what are these, Spike?

[DebsSisterFlo]

These pics are in the photography forum, and I wanted to ask about a couple.

what is this? It looks like a flower!
http://img272.imageshack.us/img272/1757/dsc00274lh5.jpg

Spike, is this what you have in the frag tank at the store? Those rather flat looking pieces in back that fluoresce?
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/9381/dsc00270mv7.jpg

if you'd like to see this guys tank, here is the thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=896999

[Aquabucket]

The first is an Alveopora (aka flower pot coral). Much like Goniopora (also labled as a flower pot coral) these corals come from less pristine waters. A very large percentage will starve in captivity. It may be a slow death though ~ often taking more than several months. They are cheap and quite common. Because they adapt so poorly in captivity I have never ordered any.

The other is a Montipora capricornis. It is an SPS coral and will grow best under moderate to strong lighting. Some specimens can be even kept under PCs although they may turn brown or loose some of their color. They can grow quite fast if calcium and alkalinity levels are maintained. I mainly stock these during the fall, winter, and spring. They sell very quickly especially the nicely colored ones.

The corals in the back of the frag tank are Pavona and Merulina. Both are sps corals that require moderate to strong lighting.

[RCS]

You can feed the alveopora a mixture of finely chopped shrimp and fish, along with LiquidLife Plankton food. Let me know if you have any questions with these guys, Alveopora and Goniopora are some of my favorite corals and I've had great results in keeping both species and obtaining good growth.

As Spike said, they fare best under moderate lighting and do actively feed...a lot in some cases. The LiquidLife is the perfect food I've found, as it's heavier than water and sinks right on top of the polyps for feeding. I've found that in leff-filtered tanks they do better. If you want to try one, there are some good species of Goniopora that are much easier to adapt to captivity.

[Aquabucket]

I have been tempted to order one of these corals for awhile now since my tanks are skimmerless. I also heard good success stories with cyclopeeze and a plastic 2 liter soda bottle with the bottom cut out for feeding.

Here is a link with more info on feeding them:
http://www.goniopora.org/feeding.htm

How long have you managed to keep one going Fred?