War Coral - Nighttime Photography

When the lights go out on the reef tank, all hell breaks loose with the War Coral! There are numerous feeder tentacles waiting for nighttime creatures to accidentally brush against them. I can't image what the sting might feel like on my fingers.

You can even see that the War Coral is attacking the Coralline Algae at the base. It's most likely clearing a space for future expansion of the colony.

I used the camera's built-in flash to capture this nighttime image.

Here's a daytime, close-up image of the War Coral's "peacetime" look.

Coral Shopping Spree

Living on the West Coast has its benefits...

Yesterday, I was able to pick out some corals at AquaSD. It really was like being in a candy shop. The variety of colors and shapes dazzled my eyes and piqued the right side of my brain. And, I nearly drained my wallet to the chagrin of the other side of my brain. I at least had enough money left over to purchase food for the new animals!

I was in a rush to acclimate the corals because I had a class to attend within an hour. So, I equilibrated them to the temperature of the tank by floating the bags for 10 minutes. Then, I added some corals to the main tank and some to the refugium.

This is just an example of the corals I purchased: War Coral, Japanese Blue Snowflakes, Red Goniopora, and a Montiopora/palythoa combo (correction: Porites/palythoa combo).

Here are some of the zoanthids and palythoas. Some of them aren't so colorful, but when the numbers increase, they can create an interesting pattern. The SPS frag may take several weeks before it reveals any colors in my tank.