# any experience with chili coral?



## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

I've been curious about this coral for a while. I know it's non-photo synthetic, and thus have avoided it. Some on this forum are fans of NPS. can you share with us your experiences with different kinds of chili you've kept or heard of. and how high maintenance are they? if they are available locally.


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## Sea MunnKey (Oct 2, 2014)

Yes they're available but requires heavy feeding & digs high nutrient system. Hang it upside down. No photosynthetic


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

Very cool coral !
If you get a lead on any locally, I'm in !


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## wchen9 (Jan 23, 2014)

I think I saw one or two at big als scarb last week, not sure if it's still there


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## notclear (Nov 5, 2011)

It died in my tank after a year or so.


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## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

Bayinaung said:


> I've been curious about this coral for a while. I know it's non-photo synthetic, and thus have avoided it. Some on this forum are fans of NPS. can you share with us your experiences with different kinds of chili you've kept or heard of. and how high maintenance are they? if they are available locally.


I have 2 chili sponge corals plus a red finger coral. Neither of the chilis are doing great. I have moved them several times, and despite the fact that I feed my tank heavily they are just ok.

High flow is definitely needed, with lots of food several times a day.

All were picked up BA Barrie. The fish guy at the time was a fan of whips and sponges. He now works at the Newmarket store and these are easy to get, just no one brings them in because of their maintenance.


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

Based on the experiences from more seasoned reef keepers, this one looks pretty risky


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

Yeah im not ready to take the plunge. Interesting though that its skeleton has been used for jewellery for centuries. Many people are still poaching it illegally. I just wonder if large scale farming might be the answer. 


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## RKLion (Jul 2, 2014)

I kept one many years ago. Not too difficult to keep. Requires a bit of feeding as its an NPS. It didnt do much during the day just looked like a red blob but at night it inflated and the polyps came out. i didnt find it too entertaining...


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

RKLion said:


> I kept one many years ago. Not too difficult to keep. Requires a bit of feeding as its an NPS. It didnt do much during the day just looked like a red blob but at night it inflated and the polyps came out. i didnt find it too entertaining...


a red blob lol that's not very pretty at all. How is it a blob? I thought it was branching like this:


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## cica (Feb 10, 2013)

It is like this when it is in dark but it shrinks if the lights are on. It is a soft coral, just like the kenya tree, so it can shrink. It opens up night time for feeding.


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## RKLion (Jul 2, 2014)

Bayinaung said:


> a red blob lol that's not very pretty at all. How is it a blob? I thought it was branching like this:


Pretty much what Cica said^


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## RKLion (Jul 2, 2014)

If it stayed like that during the day it would be really cool but it doesn't. Just looks like a blob so I don't find it appealing personally.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

Actually the skeleton of the coral is bright orange red color so even when the polyps are not extended it is colourful. Perhaps we are not speaking of the same coral?

This is how they look like in the mediterranean, hanging upside down. You see the corals with no polyp extension. the skeleton they build is hard, not soft so it can't become a blob.


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## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

Different. Not sure the correct name for your photo.
The chili coral I have is a soft body Nephthyigorgia that is a blob when not extended.
Looks like this:


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## RKLion (Jul 2, 2014)

Crayon said:


> Different. Not sure the correct name for your photo.
> The chili coral I have is a soft body Nephthyigorgia that is a blob when not extended.
> Looks like this:


That is the one I kept also. Maybe when mounted upside down then it will blob less but towards the light like in the pic will result in blobbing during the day.


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

Crayon said:


> Different. Not sure the correct name for your photo.
> The chili coral I have is a soft body Nephthyigorgia that is a blob when not extended.
> Looks like this:


I like yours Cheryl ! 
Any fragging ??!!


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## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

Well, it's sort of like this.......that photo came off the internet cause I moved mine last week, and they are just settling in again. Mine are slightly different, red body (identical to photo) but the polyps are orange. I have 2, so..........if you want to visit, we could chat.

I also have another one which is not a chili coral, it's more of an encrusting red sponge which gets really long white polyps like the photo, except it's impossible to frag. I just wait for it to spread onto another rock and move it. TeeMee knows the name, I can't remember, and what I call it is not appropriate for the forum. When it's open it looks like dandelion seed flowers.


