Stereonephthya Keepers Thread

DanConnor

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Check it out
stereonephthya.jpg
 

najer

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How do you get the colors so vibrant?
My colors are dull. My colors don't stand out like yours.

I use a camera but can use my phone, I am not a fan of blue light pics, that is what it actually looks like, more or less under "normal" lights.
 

Coachp

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Careful with the divers den. I managed to snag one and of course it arrived ice cold and the water was cloudy along with the coral being detached from the rock. Sadly I don't think its going to make it as its just falling apart.
 

dennis romano

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Ordered a gorgonian from Divers den. It took five days to get to NJ. Water was ice cold and cloudy and it didn't make it. Only got a partial credit
 

MixedFruitBasket

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I've noticed A LOT of "stereonephthya" on the diver's den isn't actually stereonephthya. It's litophyton or the "nephthya" version of litophyton. Nephthya can have little spikes (supporting bundles) but the other type of litophyton doesn't but can be rough feeling.
Nephthya can also have very prominent sclerites, but seem to be denser and the flesh is also denser (not transparent like stereo).
Some Nepthya can look so similar it's almost impossible to tell, but one of the best ways is how the polyps closes. Litophyton polyps retract most of the way, turning into tiny "balls" or seeds. Sometimes they do this in clumps and the branches pull tight making it look like large rounded bunches of balls. Stereonephthya polyps do not retract into the stem. The tentacles fold up and the polyp bend upward at a 90 degree angle. Some have larger supporting bundles than others. Some have larger polyps or polyps in greater number. The picture below shows stereo with the extending supporting bundles and the 90 degree elbow in the polyp.
Stereonepthya also seems to have transparent or almost transparent skin. When they "deflate" they look dead. Like there's nothing but skin. This is because stereo is mostly skin inflated by water where as litophyton/nephthya has more flesh.
97881123-1CD5-4281-A00C-63C16F73B0F0.jpeg


This is litophyton. See how the branches of polyps contract into groups. And see how tight those polyps are rounded off?


IMG_2833.jpeg



As for cold water: I snagged three items last week so I could have an up close look at what stuff was. And yeah, it would be nice to have a reliable source of stereo that didn't cost me an arm and a leg or I had to take the risk involved with transshipping. When I received the corals the water was 58 degrees. There was one tiny heat pack in the bottom of a very large box. I'm not sure why they seem to be having this issue. The heat packs need to be taped to the sides or bottom and in this kind of weather they need more than one tiny one. When I called LA and asked about it they said they go by the forecast. Well the forecast for the night before and into the morning when it was on its way, was 36 degrees. I think people forget that when you ship stuff like this, it can spend HOURS out in the elements on the tarmac or in a cold warehouse waiting to be moved to a truck.
So yeah, the whole getting nearly frozen coral seems to be the issue right now. And yes, I lost two of the three that I bought. The third is kind of limping.
 

dennis romano

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I've noticed A LOT of "stereonephthya" on the diver's den isn't actually stereonephthya. It's litophyton or the "nephthya" version of litophyton. Nephthya can have little spikes (supporting bundles) but the other type of litophyton doesn't but can be rough feeling.
Nephthya can also have very prominent sclerites, but seem to be denser and the flesh is also denser (not transparent like stereo).
Some Nepthya can look so similar it's almost impossible to tell, but one of the best ways is how the polyps closes. Litophyton polyps retract most of the way, turning into tiny "balls" or seeds. Sometimes they do this in clumps and the branches pull tight making it look like large rounded bunches of balls. Stereonephthya polyps do not retract into the stem. The tentacles fold up and the polyp bend upward at a 90 degree angle. Some have larger supporting bundles than others. Some have larger polyps or polyps in greater number. The picture below shows stereo with the extending supporting bundles and the 90 degree elbow in the polyp.
Stereonepthya also seems to have transparent or almost transparent skin. When they "deflate" they look dead. Like there's nothing but skin. This is because stereo is mostly skin inflated by water where as litophyton/nephthya has more flesh.
97881123-1CD5-4281-A00C-63C16F73B0F0.jpeg


This is litophyton. See how the branches of polyps contract into groups. And see how tight those polyps are rounded off?


IMG_2833.jpeg



As for cold water: I snagged three items last week so I could have an up close look at what stuff was. And yeah, it would be nice to have a reliable source of stereo that didn't cost me an arm and a leg or I had to take the risk involved with transshipping. When I received the corals the water was 58 degrees. There was one tiny heat pack in the bottom of a very large box. I'm not sure why they seem to be having this issue. The heat packs need to be taped to the sides or bottom and in this kind of weather they need more than one tiny one. When I called LA and asked about it they said they go by the forecast. Well the forecast for the night before and into the morning when it was on its way, was 36 degrees. I think people forget that when you ship stuff like this, it can spend HOURS out in the elements on the tarmac or in a cold warehouse waiting to be moved to a truck.
So yeah, the whole getting nearly frozen coral seems to be the issue right now. And yes, I lost two of the three that I bought. The third is kind of limping.
Found your post quite interesting. It looks like the Stereo that I got from Divers Den is really a Litophyton. I looked them up in my Borneman coral book and read that they are photosynthetic. That may explain why mine did better when it was moved under lights from a dark area. What have you found?
 

Jeremy P

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I’ve suspected that the couple I obtained from dd were not stereonephthya. They seem to be litophyton based on mixedfruitbaskets description. I’ve been lucky on shipping so far.
 

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