Sansibia vs blue clove polyps

[DanConnor]

Recently I picked up a softy at my LFS they called Sansibia. It's a nice dark grey pillow of dense fluffy polyps. I see the term sansibia being used interchangeably with invasive blue polyps people are always trying to get rid of. This thing I have is growing at a slow pace and just does not seem invasive. I don't think they are the same...?

I also have what I think is the classic "blue xenia" and this is different. Darker in color and shorter in height- like sympodium but a bit taller. I'll try to get a picture.

 

[flsalty]

That's a problem with this hobby. We use common names more than scientific names. Sarcothelia and Sansibia are both referred to as bue cloves. I don't know all the differences, but I believe they are both invasive (which is probably why they are both referred to as blue cloves).

 

[Tired]

If you have something that looks like blue clove polyps, but is growing slowly, look up sympodiums. I think they're related to clove polyps, but they grow from a mat, and they're slow-growing. Mine does best when I feed it reef roids. Pretty corals, and a great alternative to blue clove polyps.