Micromussa next to pipe organ coral

[tomdeb]

I have a quick question about coral placement. My pipe organ coral is growing quite quickly and is getting close to a micromussa.

I'm thinking of attempting to move the pipe organ coral, but I'm hesitating.

what would you do if anything ?

picture to illustrate:

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[KrisReef]

Organ pipe coral grows very quickly and can cover over the entire tank unless you intervene. If you are going to keep it you will need to decide how much of the tank you want it to dwell in. Then you will need to routinely give it a haircut to keep it in place.
Putting it on an “island” or having it growing in two spots that you maintain (cutting only one at a time to prevent accidental extinction) are a couple of maintenance tactics that can be used to enjoy it without getting overrun in the tank. Trade frags with friends or your lfs.

 

[tomdeb]

Thanks a lot for the quick response.

I will definitely try to frag this organ pipe coral to see what happens. I am still fairly new to the hobby and it seems this head is going strong enough to take a little bit of trial and error abuse.

 

[Reefer Dan]

Thanks a lot for the quick response.

I will definitely try to frag this organ pipe coral to see what happens. I am still fairly new to the hobby and it seems this head is going strong enough to take a little bit of trial and error abuse.

Perhaps @KrisReef may have gotten green star polyps and pipe organ confused? Pipe organs generally grow fairly slow because they grow the calcium tube and aren’t very aggressive corals.
Also, it looks more like it is next to blastomussa instead of Micromussa. Blastomussa can sting, so be aware of that if the pipe organ gets too close.

 

[KrisReef]

Perhaps @KrisReef may have gotten green star polyps and pipe organ confused? Pipe organs generally grow fairly slow because they grow the calcium tube and aren’t very aggressive corals.
Also, it looks more like it is next to blastomussa instead of Micromussa. Blastomussa can sting, so be aware of that if the pipe organ gets too close.

Nope, organ pipe coral is more of an assemblage of tube worms than a “coral.” They can grow fairly fast, like star polyps ime. I have always liked Organ pipe but I gave away the best colored colony I had years ago and just ripped out huge chunks from my tank to return it back to an sps dominated tank. There were many frags of organ pipe that were sprouting a week after I did the first removal and I tore those off the rocks to keep it from coming back. It’s easier than aiptasia to remove but it can be a pain if left alone an unchecked.