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crazy Fishkeeper,Fancy guppy breeder, amateur marine fishkeeper

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Marine Tank -- LPS Corals (Blastomussa)

Bought this baby fragment of a blastomussa to try out in my marine tank as it was just going for a few bucks and it looked well enough and healthy with no signs of tissue recession. Baby buds from a main mother maybe ?? Seems to be doing ok after a month or so... Hope it does well to grow to a reasonable size and multiply...

Initially was slightly worried about the polyp appearing next to it but read that it shouldn't do any harm to the blasto...It's a non-stinging palythoa, only toxic when squashed/cut so I decided to just leave it alone...


Blasto corals are relatively rare within the trade and certainly aren’t found in the same numbers as some of the other popular corals. They are well suited to keeping at home however and once settled into a stable tank they can be very hardy and potentially fast growing. The most common colours available in this species are green and red, some animals exhibit both colours and some just a single colour or variation of.
When introduced to the home aquarium try and find them a spot with medium water flow and medium light. If you keep Power Compacts or T5 lighting then they should be happy in most places on the rockwork or sandbed but it is advisable for reefkeepers with metal halide lamps, to find them a spot slightly in the shade or towards the bottom of the tank.
Blastomussa does not require as much light as some other corals. It can be kept under normal output fluorescents without much difficulty. In some cases, it may extend more readily under subdued lighting, however it may display more attractive colors when placed under stronger lighting.

These corals can live quite happily feeding via photosynthetic algae but occasional feeding of small foods such as baby brine shrimp, rotifer and cyclopeze will keep this coral in its best condition and encourage growth.
There are two species of Blastomussa, the Merletti and Wellsi and it has been reported that the easier and more forgiving of the two is the Wellsi. So a better choice for less experienced reefkeepers or those with smaller volume tanks.

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