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Unread 02/14/2010, 02:35 PM   #1
Aquabacs
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Balanophyllia


Parent colony


Polyp close up


New polyps forming


Wanted to share a few pictures of my Balanophyllia on the NPS forum.
Balanophyllia reproduces the same way Dendrophyllia and Tubastrea just seems a lot slower though. It has grown 2 full heads and a two small baby polyps in the last year.


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Unread 02/14/2010, 02:46 PM   #2
Western_reefer
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Its beautiful!! How much did you get it for if you don't mind me asking?


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Unread 02/14/2010, 02:55 PM   #3
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It was one of the first 2 that Kevin (Live Aquaria) brought in from Australia (with CITES) and it went for around $200.


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Unread 02/14/2010, 03:41 PM   #4
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Wow! It totally blows that most of the NPC cost soooo much.


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Unread 02/14/2010, 05:38 PM   #5
Romulox234
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Do all Balanophyllia have white polyps like that?

Because i have one that was sold to me as a dendro but all the dendro pics i see they all have yellow polyps and mine has white ones.


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Unread 02/14/2010, 07:08 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Western_reefer View Post
Wow! It totally blows that most of the NPC cost soooo much.
As with everything in this hobby. Some items the price will drop and others, the price stays consistant. For example, look at Odontanthias borbonius, a little over 2 years ago you would pay $500 and up to bring one into the country. Now, depending on where they come from, you can easily pick one up for under $200. That was a fish that the price dropped quicker than usual.

With NPS corals, there isn't a high demand for them. I have meen on many forums and to more aquarium stores than I can count, the amount of people keeping Azoox corals to LPS or SPS is a drastic difference. With the wholesalers I have spoke to, there isn't the demand to bring these corals in so they dont. There needs to be patience. In time, once reefkeepers catch on to keeping Azoox corals, improve husbandry, it will the next trend in reef keeping. No different from how SPS coral keeping broke out from the 90's. Everyone here, on this forum and other NPS forums, is helping lead the way for future reepkeepers.


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Unread 02/14/2010, 07:14 PM   #7
Aquabacs
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Romulox234 View Post
Do all Balanophyllia have white polyps like that?

Because i have one that was sold to me as a dendro but all the dendro pics i see they all have yellow polyps and mine has white ones.
Most colors of Balanophyllia are pink to peach color. The one in the picture is actually pink not white. Dendros can range from very light yellow (looks almost) to bright orange. The shape of the skeleton & polyp is different. Balanophyllia skeleton is more oval than a dendro.

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Unread 02/14/2010, 09:56 PM   #8
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Balanophyllia reproduces the same way Dendrophyllia and Tubastrea just seems a lot slower though. It has grown 2 full heads and a two small baby polyps in the last year.

I don't think thats correct. Not wishing to start an argument but I was speaking to a coral biologist recently who laughed at the way things are identified within the hobby. I asked him specifically about dendrophyllia & balanos. He said balanos are solitary polyp species. As for dendros the distinction between them and tubastrea is usually far from clear unless your looking at a naked skeleton. Even then, the answer is not always obvious. Some obvious exceptions exist eg T. micrantha.

And as for colours, well a West Australian collector sometimes offers blue balanos (blue under white light). Admittedly its uncommon in the areas they collect in. How does that fit in with commonly perceived balano colours? Guess I'm just saying colours not a reliable indicator to define a genus / species.

If I talk to a collector, the most helpful information he can give me, is about the coral's habitat - as I can use it to modify tank conditions. Its also worth remembering that some incorrectly labelled corals are exported from our end and then incorrect IDs are just carried down the chain of custody.

BTW a lot of what I said isn't directed at the OP, rather a general observation of the assumptions we tend to make in the hobby as a whole.


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Unread 02/14/2010, 10:39 PM   #9
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Don't worry I wont argue. As for all Balanophyllia species being only a solitary polyp species, I respect your coral biologist's opinion.

