Plerogyra/Physogyra spp.

[BrianO]

Hi All

OK, Time for another:biggrin:

As per normal lets see loads of replies !!:eek3:


**** Coral Of The Week ****


Common Name: " Bubble Coral" , Pearl Coral, Bladder Coral ".


Scientific Names:" Plerogyra/Physogyra spp."

Featured In: " The Reef Aq." Vol 1.
* * * * * * * * Delbeek & Sprung.
* * * * * * * * Pg.410 - 414.

* * * * * * * " Corals a Quick Ref.Guide "
* * * * * * * *J.Sprung
* * * * * * * *Page
* * * * * * * * *

Please post any information/knowledge you have in relation to this coral and its upkeep, to cover such topics as:

Conditions Favoured *

Ie: Temperature, Water Chemistry, Flow Rates, Lighting, Placement etc.[/font]


Also please comment under the other headings , such as:

Agressiveness, Hardiness, Colour Morphs, Reproductive Methods, Feeding Of, Fragging Of, Diseases Susceptible To, Sucessfull Shipping & Transportation Of, Scientific References, Related Corals, Pictures of,

And Any Other Relevant Info.

Here is a " Plerogyra Sinuosa " I have in my tank at war with Discosoma spp.



*
http://wsphotofews.excite.com/023/6z/Hg/zy/GH83429.jpg


Cheers


Brian.:biggrin:



(Edited by IrishReefer at 8:35 am on July 19, 2001)

(Edited by IrishReefer at 8:39 am on July 19, 2001)

[Mick]

Hi Brian
what a beautiful picture again m8 and thanks a million for all the info thats a great help to us beginners:eyes:keep um coming

[Suk]

Hi All,
I've had these 2 corals since I started out around a year ago. They're very easy to keep, I only have 5 tubes but they seem fine although they got a bit excited when I had my video light on them for this shoot.
I feed them once a week on Lance fish which they seem to relish.
http://wsphotofews.excite.com/026/Tw/nm/MR/2329332.jpg
http://wsphotofews.excite.com/026/Tw/nm/MR/2q19787.jpg
http://wsphotofews.excite.com/026/Tw/nm/MR/2U81931.jpg

:biggrin:

[Lisa Page]

Hi all,

The first hard coral added to my tank! IME easy to keep :biggrin: They prefer slight water flow and medium lighting. Since adding my IKS pump my 'Bubbles' really do not expand as much as they did before. I should really move them to a quieter spot but, errr, have nowhere to move them to :eyes:

They can be very aggressive sending out sweeper tentacles to sting nearby corals. I had to move a Lobophyllia out of reach as it was suffering from the contact :sad:

They readily accept feeding eg. pieces of shrimp/lancefish etc. I do this about once a month but probably should offer it more often (I've been reading a lot about feeding corals recently).

I have two different species of 'Bubble' in my tank, Plerogyra sinuosa and an unidentified Plerogyra sp.?http://www.ultimatereef.net/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif (commonly called *"Octobubble", this could be a Physogyra sp. though). The latter has split into two.

IME they are not fast growers, possibly directly related to my feeding regimen. The growth of my Plerogyra could also be effected by a worm that it has growing in its gastrovascular cavity (stomach :wink:). The head of the worm, some sort of tubeworm, can be seem poking out of the coral's mouth. I'm not sure if the worm's presence is negatively impacting on the health of the coral. It's been there for several years already.

