Ok so solitary corals may not be the most exciting marine life to videotape but if youve never seen them these Australian Balanophyllia are very cool. This is a non-photosynthetic stony coral which can grow corallites up to 1.5″ long and polyps which can extend almost three inches across. Balanos are related to Dendrophyllias and they threfore require similar care requirements.
However, we have not been able to train the Balano polyps to stay open during the day nearly as much as a Dendro would. The Balanos in this video have been in captivity for over six months, living in a shaded area of a moderate flow tank with about once or twice weekly target feeding. This video was made right when the halide lamp was firing up so the reef goes from dark to bright and all the funky warm-up colors in between.
