nsteinca
Valuable Member
That’s awesome! Great to hear you’ve had success with them. Such a rare and unusual coral in the hobby
Nocturnal Nps id
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encrustingacro
2500 Club Member
Not all of them, but some, yes
encrustingacro
2500 Club Member
I forgot about balanophyllia. I guess it could be that, too. I (and basically everybody else in the hobby) am not very knowledgeable with NPS identification, so I can't ID for sure
twentyleagues
2500 Club Member
Unfortunately no. That was before I got out of the hobby in 2010. They went to a reefer in Chicago area. He drove all the way to my house to get them, the blanos, most of the dendros, the black sun corals and the biggest colony of orange sun corals. He had only planned on getting the rhizos. He said he was going to put them in a similar set up and had a bunch of other nps corals in a few other tanks. I really miss them. I hope they are still good.
Last I saw rhyzos for sale was 2014. Someone had a pair for sale on eBay. Orange and white. I foolishly passed on them. I was moving and didn’t want to buy them just to transport them.
Looking back…2 more corals would have made zero difference in the move.
twentyleagues
2500 Club Member
No. Probably not anyway. I think it's blano. I am not an expert by any means though.
nsteinca
Valuable Member
Very, very unlikely to be a rhizo - they’ve been illegal to import for awhile now and it’s extremely uncommon for them to be collected/imported (accidental or not). As far as I know, no one has reported successfully fragging a rhizo and I haven’t heard of any spawning in captivity.
It looks spot on to the balanos from U.S. vendors I’ve seen carrying them the last 6-9 months or so. It wouldn’t surprise me if most, if not all, are getting them from the same supplier/source. Balanos range on pricing depending which vendor you get them from (likely comes down to how many they buy from their supplier) but I’ve generally seen them priced from $10-75.
It looks spot on to the balanos from U.S. vendors I’ve seen carrying them the last 6-9 months or so. It wouldn’t surprise me if most, if not all, are getting them from the same supplier/source. Balanos range on pricing depending which vendor you get them from (likely comes down to how many they buy from their supplier) but I’ve generally seen them priced from $10-75.
I never heard of balanos until today but they do look a lot like rhizo, what are the differences / how to they compare ? Aside from cost and availability.
I’ve been looking for rhizo for 10 years, this might be a good compromise
nsteinca
Valuable Member
I’m by no means a rhizo or nps expert, but I know the skeletons are the general giveaway (easier said than done when they’re alive).
Rhizotrochus will have a skeleton like this (kind of reminds me of acanthophyllia skeletons). They’ll have a very large mouth compared to a balano (or even fat head dendros). The tentacles are also VERY long and flowy.
Compare that to balanophyllia skeletons. Becomes a little easier to ID them apart. Balanos can still get nice sized heads and long, flowy tentacles, but not like a rhizo.
I’m sure there’s other giveaways, but I need to up my coral nerd game another level or few before I know all that lol. The only person I know of (not an exhaustive list by any means) that still (or fairly recently) had one is an account on IG called LifeOfACoral
Rhizotrochus will have a skeleton like this (kind of reminds me of acanthophyllia skeletons). They’ll have a very large mouth compared to a balano (or even fat head dendros). The tentacles are also VERY long and flowy.
Compare that to balanophyllia skeletons. Becomes a little easier to ID them apart. Balanos can still get nice sized heads and long, flowy tentacles, but not like a rhizo.
I’m sure there’s other giveaways, but I need to up my coral nerd game another level or few before I know all that lol. The only person I know of (not an exhaustive list by any means) that still (or fairly recently) had one is an account on IG called LifeOfACoral
Putting it out there. Anyone has a rhizo still, dm me Let’s talk. You find this thread a week from now or 2 years from now. Dm me. Know someone with one? Get them in touch with me. If they sell to me…Finders fee will be awarded. I’m putting a bounty out on one.
nsteinca
Valuable Member
Mood haha. Best of luck on your hunt, I’ll make sure to forward you anything I find that’s out of my price range
Years ago they were smuggled in labelled as “torch corals” or dendro. Once in the country my understanding is it’s fair game. Legal to own, but illegal to import.Mood haha. Best of luck on your hunt, I’ll make sure to forward you anything I find that’s out of my price range
nsteinca
Valuable Member
Yeah that’s my understanding too. Once they’re here, they’re okay to own
twentyleagues
2500 Club Member
My blanos were roughly the size of dendros maybe a little larger (think a very big dendro) and did not grow larger at all. My rhizos were an easy 3" skeleton the polyp size was about 5-6". From my experience rhizos are much bigger. Color wise the blano is much closer to a rhizo reddish base with white and white to clear tentacles unlike dendros orange to yellow. I am not real sure on skeletal structure except that when I cut the damaged rhizo we used a new blade on the band saw and it was still quite the chore. More than 3/4 of the mouth was left and I think its one reason it survived.
Thank you, I know the rhinos are easily a 3” skeleton, what You just taught me, is the balanos are the smaller cousin
and the balano won’t grow larger Kinda reminds me of Cynarina vs Acantho in a way
Thank you
I might get a balano because they are similar and would be easier to find a home in my packed tank. But if I find a rhizo ever, I’m restructuring around it!
twentyleagues
2500 Club Member
Something that may be of interest when I set up the 90g that the nps lps (as I like to refer to them) lived in I had originally set that tank up for garden eels (I was never able to source them), the sand bed was 6-8" deep of a mix of coarse and finer sands. I had the rhizos for around 6 years. When I was selling everything and the guy came to get the rhizos we found that they had started to grow skeletal "roots" or tubercles growing from the bottom kinda like a tooth. These "roots" were only 2-3" in length and definitely not there when I purchased them. The previously damaged one did not have these. I had a brief email discussion with a marine biologist ( I dont remember her specialty) and she said that is one mode of reproduction in nature. They send out branches in the soft substrate and pop new heads up in the area. One of the various reasons they are not allowed to "harvest" them. Would this happen in a shallow sand bed I do not know but do not think so.Thank you, I know the rhinos are easily a 3” skeleton, what You just taught me, is the balanos are the smaller cousin
Kinda reminds me of Cynarina vs Acantho in a way
Thank you
I might get a balano because they are similar and would be easier to find a home in my packed tank. But if I find a rhizo ever, I’m restructuring around it!
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