Growth of Blastomussa merleti

[hideme]

This may seem like a dumb question, but how does the Blastomussa merleti grow? Is it like a candy cane, and splits? Should it be attached to something? I have mine sort of stuck in the substrate and I'm waiting for it to magically do something, but in the last several months I've had it, it just kind of sits there. What am i not doing right?

Thanks for any help I can get!

[CD]

Have you been feeding it? Blastos multiply much faster if fed - mine will eat cyclopeeze and mysis shrimp quite readily.
Also, what are your calcium levels in the tank?

W. :)

[aquadoc]

Yeah feeding them helps out alot! Also I have found the they like medium flow, and high lighting.
I have mine at the top right under a 250 de mh 14k, with the jet stream on the left, they are on the very right but in its path, they are out of control.

[fishypets]

You might want to remove it from the substrate and glue it to a rock. Blastos grow smaller daughter polyps underneath. Make sure it has space all around before you glue it. In no time you should have a bunch of smaller polyps surrounding the big one.

[hideme]

Thanks for all the quick replies! OK, here are my responses:

I feed cyclopeeze, DT's and mysis shrimp to the entire tank (actually this is kind of left overs moving thru the tank after target feeding others). My calcium is actually a tad on the high side, over 450, and I'm working on getting it down. I never see any kind of mouth open so I am not really sure how to go about feeding it.

FYI - My tank is a 10 gallon nano and I have an 80 watt PC fixture running 12 hours a day.

A follow up question about putting on a rock. Do I wedge it down in there or try to keep the base of the frag even with the rock? Seems I would need to not put it too far into the rock if they come out from the bottom? Please give me a little guidance.

ugh - I've never been so lost when it comes to a coral. Thanks again for all your help and not making me feel like a fool. I really appreciate that.

[blueboy]

high light?, really?, i was under the impression that this was a lower light coral. i also have 250w DE's, but if i put them anywere in the upper half of the tank, they don't expand well. put them on the bottom, or under an overhang, and they expand again. mine have all about doubled in size in about a year and a half, but i rarely target feed them.

[gjuarez]

I agree with blueboy on this one. Never had one but one of my friends has a bunch and they are all in the bottom of the tank. Fishy made a good point about not having them on the sand. Good Luck and post pictures of it if you can.

[aquadoc]

I get extreme colors when they are up high, when down low the color isn't nearly as intense. Mine open tremendouly large, plus when they are up higher it makes it alittle easier to feed.
Fishypets has his at the very top, as well, right under a 400 watt mh. His has extreme colors as well.

I use to keep mine near the bottom but have noticed a huge growth difference when I move them up to the top.

As far as secureing them to a rock, just put a dab of super gel on the bottom of the blasto piece, and stick it to a rock of your chooseing, and voila!

Sand useually tends to lacerate the tissue, wich in turn creat dead spots on the corals.