Here's my Plerogyra sinuosa:

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/026/MI/hz/qt/Jj45531.jpg

Here's a close-up of the 'bubbles':

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/013/Uz/zu/vs/mJ27369.jpg

Finally here's the "Octobubble" extending a sweeper tentacle:

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/013/F2/Lb/rA/Jx28755.jpg

Regards

[Cybermanc]

Lisa.
You have been reading up on feeding corals??
I just got my first hard coral (Trachyphillia) and was wondering how to feed it. I have the books that say what to feed, just not how. Do I push lancefish into it or squirt brine into its tentacles at night??
Saw it close in on a small worm last night under the torchlight. Looked pretty neat.
Thanks in advance
Cybermanc :smile:

[Lisa Page]

Hi Cybermanc,

If your fish are anything like mine, the best time to feed your Trachyphyllia is at night. It can be fed in the day if the tentacles extend (this usually happens after I've fed my fish) but IME the fish usually spot the food before the coral has a chance to pass it to its mouth. The number of times I've cursed my fish for 'stealing'! :mad:

You can just squirt some brineshrimp over the tentacles or alternatively use a pair of tongs to gently place a piece of food eg. shrimp/lancefish in the tentacles. If the food sticks to the tentacles and it gets passed to the mouth you're on to a winner but if it lets it go then it probably doesn't want to eat it. Try allsorts of goodies till you find what the coral likes.

HTH :biggrin:

Regards

[Cybermanc]

Cheers Lisa :cheesy:
Will give it a go, I have cockle, brine shrimp, mysis and Lance fish lying around so it must like at least one of them.
Thanks again
Cybermanc :wink:

[Doh]

hmm... this is onw coral i don't seem to have much look with http://www.ultimatereef.net/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

heres a pics of when it was in its prime....

http://www.dohsreeftank.btinternet.co.uk/pics/bubble.jpg

as it happens this was my first hard coral to be added to the tank and it did very well, there was plenty of new grow both on the soft tissue and skelton. It seemed to prefer medium light with low to medium flow.
It even looks unaffected dued my heater overload when the tank hit 95 in a few hours :eek:

I found it to be very aggressive, and need plenty of space to avoid it stinging the crap outta everything. I feed it very now and then, sometimes it seemed interested sometimes not :confused:

Unfortunatley earlier this year it went into decline in a big way http://www.ultimatereef.net/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif it lost alot of tissue and developed what i think was brown jelly disease :eyes: anyhow i cleared that up but its never returned to its former glory, it remains alive but the bubbles are only a few mm across and generally very looking pretty sorry for itself http://www.ultimatereef.net/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

still it's been like that for a number of months and i've still not gave up hope that it'll recover:biggrin:

[mridley]

I have two bubbles this one has doubled in size since it was purchased about 12 months ago. It does seem to like strong lighting and shielding from strong currents.

http://www.reefworld.20m.com/UltimateTank%2020-7-01_00046.jpg

[simon garratt]

Hi folks..


Ive currently got 5 bubbles. They are probably my favorite coral in that apart from thier stinging power which is considerable, I would probably rate them as the first hard coral to try when moving up to a reef set-up (not to put down the FO keepers). Most, exept the green grape bubble will handle quite low light levels as long as they are fed regulaly ie once a week on lance fish or any other chunky food, I try to make sure that there is one piece of food for each mouth on any given coral.

My own lighting consists of 2x48in actinics and 3x48in marine whites (arcadia)as i gave up on tritons as they go pink after about 2 months. with this set-up i have no problems keeping bubbles at all.

They do like a gentle current especially the large green grape veriety, whereas my pearl bubble doesnt mind a gentle wafting especially when im feeding mysis, or bloodworm to the fish.

They are firm favorites for my clown fish and dont mind the attention at all after a while, but small clowns should be acclimatised slowly as my Maroon got some nasty stings when first aquainted, then acclimatised over about 48 hrs by very gently touching the coral with just the tip of the chin, of the tips of the pelvic fins untill the coral gave up stinging/or imunity was built up....

Water perameters are as follows..

NO3 7-10ppm
PO4 0.07ppm
Ca 420ppm
Alc 3.2 Meq/L
Temp 80-82 over 24hrs.
SG 1.025


Anyway.Here's some Photo's




This is 1 head of a large green bubble about a week ago which i split away from the others due to a small amount of tissue damage which i didnt want to spread to the other heads should infection have set in although all apears fine now so im not too worried.

