Lobophyllia vrs trachyphyllia

[rattlesnake attack]

I am choosing between Saving up for trachyphyllia or lobophyllia. The main things I want to see comparison is growth speed and difficulty to keep

 

[smitten with ocean life]

@VintageReefer

 

[VintageReefer]

They are both extremely slow growers, extremely. You might not see any growth even after a year. If I had to say which ones faster I would say the lobo.

Difficulty is about the same. Both should be fed 1-2x a week but not required. It does help them but is not absolutely necessary as they are photosynthetic also. Lobo is typically low light and trachy is low to mid light. Bring like low to medium flow
these are sandbed corals but the catch is they don’t like to have the flesh come in contact with sand. The skeleton below can, but not the flesh.

This trachy is elevated properly

Because, when it decides to inflate, it needs to have space and avoid sand

These trachy are well elevated for the same protection

 

[bluemon]

They are both extremely slow growers, extremely. You might not see any growth even after a year. If I had to say which ones faster I would say the lobo.

Difficulty is about the same. Both should be fed 1-2x a week but not required. It does help them but is not absolutely necessary as they are photosynthetic also. Lobo is typically low light and trachy is low to mid light. Bring like low to medium flow
these are sandbed corals but the catch is they don’t like to have the flesh come in contact with sand. The skeleton below can, but not the flesh.

This trachy is elevated properly

Because, when it decides to inflate, it needs to have space and avoid sand

These trachy are well elevated for the same protection

This makes me miss my trachy I lost last year :( I had it for close to 6-7 years? It’s the one in my profile picture. Your big one in the middle is a carbon copy of it.

I still have its skeleton in my sump.

I lost it due to a bit of polyp bailout and recession which in hindsight might have been from it being always in touch with sand, (my current trachys are elevated for this reason). That plus a mini phosphate hike

I do have two Trachys and a big lobo right now, and I think I prefer the lobophyllia.

Better feeding response, and more “opaque” colors; just does it for me a bit more

My lobo with a wrasse hiding underneath.

The flesh is floating just above the sand using PVC

 

[VintageReefer]

This makes me miss my trachy I lost last year :( I had it for close to 6-7 years? It’s the one in my profile picture.

I do have two Trachys and a big lobo right now, and I think I prefer the lobophyllia.

Better feeding response, and more “opaque” colors; just does it for me a bit more

For me, my lobos and trachys both have excellent feeding response and both have nice colors. I do feel I like lobo a little better

Trachy

Another trachy

Another trachy

Trachy garden

Lobo

Lobo

Lobo

Lobo

Feeders out - this has 10 mouths

 

[VintageReefer]

This makes me miss my trachy I lost last year :( I had it for close to 6-7 years? It’s the one in my profile picture. Your big one in the middle is a carbon copy of it.

I still have its skeleton in my sump.

I lost it due to a bit of polyp bailout and recession which in hindsight might have been from it being always in touch with sand, (my current trachys are elevated for this reason). That plus a mini phosphate hike

I do have two Trachys and a big lobo right now, and I think I prefer the lobophyllia.

Better feeding response, and more “opaque” colors; just does it for me a bit more

My lobo with a wrasse hiding underneath.

The flesh is floating just above the sand using PVC

I had a beautiful trachy for almost 2 years and one day without my knowledge it shifted and the back rested in the sand. It declined fast. Just wasn’t looking great. I went to check it and realized it was leaning a bit from something bumping it. Part of the rear side was in the sand. I fixed it, and it was all decayed. This turned to infection fast and despite daily cipro dips, it progressed and I lost the entire thing

Better pics of my orange glitter lobo

 

[trellemania]

These are stunners

 

[bluemon]

This makes me miss my trachy I lost last year :( I had it for close to 6-7 years? It’s the one in my profile picture. Your big one in the middle is a carbon copy of it.

I still have its skeleton in my sump.

I lost it due to a bit of polyp bailout and recession which in hindsight might have been from it being always in touch with sand, (my current trachys are elevated for this reason). That plus a mini phosphate hike

I do have two Trachys and a big lobo right now, and I think I prefer the lobophyllia.

Better feeding response, and more “opaque” colors; just does it for me a bit more

My lobo with a wrasse hiding underneath.

The flesh is floating just above the sand using PVC

I had a beautiful trachy for almost 2 years and one day without my knowledge it shifted and the back rested in the sand. It declined fast. Just wasn’t looking great. I went to check it and realized it was leaning a bit from something bumping it. Part of the rear side was in the sand. I fixed it, and it was all decayed. This turned to infection fast and despite daily cipro dips, it progressed and I lost the entire thing

Better pics of my orange glitter lobo

Strangely enough, it wasn’t infection that overtook mine.

The whole polyp bailed out from the skeleton and the polyp “lived” away from the skeleton for a couple months. (Even inflated). And then it got sucked into a powerhead one morning and died.

Also this is how I have my lobo mounted on my tank, just resting on a PVC pipe but it can be a bit rocky.

Do you have any other better ideas?

The lobo is on a bit of a branch that fits into the PVC, no frag base attached.

