Sun Coral vs. "Dendro"

[jackson6745]

Can someone please explain the difference between the common, oldschool sun polyp coral that used to sell for $30 per colony, and the new emergence of "dendro" that sells for $30 per polyp?
I have seen some dendros for sale that looks like a sun polyp colony that has been dremeled to only a few polyps.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

dendros are cool :biggrin:

 

[lazibonez]

Can someone please explain the difference between the common, oldschool sun polyp coral that used to sell for $30 per colony, and the new emergence of "dendro" that sells for $30 per polyp?
I have seen some dendros for sale that looks like a sun polyp colony that has been dremeled to only a few polyps.

I think major differences are:
sun coral have smaller polyp size compared to dendros.
sun coral doesnt open all the time while dendro does.
dendro are from australia, and sun coral are from other places

I could be wrong, since I still dont own a dendro yet, but I will after this swap.

 

[tosiek]

The fact that you can grow 20-30 heads of the oldschool sun polyps in the same amount of time it takes you to get 1-2 heads of dendro's, depending on the type of dendro. Amount collected and area's farmed for them also play a big factor in the rediculous pricing. Alot of people don't hand feed them making their growth slow down and alot of people don't have the patience to do more than feed their fish and change water.

They are the same genus but different species, if you thought they are the same one. They grow larger usually and have defining colors around the mouth and the white pattern on the tentacles is more prominent.

Its like getting a pink birdsnest colony and comparing it to a blue tort or blue monster or some other silly multi colored stick that grows at a snails pace and you SPS folks covet. :tub:

Sun polyp

Dendro

And im sure Pedro will give a nice detailed reply with links and stuff.

 

[tosiek]

I think major differences are:
sun coral have smaller polyp size compared to dendros.
sun coral doesnt open all the time while dendro does.
dendro are from australia, and sun coral are from other places

I could be wrong, since I still dont own a dendro yet, but I will after this swap.

Lazi, dendro's are from other places too, just not collected as often =0) And dendro's behave like sun polyps do with extension cycles. They are pretty much equal in behaviors. Dendro's just more readily accept higher lighting than sun polyps do.

 

[ming]

From my experience, I think its just the size difference. I never had the sun coral grow much faster then dendro, sure 50 polyps of sun coral will grow faster then 1 polyp of dendro, but if you think about 1 polyp vs 1 polyp, I don't think the sun coral grows that much faster. The suncoral might get full grown faster so it spends its energy on spreading vs the dendro getting larger, but a dendro will not grow only 1 head in the same time it takes to grow a colony of sun coral if both started the same size (colony being like 30+ heads)
Also, I don't believe the whole dendro staying open all the time vs sun coral staying open only at night. If you have a HEALTHY and well fed sun coral, it will stay open just as long as the dendro, and likewise for the opposite if you have a starving dendro, it will be closed more often then a sun coral.

 

[lazibonez]

Thank you both for your insights, I think you both are onto something here. But I definitely agrees with this..

dendros are cool :biggrin:

 

[Deanos]

And im sure Pedro will give a nice detailed reply with links and stuff.

 

[Deanos]

Ultimate Reef

WetWebMedia

Excerpt: Genus Dendrophyllia - Near impossible to distinguish from Tubastrea w/o microscopic analysis of corallite skeletons.

 

[DevIouS]

Rich:
"new emergence of "dendro" ????

Man you SPS guys are sheltered.:happysad:


It's probably been mentioned above but, size, more tolerant to lighting conditions & they don't need to be fed as much as Sunpolyps.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

my sun corals never react to the light on or off. They open when food is readily available. After constant bombarment of food for weeks, the usually stay open 24/7. I also think they react to time of feeding. If you have been feeding mostly 3:00 pm afternoon, then they tend to stay oepn around those hours even if you don't feed that week.

sun coral is cheaper but everyone tells you to stay away
denro is much more expensive in US(not so in some other countries-they are same priced as the suncoral) but everyone is saying you can keep one.

 

[moonlightxpress825]

from my experience..dendros are open more than sun polyps