Taken from attached link:
Some genera (i.e., Endopachys, Eguchipsammia, Balanophyllia) are known to asexually bud smaller coralla from their edges, the parent corallum continuing to increase in size, and one genus (Notophyllia) asexually propagates by transverse division.
http://tolweb.org/Dendrophylliidae/19165

Mike


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Unread 02/14/2010, 11:00 PM   #10
suta4242
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Aquabacs, I apologise for hijacking your thread.

If I had something to say about IDs in general I should have started a different thread.

all the best


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Unread 02/15/2010, 07:30 AM   #11
stunreefer
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Mike, that's an awesome little colony you've got there!
Quote:
Originally Posted by suta4242 View Post
He said balanos are solitary polyp species.
I've heard/read this before as well, although I have a hard time thinking L.A. D.D. would mis-label something, unless they're going off of a pre mis-ID on the CITES. Also as Mike pointed out, they can and will asexually propagate. Even the genus Rhizotrochus will do the same: http://blog.jendub.com/2007/07/02/co...zotrochus.aspx The thing that gets me is that if Balanophyllia did reproduce like this, you would expect these "colonies" to have one giant polyp (the parent) and multiple smaller one's, compared to the overall consistant polyp size we're witnessing. Perhaps there was one much larger polyp next to these that was not collected; Perhaps the "parent" grew to it's maximum size and the "budded" polyps caught up to it in size pre-collection... I'm not sure, but I am curious.
Quote:
Originally Posted by suta4242 View Post
As for dendros the distinction between them and tubastrea is usually far from clear unless your looking at a naked skeleton. Even then, the answer is not always obvious. Some obvious exceptions exist eg T. micrantha.
I couldn't agree more with this! There is this "hobby standard" of IDing Dendrophyllia vs. Tubastrea species that is just ridiculous. With that said there is a pretty general trend of the species and colors of Dendrophyllia and Tubastrea that enters the hobby which is where these assumed ID's spwan from. These corals come in many different colors and growth froms (depending on species and collection area), but we only see a handfull of the diversity.


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Unread 02/15/2010, 09:07 AM   #12
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Austin,

I also have a single polyp Balanophyllia which I purchase from Phishy Business within the last month. I am going to see how this single polyp reacts over the next year to the same feeding regime.



Mike


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Unread 02/15/2010, 12:24 PM   #13
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My DD's balano, you can see baby polyps around the edges


Later, babies growing up and it started popping out more polyps at this stage, you can see them in the middle above one of the babies


Really bad pic of the colony looking very hungry the other night, there is one large polyp, 7 original babies and 3-4 new ones



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Unread 02/15/2010, 01:42 PM   #14
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Nice pics guys!

Mike, that top-down shot makes it look like a baby rhizo

I believe that once Balanophyllia are in good health and are fed well they have enough energy to asexually "bud" babies, as do rhizos. I have had one rhizo in my care for two years that has done this, and I've seen several fresh imports come in with tiny baby "buds" on the like the pic Mike posted in another thread here in this forum. I think the balanos just have a much faster growth rate, therefore allowing them to have a colonial appearance over time; Then again maybe there are colonial species of Balanophyllia...


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Unread 02/15/2010, 06:27 PM   #15
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DD has another balano colony up right now




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Unread 02/15/2010, 08:21 PM   #16
Aquabacs
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I saw it earlier but didn't pick it up

Mike


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Unread 02/15/2010, 09:42 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by uhuru View Post
DD has another balano colony up right now

How much is it going for?


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Unread 02/15/2010, 10:13 PM   #18
Aquabacs
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Still available but it is small. Whole mini-colony is 1-1/4" Going for $180.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden...3+8&ddid=81871

Mike


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Unread 02/17/2010, 08:19 PM   #19
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My Balano which is in my avatar (crappy pic) is very similar to the DD one but 3 heads 2 almost the same size and a baby one and got it for free


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Unread 08/27/2018, 08:06 PM   #20
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Balanophyllia

I purchased 5 of these not knowing. If there is anyone interested in them let me know. I wanted the ones that open during normal hours, not the Batman kind. If you are in Miami Dade, broward county. Paid $45 a head, nice size just not what I was looking for.


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