Growing trees in your tank: Is a Kenya Tree coral just for beginners?

[vlangel]

I have never had a gree Kenya trees but I think I am gonna be on the look out for one! My tank is a softie/macroalgae dominant tank and a green Kenya would be welcome. Where online is a good place to buy one?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I had to get rid of them- They multiply Way too quick and drop shoots frequently and tried to overtake Huge birdsnest and pink lemonade colony (see top of pic)

 

[bryan3536]

I think this is a genus that needs to be researched more. Some strains of it (Brown strains) spread like weeds whilst others take years to grow and spread (Green Strains).
I find mine give the nicest colouring at night in my mixed reef though and believe everyone should love them and get the strain they want
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I like this one, very interesting branches.

 

[bryan3536]

Not a great shot as I had been fighting an algae issue and still have blues at 55% and whites at 1%, but you can see the beginnings of the forest I am growing, with what I *think* is a green kenya already grown in and, if you look closely to the bare spot in the middle, and to the spot on the far right, the reddish/brown kenya branches I planted two weeks ago. There are also a bunch of small redish kenya branches growing up between/under the green and on the back side of the rock not pictured, so my hope is I'll have something decent here in a few months time.

And if anyone can identify the pinkinsh/brownish kenya lookalike in the sandbed in front of the green kenya, would be appreciated. Can't remember where I got it lol and it stings like a bumblebee.

 

[BigSkyRich]

Growing trees in your tank: Is a Kenya Tree coral just for beginners?

Often Kenya Tree corals are listed when searching for starter corals and many would suggest that this is for good reason. These soft corals seem to be able to adapt to a wide range of parameters, but are they only a beginner coral? Kenya Tree corals come in multiple colors and many variations seem to fall under this generic name. What is your experience with Kenya Trees? Have you ever tried to add more than one? Have yours shrunk for no apparent reason? Have they dropped limbs that grow into new trees? Please share your tips and experiences with Kenya Tree corals in the discussion below!

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Photo by @Ben Pedersen

Added a nice sized piece I got from my LFS and it's quite the prolific grower. After about 2 months in the tanks (one in mixed reef and another in a coral only tank) I've already brought Frags back to the lfs. I noticed a "branch" had come loose and tried to get it out to frag but it had already attached to the rock. I see a lot of trimming in my future

 

[rja]

I love my pink and green kenya tree. Sure it grows like a weed and is randomly closed sometimes. But as a high light/flow coral, it’s unbeatable. I could never justify the work and stress it takes to keep acros alive so this fake acro definitely helps me with filling massive amounts of space for pretty much nothing.

 

[padilla95624]

Mine drops branches every time it touches the glass. It can get out of hand when they start attaching to areas I don't want them in. They do give a nice movement that sps' can't give.

 

[vlad2spinn]

I purchase a frag of this Green Nephthea with dark purple polyps about two years ago. At least I think it is Nephthea. Slow grower and does not drop branches. One of my favorite soft corals I own.

 

[Polysarc]

I think there pretty cool, i have been trying to grow a kenya tree forest in my 32 gallon for about a year. It’s about half way done.

Agreed on pictures. I've got a green one and two pinks/beige. I'm curious to know how many other kinds exist. I'm sure there's also a blue.

 

[soreefed]

As far as coral trees go I much prefer the look of sinularia over Kenya trees!

 

[Reeftanktraveler]

The green ones do not drop their branches. This one is about 3 years' worth of growth.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Yes I think it's more for beginners, it's a great looking, neon/ fluorescent in colour but honestly, that's all, mine is massive and it looks great but I'm treating it as coal miner's canary, if it acts weird in my aquarium something is wrong

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Would of posted earlier but the water was a bit cloudy due to doing a water change.

 

[bryan3536]

As far as coral trees go I much prefer the look of sinularia over Kenya trees!

I wonder if my green "kenya" is really a sinularia. Seems like the "kenya tree" label gets applied to a LOT of different looking corals.

 

[Mark Bradley]

To me they are a pain in the backside. I’m constantly trimming mine, have fragged it and given it to my LFS. Fortunately I’ve managed to limit it to a back corner but the main trunk is now quite large and not easy for me to reach otherwise I would probably try and get rid of it.

 

[Fritz05]

Great coral if you want one that eventually grows everywhere in your tank! Mine (a purple one) drops branches all the time and they always seem to find a hard to reach spot where they then attach to something. One branch attached to the heater and I had the hardest time removing it.

 

[bryan3536]

To me they are a pain in the backside. I’m constantly trimming mine, have fragged it and given it to my LFS. Fortunately I’ve managed to limit it to a back corner but the main trunk is now quite large and not easy for me to reach otherwise I would probably try and get rid of it.

So a little off topic but does your LFS take such frags? Do you get a credit? Like, I could give them 20 a month - it never occurred to me to try, though, because the dang thing is so prolific.

 

[ryanjohn1]

So a little off topic but does your LFS take such frags? Do you get a credit? Like, I could give them 20 a month - it never occurred to me to try, though, because the dang thing is so prolific.

Some will some won’t. Can’t hurt to ask.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Some will some won’t. Can’t hurt to ask.

This. Some LFS won't bother, the ones I deal with usually give .50 cents on the dollar for store credit. I have one that's iffy but it depends on his mood, lol.

 

[anthonygf]

Here was my brown or pinkish tree, one of my first and only has grown this much in 2-3 years from a golf ball size frag. Lower right of photo with Clowns living in it. Then ever since I upgraded from this 47 gallon bowfront to a 75g 3 years ago it started to shrink. I don't know what caused it, I took all the precautions when upgrading but for the next year after transfer it shrunk to death.