ReefdUp December 13, 2020 December 13, 2020 I woke up this morning and went to feed my sun corals... and found this!! One immediately settled on the glass, so as long as nothing knocks it free, I'll be watching it! I don't have any real hopes (my tanks are a bit sad-looking now thanks to covid completely upsetting life as we knew it - notice the aiptasia... beghias are working to fix that.) If you haven't seen blue sun corals, here's what my colony looks like:
elbowdeep88 December 13, 2020 December 13, 2020 That’s awesome. Do they carry zygotes for a few months like rock nems and that is what we are seeing here? Or are those eggs? I’ve never seen or heard of blue sun coral. Stunning. Please let me know if you decide to frag.
ReefdUp December 13, 2020 Author December 13, 2020 26 minutes ago, elbowdeep88 said: That’s awesome. Do they carry zygotes for a few months like rock nems and that is what we are seeing here? Or are those eggs? I’ve never seen or heard of blue sun coral. Stunning. Please let me know if you decide to frag. I'll be the first to admit I know nothing about sun coral sexual reproduction. I found a few threads and research papers on it, but they seemed to conflict (seems like consensus was that they're brooders, but some sources said if what's released looks like mine, they're duds.) If I wasn't studying for school I'd be studying more on this! As for fragging, I won't be doing that for a while. These are new to the hobby, and a lot of people (including me) initially thought they were dyed. I want to make sure these corals are stable, as they do seem to differ from regular sun corals. For instance, they do seem to be light-dependent. The highest lit areas maintain the insane blue, but the shaded areas are more yellowish-green (tilted it below to show the shaded areas).
lowsingle December 13, 2020 December 13, 2020 I thought they were all dyed....how long have you had them?..let us know if they are real as that would be a killer color morph if they are natural...... Darren
ReefdUp December 13, 2020 Author December 13, 2020 3 hours ago, lowsingle said: I thought they were all dyed....how long have you had them?..let us know if they are real as that would be a killer color morph if they are natural...... Darren I thought they were dyed too (and so did the person I got them from.) But, I've had them since July, and the tops are just as vibrant blue as day 1. I have no reason to believe they're dyed now.
lynn.reef.nerd December 14, 2020 December 14, 2020 Looks awesome! Love the update and your contribution to this hobby!Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk
lowsingle December 14, 2020 December 14, 2020 19 hours ago, ReefdUp said: I thought they were dyed too (and so did the person I got them from.) But, I've had them since July, and the tops are just as vibrant blue as day 1. I have no reason to believe they're dyed now. Nice to hear! Now I need a frag =)
ReefdUp August 25, 2021 Author August 25, 2021 Hello all! I just wanted to report that these are still as blue as the day I received them, over a year later. Thanks to our awesome WAMAS leadership team and their great speaker choice, I was introduced to Matt Wandell of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. As soon as the weather cools, I'll be sending out half of the colony to go on display in their NPS tank!! I'm writing up all of my experience with these on my blog to help document everything I've learned over the past year with them, to hopefully help others (and will share here as well).
DaJMasta August 25, 2021 August 25, 2021 Congrats, that's very cool! Let us know if it spawns in your tank and you have some spare babies that settle out on the sand
ReefdUp August 25, 2021 Author August 25, 2021 Part of the reason I'm giving half the colony to the MB Aquarium is that I'm just not set up to care for a NPS long term. It has survived but not thrived. I've only seen the one spawning event, and those appeared to be duds. Let's keep our fingers crossed though!
YHSublime August 25, 2021 August 25, 2021 That's super cool. Sounds like you might get to name some NPS after you!
lowsingle August 26, 2021 August 26, 2021 23 hours ago, ReefdUp said: Hello all! I just wanted to report that these are still as blue as the day I received them, over a year later. Thanks to our awesome WAMAS leadership team and their great speaker choice, I was introduced to Matt Wandell of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. As soon as the weather cools, I'll be sending out half of the colony to go on display in their NPS tank!! I'm writing up all of my experience with these on my blog to help document everything I've learned over the past year with them, to hopefully help others (and will share here as well). awesome work and kudos for spreading the love to other hobbyists and aquariums! Darren
monkiboy August 27, 2021 August 27, 2021 This is awesome. I would like to get involved and offer help. Sent you a PM.
ReefdUp August 28, 2021 Author August 28, 2021 Thanks everyone for following along on my adventure, offering help, and sharing in my excitement! I've finally documented my experience with the blue sun corals on my blog: https://coraleverafter.org/?p=647
KingOfAll_Tyrants August 29, 2021 August 29, 2021 Thanks, this is really interesting and those are really cool corals.
jason the filter freak August 30, 2021 August 30, 2021 I've never seen blue sun coral before..very cool
ReefdUp November 3, 2021 Author November 3, 2021 Update time! I just donated the coral to Monterey Bay Aquarium so everyone can enjoy it (and so it can receive full-time proper care.) On Monday, I flew to Monterey, CA. Needless to say, carrying-on a coral on a two-leg trip (on American Airlines, no less, with all their flight cancelations this weekend) was a bit stressful... not sure if it was more stressful to me or the coral! But we both arrived on time. Stressed, but still healthy. Once the coral goes through quarantine, it'll be going on display in Monterey Bay Aquarium's Tubastraea display.
DaJMasta November 3, 2021 November 3, 2021 Very cool, hope they can snap some shots for you when it's out.
lynn.reef.nerd November 3, 2021 November 3, 2021 This is super cool what you have done. This is dedication! I'm glad it found the right person to take care of it and now the perfect home! Thank you for all you have done.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now