Bpb Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Got this a while back. It was mostly dead but has re-encrusted over its dead skeleton and now is starting to branch. It's ugly. Brown as brown can be. I've had it probably 6 months. Color hasn't changed. It's the only brown sps in the tank so I don't think it's a water quality issue. All the other acros look great. At first I thought it was a montipora based on the polyps but the branching is totally different. Any ideas? Will it ever color up? Sorry bout the blueness. My phone seems to be ultra sensitive to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Birds nest is my guess Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Could be a digi with some weird growth. Polyps look more like a digi or monti than a birdsnest to me. May want to try higher light and see if it lightens up. Browning typically means it needs more light, assuming your PO4 isn't the cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 Right see the polyps look very "digi", but its got coralites where the polyps are which none of my digis have. And the growth tips are very different looking. Much sharper and more jagged as opposed to a smooth blunt point like on my digis. It's up pretty high. There's a blue stag, green and pink birds nests on the same frag rack and they look great. Nice and bright Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 I vote digi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 Ill certainly yield to the experts on this one. Hate how hard it is to ID an sps when they're not big branching specimens. I've got a frag rack with several "mystery" sps that were all bleached and mostly dead 6 months ago that I took on as a rehab effort. Been neat seeing what they turn into Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Yall amaze me with your I.D skills. This is one reason I never got into sps in the past, I can't tell half of them apart! http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+1492+2294+1677&pcatid=1677 looks just like http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+1492+2293+1275&pcatid=1275 when I look at the polyps. What do yall look for to tell them apart? I need to learn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 Yeah the polyps on birdsnest and digis look very similar. Some birdsnest grow with blunt tips and others with sharp. I may be off mark here but a good thing to look at here is that birdsnest (in my tank anyway) have polyps covering their tips an they just grow, whereas all my digis have white, polyp less tips where you can see they're growing. There will be a spot on a flat encrusted part where the polyps disappear and it turns white, and a branch will sprout up from there. With acropora, polyp less white tips usually means burning through from too high of alk under ulns conditions correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lamont Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 This is German blue digitata. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Since there is no terminal axial coralite it's not an Acropora sp. I'm also going to say it's not a Montipora sp. as the tips are too sharply tapered (it's too pointy ), all the branching Montipora species I've seen have much blunter tips. It does remind me a bit of a Seriatopora but I'm more inclined to S. aculeata or S. stellata which have shorter and more strongly tapered branches than S. histrix (Birdsnest). It also reminds me of one of the Anacropora sp, like Anacropora spinosa but I can't find a picture with polyps extended. http://www.arkive.org/anacropora-coral/anacropora-spinosa/image-G71859.html If it is an Anacropora species it will never color up, variations of brown is all you get. What you will need to do is expierament moving it to higher light levels to stimulate it to produce more fluorescing or chromo protieins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted August 22, 2013 Author Share Posted August 22, 2013 It looks like the Anacropora Id is a pretty close match, but the previous owner said it used to be bright green before it browned out in his tank crash. It's growing very fast all the sudden. Been hanging out on the frag rack for months doing nothing and suddenly in the last couple weeks its taken off and is branching and growing fast which is typical for my tank. It sure is ugly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 I'm going with birdsnest! Definitely not digitata. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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