Majano, ball or something else?

[Mattyreefs]

Noticed one of these growing out of a crack in the rocks a few months ago. Tonight I noticed 3 or 4 more spread around the tank. Looks like multiple heads? or polyps? clumped together.

 

[bradleym]

Looks like galaxea to me.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Looks like galaxea to me.

At first glance, I agree. OP, does it seem to have a hard skeleton?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Does not look like a majano or ball nem to me.

If not galaxea, possibly some sort of clove polyp?

 

[Mattyreefs]

Wow very strange to me but it does resemble a galaxea. Lights have been off a couple hours and I just poked it and it does feel hard like a skeleton.

Here's a picture of the same angle now. You can see what appears to be skeleton and the individual polyps.

 

[Mattyreefs]

Never had galaxea in this tank and they're spread across the tank on various pieces of rock that aren't from the same place. Some is dry marco rock and some is live rock from lfs.

Does galaxea spread like that? Seems like something you'd expect from a soft coral or mushroom etc.

Edit: here's a picture a little after the last with the polyps coming back out

 

[Pale Morning1]

Not an expert but I have had a galaxea in my tank for almost two years. It has not spread off of the rock island that I placed it on.

 

[bradleym]

I have not heard of galaxea spreading like this. But I know that mushrooms/anemones don't have any hard parts. Hopefully someone will chime in with a better suggestion.

Just curious, are these clumps getting bigger? As in, is the first group from a few months ago larger than the new ones? Or are they all the same size?

 

[Mattyreefs]

The first one I noticed is in a deep crack between rockwork. I've been watching it everyday and it's definetly gotten larger, more noticeable but it's very slow growing. I only just noticed this one in the photos today which is literally dead center in the tank so it's strange I never saw it before.

Now that I'm looking it at from a different perspective I'm wondering if it's more polyps giving the appearance of growth and not actually getting larger. I'll try to get a picture of others tomorrow when the lights are on.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

The first one I noticed is in a deep crack between rockwork. I've been watching it everyday and it's definetly gotten larger, more noticeable but it's very slow growing. I only just noticed this one in the photos today which is literally dead center in the tank so it's strange I never saw it before.

Now that I'm looking it at from a different perspective I'm wondering if it's more polyps giving the appearance of growth and not actually getting larger. I'll try to get a picture of others tomorrow when the lights are on.

Very strange! I've had multiple kinds of galaxea and have never had it spread like that. But your pics of the skeleton and polyps definitely look like galaxea.

How many different rocks is it on?

In case you aren't familiar with it, galaxea has long sweepers and packs a strong punch (sting), so you should watch to see if any nearby coral looks irritated/ injured.

 

[Alexopora]

Very strange! I've had multiple kinds of galaxea and have never had it spread like that. But your pics of the skeleton and polyps definitely look like galaxea.

How many different rocks is it on?

In case you aren't familiar with it, galaxea has long sweepers and packs a strong punch (sting), so you should watch to see if any nearby coral looks irritated/ injured.

Agreed, am a galaxea enthusiast so i generally will hunt for new colour variants but I have never seen my galaxeas spread in that manner.

 

[Alexopora]

Regarding your galaxeas, they can actually grow pretty fast if the conditions are right. And they are really resilient. All they beed is one single polyp and they’ll take off. The ball shaped galaxea (second pic) grew from a single polyp 2 years ago.

So my suggestion is that unless you are ok with it being where it currently is, you might wanna remove it and relocate to someplace else in the tank where they wont sting your other corals. Galaxeas always win.

 

[Mattyreefs]

Very strange! I've had multiple kinds of galaxea and have never had it spread like that. But your pics of the skeleton and polyps definitely look like galaxea.

How many different rocks is it on?

In case you aren't familiar with it, galaxea has long sweepers and packs a strong punch (sting), so you should watch to see if any nearby coral looks irritated/ injured.

It's on three different rocks that I'm aware of. Here's a semi recent full tank shot. You can't see much but it at least gives an idea of where they are and how spread out. These rocks have never touched each other.

#1 is the first I noticed. That was at least a couple months ago. This is dry marco rock that's been in the tank since day 1.

#2 I noticed last night and is all of the pictures I sent previously. This is "live" rock from my lfs added over a year ago. I'm surprised I haven't seen this one before given its location.

#3 and #4 I noticed these two last night when I went searching after finding #2. Kinda hard to see but 4 is right below three about a half inch apart, they're definitely not touching. This is also dry marco rock from day 1.

I'm aware of the sweepers and I've avoided galaxea for that reason. I've left the original one as a curiosity. Maybe I'll get rid of some and leave the one out front for the time being just to watch what it does.

Edit: it might be hard to tell from these pictures but I'm 99% sure whatever they are, they're all the same thing.

 

[Alexopora]

It's on three different rocks that I'm aware of. Here's a semi recent full tank shot. You can't see much but it at least gives an idea of where they are and how spread out. These rocks have never touched each other.

#1 is the first I noticed. That was at least a couple months ago. This is dry marco rock that's been in the tank since day 1.

#2 I noticed last night and is all of the pictures I sent previously. This is "live" rock from my lfs added over a year ago. I'm surprised I haven't seen this one before given its location.

#3 and #4 I noticed these two last night when I went searching after finding #2. Kinda hard to see but 4 is right below three about a half inch apart, they're definitely not touching. This is also dry marco rock from day 1.

I'm aware of the sweepers and I've avoided galaxea for that reason. I've left the original one as a curiosity. Maybe I'll get rid of some and leave the one out front for the time being just to watch what it does.

Edit: it might be hard to tell from these pictures but I'm 99% sure whatever they are, they're all the same thing.

So based on what you have said, its most likely the other two are galaxea as well. You could either:

1. Remove the other two and basically join them together into one frag
2. If you dont wish to keep them, perhaps cover them with putty so they wont grow.
3. Or if you know someone that would want them you could do 1. And then give/sell them the frag whichever.