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/030/jm/Gh/Tm/fb49251.jpg

This is the other two heads which when fully expanded mesures about 8-10in across with sweeper tentacles that are about 2-3in long.

Plerogyra Sinuosa

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/030/jm/Gh/Tm/fE19258.jpg


This is one of my Physogyra Sp.? which have smaller vesicles than P.Sinuosa. This one I have had for about 3yrs now, during which time it has grown steadily although it has taken on a spurt since i raised my Ca levels and started using RO water.

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/033/pe/DO/Ep/en51104.jpg

This final one one eludes identification (to me at least) but has remained about the same for about 4 years now but does grow slowly, it wont accept large food but loves a spray of brineshrimp once a week...

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/023/ys/LS/BB/Se85128.jpg


Cheers.


Si.

[huskydog]

Hello

This is my Plerogyra in feeding mode

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/034/wK/ow/fL/GX71911.jpg



and with my Anthias

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/036/eA/yP/CP/Hx98892.jpg


Martin

(Edited by huskydog at 9http://www.ultimatereef.net/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif1 am on July 26, 2001)

[bosi]

Hi
Fantastic photos.
I started reef keeping 22 years ago, after few years of FO tanks.
My first coral was a small Plerogyra spp. Size of skeleton was about 5 cm lenght and 2 cm wide. Now (yes, after 22 years) it has become 29cm on the main colony, and around 12 cm on each of the 7 frags that I cut around 5 years ago.

3 years ago I moved it in a dark corner of my main 800lt SPS tank (it's the only LPS) and I have never fed him since.

Alex

[Lisa Page]

Hi Alex,

Wow 22 years old that's fantastic!!! Any chance of seeing a picture of it/them?
:biggrin:

[bosi]

Hi Lisa
Unfortunately I don't have any good photographic equipment. I have a digital camera though and lots of videos. I'll see if I can make some still photos out of one.
Another old friend I had for a long time is
1 Stenopus hispidus which died last year at the age of 9!!!
Her partner (the male I think) died 6 years ago and she has attempted murder on any other Stenopus I have tried to keep her company http://www.ultimatereef.net/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
I had to feed her every day a small chunk of fresh fish or prawn directly into her refuge in the last 6 months as she was too old to move around http://www.ultimatereef.net/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif She got quite used to this and wasn't afraid of my hands at all. bless her.


Alex

[Lisa Page]

Alex,

I hope I manage to keep my Bubble for 22 years. Mines still a young-un at a mere 6+ years :smile:

Nine years, now that sounds a ripe old age for a shrimp. Sadly my cleaners were, err, eaten by my Scarlet Hawk :sad: I haven't tried to keep shrimp since (the Hawk has been with me for over 6.5 years).

So, what other old timers have you got in your tank? Maybe you could post a new thread so we can all hear about your tank. :biggrin:

[bosi]

Lisa
Unfortunatly I don't have any other really old friend in my tank.
BTW,I have seen your site and it's great (as is your tank)
I am setting up a new 25gal reef for SPS propagation. I will start a thread when I have it ready.
Do you know of anyone selling SPS frags?(South London or WEB?)
I am looking for ANY SPS frag, but more specifically for Millieporas (http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/millipora_PinkYellow.htm)
and Montipora digitata (http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/m__digitata_-_orange.htm)


Alex

[sharky]

Here are some pics of my Bubble Coral had it about 4 years, been in all sorts of conditions form natural daylight only, while in my garage to Metal Halides/ Actinics.

It seems to like moderate water flow, will tolerate nitrates, and generally likes to be at the bottom of the tank with good flow all around the polyps. One of my favourite corals.

Sharky

[sharky]

Here's another pic when it was in my main tank.

[lushuk]

Hers mine one of my favs after searching hi and low for one!
Cheers Eddy

[narthur]

where do most peeps position their bubble corals do they pack quite a punch?? N

[clippo]

anyone in north west got a plerogyra frag to sell?

been looking for one for ages in LFSs.

Here's my physogyra lichtensteini...