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## violet (Jun 29, 2006)

I have seen them at Aquatic Kingdom 2 weeks ago


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## teemee (Aug 29, 2009)

violet said:


> I have seen them at Aquatic Kingdom 2 weeks ago


was there last week and didn't see any, but give Dan a call.

Cheryl, did you pick one up after you saw mine?!?!?


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

teemee said:


> was there last week and didn't see any, but give Dan a call.
> 
> Cheryl, did you pick one up after you saw mine?!?!?


There should be 2 more at big als North York. I got one there this week. Here is a bad picture of it open on the first night, will have to snap another one.


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## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

teemee said:


> Cheryl, did you pick one up after you saw mine?!?!?


We never got around to discussing the chili corals when I visited your place. There was just too much cool stuff to see! I've had these corals for over a year, but they were just ok, not doing great, so recently I moved them to see if I could get them to open up more. It seems to be working.

I'm really digging this orange one that Gooba has posted. It reminds me of something I've seen in your tank TeeMee, yes?


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

Daytime pic:


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

Ahh yes the infamous "red blob" as confirmed by RKLion


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## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

goobafish said:


> Daytime pic:


Add eyes and I think it's Jabba.......


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## RKLion (Jul 2, 2014)

Lol thats about right^


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

I really wish it looked prettier during the day, its awesome at night. BA North York still had 2 frags when I was there tonight.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

oh yeah that is a blob alright. 

I'm looking for Nephthyigorgia like that video. I think they are often reported seen upside down and build hard skeleton. If all the Nephthyigorgia corals people are seeing do not have hard skeletons then this particular type isn't seen in the hobby trade then. Perhaps better prices are fetched for them dead than alive.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

I think my research led me down the wrong path. The coral I'm thinking of may have an entirely different set of names: corallium rubrum or mediterranean red coral or fire coral, and related species. The thread below from RC is of the fire coral. It is a type of gorgonian. So should I start a new thread asking if people have had experience with this?

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2330423&referrerid=305426


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## teemee (Aug 29, 2009)

i had a look at the RC thread. The gorgonian in that thread is a Melithaea, not red coral/Fire coral.
I have a small red coral - I've had it for probably 3 years now... It came in mis-identifiedas a gorgonian, but seeing as though it's melted to it's skeleton almost a few times, I've been able to figure out what it is. I've only seen this one ever in the city. It's a protected species on Cites appendix one if i remember correctly, so shouldn't come in, either.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

Interesting. They do look very similar. I had read up that the corralium rubrum isn't protected *yet* do to lobbying as the coral is traded for semi precious jewellery trading. So how about the rubrum and related species? I do like the way the one from RC thread look but that one as you said Teemee is protected so I guess we won't see that one around.


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## teemee (Aug 29, 2009)

if you like the one in the RC thread, it's Melithaea sp. and last time I was at AK they had about 5 colonies of it 
the ones in the RC thread are definitely not red coral, they're a gorgonian...
as soon as i re-scape my tank, i'll post some pictures of it, but it's never doing great.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

*correction on cites*

Yes you're right teemee, the corralium rubrum is under cites. rubrum is from the mediterranean. However the other related species are not yet included, and while US has proposed their inclusion it is not there yet.

Here's an excerpt from oceana.org:

Red corals {Corallium regale and Paracorallium japonicum} and pink corals {Corallium secundum} from the Pacific

"Asian fleets began exploiting precious corals from the Pacific Ocean in the beginning of the nineteenth century. Japanese and
Taiwanese catches have dropped drastically, to only four percent and one percent, respectively, of their maximum highs in the
1970s and 80s,10 when catches often exceeded 200 tonnes.11
The United States, especially around the Hawaiian Islands and some seamounts, has also maintained an active industry for
coral exploitation and commercialisation.
Most Corallium sp. reefs in the west Pacific have been quickly depleted, in some cases in only a five-year time period."

I think this report clearly states the need to farm this coral. Not home aquaria but in the ocean. That would be a new novel idea isn't it - farming the oceans. Although the thought does make me cringe. Just think of what man has done to the surface of earth with farming and animal husbandry. I think that's our most destructive environmental practice - farming.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

teemee said:


> if you like the one in the RC thread, it's Melithaea sp. and last time I was at AK they had about 5 colonies of it
> the ones in the RC thread are definitely not red coral, they're a gorgonian...
> as soon as i re-scape my tank, i'll post some pictures of it, but it's never doing great.


oh yeah thanks! been looking for an excuse to make a trip.


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