How does trumpet coral grow

Log in or Sign up. How does trumpet coral grow? Joined: May 4, Messages: Location: Dallas. I have a piece of trumpet coral in my tank that has 10 heads on it. Some of them look like they are getting wider, almost like they might split because there seems to be two "mouths" now. Is this what they normally do to reproduce and grow? Gexx , Jun 6, Do these heads split, or do new ones grow from the stalk? Anything special I can do or am I just stuck in the waiting game?

I just started out with a large fortune and the rest came easily. Want a Cleaner Wrasse? Consider a shower! Find More Posts by JeF4y. So the heads themselves split? Great info. I have a frogspawn that went from 2 heads to 6 pretty quick, and a Sun colony that has easily doubled in 5 months. Just didn't know what the deal was with these other two. I keep my Ca and Alk up and my candycane grows like mad. I started with 3 heads and now have 20 or so. It took about 9 months, maybe less, for this to happen.

Mine like to be lower in the tank too. I get happier coral when it's down low. The moral is the rational, and reason accepts no commandments.

That usually tells my corals that it's time to eat. All of the corals will start to puff up, and everyone's tentacles will begin to come out. A few mins after the container was cleaned out. I will turn off all of the flow in the tank. I will first feed the fish a small amount tiny. You may have to feed your fish a few time to keep them distracted. Then I start target feeding my coral. For my Candy Cane corals, I try to feed a small amount to eat polyp. I don't always get them all, next time I try to get the ones that I missed the time before.

While you should maintain proper water parameters all around, make sure to keep up with your Calcium and pH levels, your Candy Cane corals should continue to thrive. The Candy Cane growth comes from their polyps, where a single polyp will grow a second mouth similar to a soft mushroom coral. Unlike mushrooms, the Candy Cane corals are attached by a hard skeleton. So once the second mouth appears, they start to split and separate into two V-shaped branches. The dome species will continue to grow outwards, with each polyp split increasing the diameter of the colony.

Due to its skeleton and large polyps, fragging Candy Cane corals is relatively easy. You can see the skeleton and the fleshy polyp. The skeleton interconnects with another skeleton that has its polyp.

Where the skeletons interconnect is far enough from the polyp flesh and an excellent place to cut a frag. You want to cut the branch, not the polyp.

Cutting the polyp will most likely result in the loss of the head or frag. The best tool I found to cut the coral is a simple bone cutter , sure you can use a fancy band saw , and if you have one, you should, but it's not needed. Once cut, you want to glue the branch to a frag plug to provide it some stability.

If you are noticing multiple corals showing signs of stress, the first thing you should do is preparing for the next step. You should start to get saltwater ready to do a significant water change. There could be a chemical solution to fix the problem, which may prevent you from doing a water change, but if you see multiple corals stressed out, I always do a water change and then try to adjust using chemically.

The fleshy polyp contract and never seems to get large, they will stop opening as well retract to the point that you can see the skeleton behind the polyp. A healthy Candy Cane coral will extend its tentacles. The most popular are green, neon, and purple. The green trumpet coral variety is probably the most common, and least expensive. Neon and purple trumpet corals are less common and more expensive. Like many other coral species in the hobby, the Trumpet coral is commonly found in reefs in the Indian and Pacific oceans, specifically in the deeper parts of reef lagoons Sadly, this species has made its way into the vulnerable category of the endangered species list, thanks to pollution and overharvesting.

But there is good news, here, because these beautiful corals are available from aquaculture facilities. Please try to buy aquaculture vs. Since the trumpet coral comes from tropical reefs, the best water conditions are those that closely match those of a coral reef:. Read more about: the most important reef aquarium water parameters. Learn more about the test kits and salt mixes used to make and maintain reef-quality water at home. The trumpet coral is photosynthetic and will generate at least some of its nutrition from your reef tank lighting.

But compared with other photosynthetic coral species, their lighting needs are on the moderate-to-low side, which roughly corresponds to placement in the middle of your tank, or lower. They will generally do fine even placed directly in the sandy substrate at the bottom. As is the case with many of their LPS cousins, the trumpet coral will be aggressive towards competing nearby coral colonies. They have a special type of appendage called a sweeper tentacle, which is generally much longer than their feeding tentacles and will reach out and sting any neighboring coral colonies.

So it is best to place these corals in an area of the tank where they can grow and fill in your tank without coming into close proximity with other species. If you are space-constrained, you can still achieve harmony by having a relatively more aggressive fragging plan to keep the colony sized appropriately for the space allowed.