coral id please

[beeguiles]

Hubby and I went to the lfs today and saw a little frag. To me it looks like a soft coral but idk what its called and the girl at the lfs didn't know either. Here is a couple pictures. I don't think its open all the way looks like a little yellowish green bush anybody know the name of it? Thanks!

 

[Waddi]

Does it sway? Have you touched it? Kinda looks like an acro to me. SPS.

 

[beeguiles]

When I first saw it i thought it was an acro as well but when you touch it, it feels like a soft coral and it shrivels up. When it grows it looks like it could sway.

 

[beeguiles]

Here's another shot of the polyps more extended.

 

[little_fish]

Im pretty sure its a carnation coral, NPS soft coral, very hard to keep

Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Carnation Tree Coral

 

[beeguiles]

Ahh I hope its not a carnation coral! I only brought it home bc it was free and I figured its a soft coral and shouldn't be too hard to keep. Do carnations come in the color? I thought they are sopposed to be brightly colored.

 

[little_fish]

They come in lots of corals, but i would also think that the gradual loss of the bright colors is because it has been slowly starving.

 

[beeguiles]

Hmm..well I guess all I can do now is keep an eye in it and try to keep it well fed. It's better off in my tank than the lfs, no offense to them but they don't really know how to tske care of the corals very well. I traded in some metallic green Gsp and now its just pale green bc they keep only the moonlights on all the time. Kinda makes me mad...

 

[Bifferwine]

I think Hannah is right. There's a chance is a very odd colored colt coral or a very odd colored green nepthea.

 

[beeguiles]

The lights turned off for the night so all that's on is the led moonlights now and it closed up like a photosynthetic corals do. Do carnations do this? Or do they stay open all the time?

 

[AdeptMrSniffles]

A terrific LFS near me has one in their display tank. They've placed it on the underside of a shelf piece of LR. It's extremely beautiful. Just try to keep it in low light with medium to strong flow. I wouldn't worry about feeding it. Just keep up with water changes.