nephtheid soft coral

[littlelil]

anyone know anything about these corals?

here are some links, but not a lot of info on care and stuff. are they readily available?

http://therightblue.com/2008/02/nephtheid-soft-corals-fire-in-night.html
http://www.uga.edu/cuda/softcoral.html

they are awesome

[Nyx]

Although they are an online retailer (US only), I use http://www.liveaquaria.com/ as a mini-encyclopedia when it comes to fish, corals, etc. If you type nephtheid in their search bar, it will give you a list of over a dozen nephtheidae corals that are more commonly available. When you click on the name of any one, it opens to it's own page which provides a photo and gives you "quick stats" plus reasonably detailed information about their care, to help you make a decision as well as providing you the proper name of whichever one you decide on so you can ask your LSP if it's available or orderable. For example, from http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+600+645&pcatid=645&N=0:

Carnation Tree Coral
(Dendronephthya sp.)
QUICK STATS
Care Level: Expert Only
Temperament: Peaceful
Lighting: Low
Waterflow: Medium to Strong
Placement: All
Water Conditions: 72-78° F, sg 1.023-1.025, pH 8.1-8.4, dKH 8-12
Color Form: Orange, Red
Supplements: Iodine, Strontium, Trace Elements
Origin: Fiji, Indo-Pacific, Indonesia, South Pacific
Family: Nephtheidae

I refer to it as a first stop when I'm looking for information on something before I buy because there is so much inaccurate information out there. Hope this helps a bit.

[littlelil]

yes, this is great. I was hoping the care level wouldn't be "expert only" like it is... all the most beautlful corals are for advanced care only. It's really cool that the ocean, that gets absolutely no care, is perfect all the time... until humans go and ruin it.. lol. i guess their body of water is much larger and therefore more stable too though... k, just thinking out loud now. thanks, nyx.

i was also just wondering if anyone on ovas actually has experience with them...? anybody?

[greddy]

I had a red carnation coral, they aren't easy to keep happy. Mine lasted over 8 months but it never really fully inflated.  I target fed it and it would eat but it was never happy.  I wouldn't try one of these again.  If you can successfully keep other filter feeders then maybe you could try it (ie: non phot syn gorgs).  I would say also having a very healthy established tank helps, even though mine was at the time (over 2yrs old when I tried the carnation).  There are a few colt corals (easier to keep) and similar that are close looking, but dint have the carnations colors.