Clove Polyps relocating or something worse???

All, I've had a rock with about 20 clove polyps on it for about 2 months now. And they look better than they did when I bought them (nice color, open a lot, generally looking healthy). In the last few days I noticed three or four single, healthy looking , and open polyps sitting up in the substrate around the bottom of my tank. Is this normal behavior? Did they fall off of the colony due to a health issue, or are they moving to colonize elsewhere?

My parameters as of this morning are SG 1.027, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate around 10. No detectable silicates, phosphates.

Any ideas or questions?

Thanks

 

With cloves I am more likely to think that they are spreading. If fully open they may just be getting ready to take over. As always an image helps.

The only other thing I can think of is a crab or something else pulling them apart.

 

Thanks for the quick reply, Corailline. I'll post a picture in the morning, as the polyps are closed for the night.

Interesting point on something pulling it apart. I have seen my bumblebee snail on the rock with the polyps a few times, but never for long. The crabs do get around, so I guess I should keep a better watch on them.

Thanks again.

 

If they are the blue clove polyps, they are spawning and as Corailline said, they will take over. They are pretty, but they can be a nuisance when they spread everywhere.

Jack

 

Thanks for the reply Jack. Yes, they are very striking. I was told they are green clove polyps when I bought them, but I'm starting to think they are not. Maybe green pipe organ? I'll post a few pics tomorrow when they "wake up".

I'm not sure I'd mind them taking over to a degree as long as they don't damage anything else. I guess I'll know when to start taking action. If they are indeed reproducing, should they eventually anchor themselves on a rock somewhere? They have been on the substrate for a few days now, and they drift to different spots in the tank all of the time. Hopefully the pictures I will post tomorrow will help clear this up.

Thanks,

Josh

 

Hi, Josh~

Does the coral have a skeleton that looks similar to this:

Red Pipe Organ Coral

If not, then it's most likely clove polyps. If so, then definitely something is pulling them off the colony.

 

Thanks Mr. Bill. Upon looking at that image, it is definitely not pipe organ coral. There is no skeleton.

Please forgive the image quality here. My camera is decent, but it never seems to take nice pics of the tank! The first is the colony, the second is a very blurry pic of one of the jailbreaking polyps sitting in the substrate. There are roughly 7 or 8 of these strewn about the tank.