Btw that glitter lobo looks amazing

 

[bubbgee]

Lobos have been bulletproof for me. I lost all trachys and simphyllia so far. Lobos are harder to color up depending on the amount of light but it recovers. It took months to get back the colors but it is very hardy than the other two types of LPS. I have had better luck with acantho than trachys.

 

[VintageReefer]

Strangely enough, it wasn’t infection that overtook mine.

The whole polyp bailed out from the skeleton and the polyp “lived” away from the skeleton for a couple months. (Even inflated). And then it got sucked into a powerhead one morning and died.

That’s crazy I’ve actually never heard of that on such a large lps. Normally torches and even then the survival rate is extremely low

Also this is how I have my lobo mounted on my tank, just resting on a PVC pipe but it can be a bit rocky.

Do you have any other better ideas?

The lobo is on a bit of a branch that fits into the PVC, no frag base attached.

After I lost my trachy I needed a solid way to keep them upright and near sand level.
I put them on frag plugs. Feel for the center point of balance below the lobo or trachy, use a larger plug, like one that’s 1-1.5” in diameter. Load it up with superglue gel, a big blob of it. Like 3/4” high and 3/4-1” across. Mount the plug to the area that’s near middle, and has the coral balanced nicely and let it dry a few min.

Then place the plug in a eco rock frag mount. It’s made of rock and has a bit of weight to it, I’ve never had anything fall over in these

I use them all over and the are also great to make Zoa islands / domes

I’ve even used one for a 10 head torch colony

Btw that glitter lobo looks amazing

Thank you! It’s one of my favorite pieces!

That works and I’ve seen it done before. No issues here If it’s balanced well

 

[VintageReefer]

Lobos have been bulletproof for me. I lost all trachys and simphyllia so far. Lobos are harder to color up depending on the amount of light but it recovers. It took months to get back the colors but it is very hardy than the other two types of LPS. I have had better luck with acantho than trachys.

I’ve lost every acantho I’ve tried. 4 in a row. Back to back last year. But trachy, lobo, Cynarina, scoly, wellso…all successful. For whatever reason my tank just doesn’t get along with acantho. Never figured it out. And I was stubborn! Now, I won’t bother trying again.

Makes no sense

 

[bluemon]

That’s crazy I’ve actually never heard of that on such a large lps. Normally torches and even then the survival rate is extremely low

After I lost my trachy I needed a solid way to keel them upright and near sand level.
I put them on frag plugs. Feel for the center point of balance below the lobo or trachy, use a larger plug, like one that’s 1-1.5” in diameter. Load it up with superglue gel, a big blob of it. Like 3/4” high and 3/4-1” across. Mount the plug to the area that’s near middle, and has the coral balanced nicely and let it dry a few min.

Then place the plug in a eco rock frag mount. It’s made of rock and has a bit of weight to it, I’ve never had anything fall over in these

I use them all over and the are also grate to make Zoa islands / domes

I’ve even used one for a 10 head torch colony


Thank you! It’s one of my favorite pieces!

That works and I’ve seen it done before. No issues here If it’s balanced well

I wish I had taken a picture of it but I was pretty upset about losing it and so I stayed away from the tank a bit.

I thought it was a goner so I just left the polyp in the back of the tank, but it would inflate and deflate and didn’t lose color for a good month or two.

I knew it wouldn’t last long though as it was a BIG trachy.

A pic of it from when it was last alive, the tank looks 180 different now.

I actually got those holders after you suggested in the other thread talking about fungias at a coral show for $5 a pop.

 

[VintageReefer]

I wish I had taken a picture of it but I was pretty upset about losing it and so I stayed away from the tank a bit.

I thought it was a goner so I just left the polyp in the back of the tank, but it would inflate and deflate and didn’t lose color for a good month or two.

I knew it wouldn’t last long though as it was a BIG trachy.

A pic of it from when it was last alive, the tank looks 180 different now.

I actually got those holders after you suggested in the other thread talking about fungias at a coral show for $5 a pop.

That’s a big guy! I’m sure it was a personal loss for you. My blue green trachy loss I took hard and blamed myself for not paying attention enough. My kid loves it and called it our earth coral.

I finally found another blue green as it’s a rarer combo for trachy, and it’s nice but not the same

Yes the holders are great and available from some vendors and LFS but in my area I can only get them online

 

[CBonito]

This makes me miss my trachy I lost last year :( I had it for close to 6-7 years? It’s the one in my profile picture. Your big one in the middle is a carbon copy of it.

I still have its skeleton in my sump.

I lost it due to a bit of polyp bailout and recession which in hindsight might have been from it being always in touch with sand, (my current trachys are elevated for this reason). That plus a mini phosphate hike

I do have two Trachys and a big lobo right now, and I think I prefer the lobophyllia.

Better feeding response, and more “opaque” colors; just does it for me a bit more

My lobo with a wrasse hiding underneath.

The flesh is floating just above the sand using PVC

I had one like this for about 7 years. Same colors. And like mentioned above, it was a slow grower, but it did grow. The first year was nothing, then it started to grow slowly and change shape. It had a strong feeding response too and loved the 14k 400 watter it was under.