On the Coral Spotlight blog posts I'm going to pick a few corals that are in store and online. Some will be new arrivals and some are just nice pieces that I like or think deserve a bit of the limelight for a minute. Either way, here's a few corals for this month that I think are worth a look at, just click the coral name and it will take you to the RockNCritters online listing, enjoy!
How about a coral that is easy to care for, is tolerant of less than ideal parameters, doesn't require top of the range lighting and best of all, look really good? Well, I give you the Mushroom Coral. I used to write Mushrooms off as being bland and boring but there are some really nice variations out there from named types, ricordeas and bounce mushrooms to ultra high end, there is quite literally something out there for everyone. Best of all, you don't need to be a super experienced SPS, high end stick keeper to look after these, they are perfect for beginners.
Here are the Mushroom basics; firstly there are four main types of mushroom; Ricordea, Rhodactis, Discosoma and Actinodiscus. Ricordeas have a distinct bubbled texture on the leaf of the coral. Rhodactis have a somewhat bubbled, rough looking texture on the leaf, Discosoma are similar and Actinodiscus have a smooth leaf. All Mushrooms generally have the same care requirements; low to medium light, low to medium flow and they will get the majority of their food supply from photosynthesis and filter feeding from the water column although you can augment this by adding some filter food into the water column. The only exception to the general care requirements stated are some high end Mushrooms which have intense colouration and as such require stronger lighting. Still though, they won't need super strong SPS lighting but might benefit from just being a bit higher on your rock scape rather than on the sand bed or lower third of the rock work.
As for my favourite pick of the bunch, I really like the Superman Mushroom which is the centre bottom picture on the mosaic above. The Supermans have been fragged up in store onto individual frag plugs so they can be easily placed in your reef at home plus they've had lots of time to settle and are really showing their blue and red colouration nicely. There are some nice green mushrooms coming onto the soft coral table in the next week or so as well which are really really nice too so if you're popping into the shop, check them out!
As for other Coral in store, there are plenty of nice pieces in right now. Here are a few that have grabbed my attention.
Left to Right we have; Duncan Frags, Anti Freeze Torch and Blue and Gold Hammer.
The Duncan Frags in store right now are a good size with multiple heads. They've been sitting in the grow on tray for a while now to settle in and it's paid off because they're looking really good. There are a few nice Torches in at the moment including some gold torches which I've included before but right now this Anti Freeze is looking good. Finally, last but not least this is hands down my favourite in store right now and that is this Blue and Gold hammer. I wouldn't say this is a particularly rare Hammer Coral but it's a bit like the Pink Hammers, they're not super rare but at the same time they're not always seen but it will be a centre piece coral in your reef that's for certain. It's something about walling hammers and the Blue/Gold colouration... it just looks great! There's only one in store though so be sure to move fast if you like the sound of it!
That's it for this month but by no means is this all there is. There is absolutely tons of coral in store and more still being processed and settled. I can honestly say if you're looking for coral then it is well worth paying the store a visit, you wont be disappointed!