Colt Coral - Cladiella sp.

Pictured to the left is a Colt Coral after only a few weeks in the tank. When first added to the tank it refused to open up and slumped over. As a trial and error guess, I moved the coral dead center of the tank under direct metal halide lighting and it quickly began to open up. I’ve left it there and has been doing wonderfully.

Alcyonium is very similar to Cladiella so some confusion exists between genera. Alcyonium tend to be slimy to the touch whereas the others may be rough in texture.

This picture shows the coral 6 months later. It is much lager in size. The coral grew so large it could no longer balance on the rock it was on. I had to move the coral with its rock to the side of the tank on the sand bed where its gets less current and does not fall over.

This picture shows an extreme close-up of the tentacles of the Colt Coral where you can see the delicate branching structures.