Blastomussa?

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tooldini

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
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154
Location
Lasalle, mi USA
I just got these a couple weeks ago and wonder how do they grow? I have a few LPS's and don't fully understand how they grow. Any help would be appreciated.

thanks
Jeff
 
I have no experience with blastomussa but I can't imagine it would be any different than other lps's. My hammer coral has budded new polyps and it has recently split so one head is now two.
 
OK,, that must be how they do it like my frog spawn when I got it there were 2 heads and now there are 3 or maybe even a small one it is hard to tell.

thanks
Jeff
 
My blasto buds babies unlike my frogspawn and candy canes which branch/split existing heads. It's been growing really well in my tank so far (hopefully saying that didn't just doom it, lol).
 
What you have is a Blastomussa wellsi or Pineapple coral and to my understanding they preferr moderate lighting as strong lighting will prevent it from extending its polyps from fully expanding. I would encourage you to feed taget feed it often as you would with the rest of your LPS corals.
 
I have a Blastomussa and it is one of my favorite corals. It is really more of an "encrusting" coral for lack of a better word. As it grows it will blanket the rocks around it.
I would encourage you to feed taget feed it often as you would with the rest of your LPS corals.
IMO, this is not needed. I have never target-fed any of my LPS corals. When the tank is feed a proper diet tey will all get what they need from the water column. Lighting is still very important as well.
 
I am no expert, but I like to read, and from what I have read studies made by Calfo and Fenner have shown that a coral might survive from 1 to 3 years without target feeding it instead of a 5-10+ yrs, so if you want your corals to be healthier and survive captivity longer, then I would strongly suggest to target feed LPS corals.
 
OK ,, now what should I use to target feed them and how should I do it? Right now I have seen all my LPS's eat some zooplankton that I feed my fish. Thanks for all the help everyone

thanks
Jeff
 
I target feed mine small pieces of krill. I use some acrylic tongs that I made and just gently tuck it into the polyps. I do this every 2-3 weeks. So far, so good.
 
Yes like IndyReefMan states, with some tongs gently stick the piece of whatever you will be feeding just making sure it is under 1/4" in size into/over the polyps. I feed mine 3-5 times a week at night as these are zooplankton eaters. I like to vary the food with each feeding, though you can make blended mixes and add some unflavored gelatin to keep consistency then just cut pieces to feed these LPS. There are a lot of food preparation recepies you can make and for different kinds of corals...
HTH
 
I third that. My Blasto definately likes to eat anything that happens to land on it. I'm not target feeding nearly so often. It is like my anemone...seems to do fine without direct feeding, but clearly likes to eat, so I feed it every now and then.
 
Thanks,, I mean should I put a piece on every polyp? There are like 16 polyps and it looks like some have like 2 mouths. Or would what they get thru the regular feedkings be enough? Everytime I feed the fish they catch some zooplankton. I paid $89.00 for them so I want them to do very well like most everything else is.

thanks for the help

Jeff
 
I would have to challenge the lighting. My blastos are way up high in the tank (up with my SPS) under 250w MH and they are absolutely LOVING the light. They were in a different spot with less light prior and didn't do as well but now that they are in the new position they are splitting off babies like mad. I don't target feed them but I do a number on the tank when I feed. I'm sure they get their share of food then. Good luck with them.
 
I always heard that they didn't require extremely high light but I will keep any eye on them. Mine is at the bottom of my tank approx 14" from light which is 198 watt PC. I have about 7 watt per gallon. Someday I would love to get MH lighting but don't have the cash yet :(

thanks
Jeff
 
Moderate light is fine for these corals, MH are not needed. I have mine on the bottom of the 125 and it is doing great. There are 2 types of blastomussa, the wellsi and merleti
 
they preferr moderate lighting

This is what I was challenging. While they may do fine under mod lighting mine much prefer this well lit setting to the less intense light they were getting before. Their growth has double or tripled since I moved them. I have about 6 baby polyps on there where there weren't but a couple before.
 
I think a more appropriate phrase would be they are "highly adaptive". Blastumossa are commonly found on deeper slopes of the reef so in their natural habitat, a low light creature. So in keeping with that, placed lower in the aquarium is typically the best first option. That does not mean they will not adapt to higher light environments if done properly/carefully so as not to cause bleaching. The only caution is their colors may not be as intense and the polyp may not open as widely but that's definately not an absolute. Like most all LPS though, they don't prefer high water flow.

Cheers
Steve
 
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