I am celebrating my 35th anniversary with my wife and was amused to find that "Coral" was the "gemstone" related to this year's celebration. It worked out great because I got a couple frags as a gift and I bought her a nice coral necklace.

This made me wonder where the red coral came from. Sadly it has been harvested so much the red coral colonies are quite small now, but I am wondering if hobbiests have tried to grow/propagate the red Mediterranean coral in a reef tank setting.

Has anyone heard of this being done or know anything about this coral as a living organism?

 

[dedragon]

it is probably illegal to import it live, as well as it being a nps coral making it very hard to keep alive in out aquariums
(from its look and position usually underside of a rock so guessing here)

 

[N.Sreefer]

I am celebrating my 35th anniversary with my wife and was amused to find that "Coral" was the "gemstone" related to this year's celebration. It worked out great because I got a couple frags as a gift and I bought her a nice coral necklace.

This made me wonder where the red coral came from. Sadly it has been harvested so much the red coral colonies are quite small now, but I am wondering if hobbiests have tried to grow/propagate the red Mediterranean coral in a reef tank setting.

Has anyone heard of this being done or know anything about this coral as a living organism?

The precious or red coral from the Mediterranean is any coral in the genus Corallium which has 31 species. They are all under protection and most likely will not make it into the reef trade. I know a few people that have kept Corallium rubrum L in the past, it is azooxanthellate (non photosynthetic) and hard to care for it needs pristine water and frequent feeding.

 

[Rocketfish]

The precious or red coral from the Mediterranean is any coral in the genus Corallium which had 31 species. They are all under protection and most likely will not make it into the reef trade. I know a few people that have kept Corallium rubrum L in the past, it is azooxanthellate (nonphotosynthetic) and hard to care for it needs pristine water and frequent feeding.

That is interesting because a saw a national geographic video and part of it showed a red branch with a white to clear polyp.

Being at relatively deep water and on a shelf, I figured it would be like sun polyps for care. I find it interesting someone has kept some to see the difficulty of the requirements. I wish there was a way to farm it and help restore the natural setting but this doesn't look like it would be suitable for that.

 

[Ron Primas]

I was just there. I'd love to get some too. I agree. I'm sure as it comes from the deep, it should be in a shaded area. I will try to get a peice next time I'm there. Good luck.

 

[Rocketfish]

I just found this, evidently there is a tank in Italy dedicated to the preservation of the live coral.

https://www.traghettiper-sardegna.it/en/tp-magazine/first-corallium-rubrum-aquarium-live-of-italy-in-alghero/