Fire coral

[allan]

This thing is just so happy, I want to touch it :)

http://img.tapatalk.com/a6934c51-b190-3050.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/a6934c51-b1b9-84b3.jpg

[Squiers007]

Allan! That's awesome! I studied fire coral for my Masters in Biology, but have not seen many people ever keep it in there tank before. I absolutely love the stuff. Looks like you've got a nice piece there? Where did you get it? And how has the growth been?

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[allan]

Really? That's cool! Maybe you can give me a little education on it.

If you want some for your tank, l got several frags growing and ready.

I got it as a bonus when I got the sump from Mike Texreefer.

[Texreefer]

go ahead grab it and rub it around in your hand... lemme know how that works out for ya!:bigsmile:

[allan]

I ought to, Mike, just to prove to everyone that I am normal and suffer from the same weaknesses as every other man... Or any other male. :)

I do enjoy the way it grows, all branchy and stuff, and it melts onto its host rock like a candle.

[Europhyllia]

Just when I think 'what a cool post by Allan, great pics and really interesting specimen!' you have to throw in another eye-roller.

That is pretty cool though. Glad it's doing so well for you! :)

[allan]

:) eye roller 8)

[ShAgMaN]

That stuff is evil! I got "burnt" so bad once in Florida it took weeks to heal. :bareteeth:

[allan]

Is it the same reaction you get from tarantulas?

I've handled it many times... Could be my man-skin. :)

[Squiers007]

Tarantulas are more like getting fiberglass in your skin... fire coral is closer to a jellyfish sting since they are very closely related. Fire coral are not even true corals in a sense because they are in the class Hyrdozoa and are more closely related to freshwater hydras than the Anthozoan corals that we keep.

Each one of those little hairs called "dactylozooids" contains hundreds of "nematocysts" which are these nasty little barbs that shoot into your skin and then inject an enzyme that "burns". If you google nematocyst there are some really awesome electron microscope images of them. They look pretty brutal.

Haha, and this concludes my little science lesson for the day! Hope you enjoyed. If anyone has more questions about fire coral I would be more than happy to try and answer them.

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[allan]

Nice! Mike had warned me when he gave me the frag, and he did it with a smile.

I'm going to have to touch it to see what the fuss is all about.

[Europhyllia]

video tape it!

(I wonder how it affects the fish in your tank? Do they instinctively know to stay away?)

[Sherita]

I'm going to have to touch it to see what the fuss is all about.

What is it with men? Ya just *gotta* try something :confused:

grumble, grumble........testosterone poisoning, that's gotta be it.

Remember, I raised a son, so I have firsthand knowledge of this particular brand of peculiarity :rofl:

Of course, there will be five other guys going "do it!", cause that's the way it works.

[Milly]

I've moved it around here and there and don't recall being hurt by it. Then again I wasn't trying I give it and Indian burn either… lol

[allan]

video tape it!

(I wonder how it affects the fish in your tank? Do they instinctively know to stay away?)

CHALLENGE.... wait for it.... ACCEPTED!

Of course I will have to learn how to upload video.

[allan]

lol, not sure if it worked but here's a YouTube link to the great experiment.

Next up is the mini carpets :)

[allan]

Oops...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG_yOsrv_PQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[ShAgMaN]

Is it the same reaction you get from tarantulas?

I've handled it many times... Could be my man-skin. :)

Never touched one and kiwis dont bother me 8P, but I have had numerous jelly stings throughout the years and this doesn't really compare. The sting isn't that much worse (still worse), but the wound stays with you longer than you'd expect. I swear I had some on the top of my foot/ankle that hung around a month.

Course, this could be a different species, just like jellyfish stings are different. Also time of exposure could matter?

Nothing compares to a sting ray barb in the foot - worse pain I've ever felt. You need hot...very hot water...fast.

[ShAgMaN]

Oops...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG_yOsrv_PQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Looking forward to this when I get home...hopefully it was in a sensitive area for an extended time - just kidding.

[Squiers007]

The reason you don't get stung the majority of the time that you touch/handle these guys is that the "hairs" retract very rapidly when they sense movement other than the current, and if the "hairs" are not out, you will more than likely not get stung. Whenever I would go collecting for these I would just wave my hand in front of them a bunch and get them to retract before breaking off the frags that I needed. The only times I have been stung by them is when I wasn't paying attention and bumped into some... whoops! Here, checkout this link if you want to learn more about nematocysts. It also has some cool pictures. http://aquaticdatabase.com/index.php/Cnidocyte

[Texreefer]

Now see, some of us knew this... and now you have outed Allan in front of his doting fans... :wink_smile: he was about to stretch his manlyness to new heights but now there is a feeling trickery and deceit in the air. Allan.. I was with you all the way man!
:applause::bigsmile:

The reason you don't get stung the majority of the time that you touch/handle these guys is that the "hairs" retract very rapidly when they sense movement other than the current, and if the "hairs" are not out, you will more than likely not get stung. Whenever I would go collecting for these I would just wave my hand in front of them a bunch and get them to retract before breaking off the frags that I needed. The only times I have been stung by them is when I wasn't paying attention and bumped into some... whoops! Here, checkout this link if you want to learn more about nematocysts. It also has some cool pictures. http://aquaticdatabase.com/index.php/Cnidocyte

[Europhyllia]

Well that was kind of a let down. Thanks for trying though!

[allan]

:D

I suspected as much. Next time the hairs are out I will gently bump it... In an effort to regain my man card status, I will use the back of my hand. :)