CandyCanes growing together.??

Maybe some one can help me with this.

I won the bid on e-bay for a neon green candycane coral, I also bought another one from the same person, called a Snow Green..

They came today, or should I sat IT ..... There was only one..
But with 4 heads, 2 heads of one color, 2 heads of a different color..
All on the same coral.. I emailed them and told them they only sent one coral, not two..

They said over time 2 candycanes can grow together..
Anyone ever hear of this..??

They are on a thick stalk.. I guess anything can happen..
And they are 2 colors on one big piece.. Can this be..??

And if so, then they must be wild from the ocean, not frags from someones tank..??

She did say she was picking out a very special piece for me..
One that was very hard to find..

I just didn't know if they could do this or not.. Any Info would be a big help..

Thanks Larry

My Camera want take good pictures of my tank..

 

yep it happens sometimes. Very common with euphyllia species as well

 

ive thinking about one its got about 20 heads and its flat and round like a dinner plate for 40.00 but im running out of room. tax time is coming time for a new tank

 

yeah, my heads are growing together on many of my stalks. Very common. Provided the right conditions will grow more heads very fast. Try feeding it a bit of mysis shrimp with a turkey baster a couple times a week and when they get bigger give it pieces of krill. My canes have gotten very big and fat this way

 

Thanks for the info.. And I'll get some mysis shrimp

When feeding, will feeding one head be OK.. Or be sure to feed one head on each stalk..?? Being theres 2 different colors..
Do I need to feed each color or are they now one coral.. I cut up raw shrimp and squid and hand feed my bigger canes small chunks.. And they eat like pigs.. LOL
Sorry I'm asking so much.. But I want to learn all I can..

Thanks, Larry

 

Each Caulastrea polyp is a single animal so you want to feed each "head".

 

I have never seen caulastrea "fuse" together.... Euphyllia neither. Unlike SPS, LPS grows a skeleton that is for lack of a better term, dead. Lets say you take on candy cane head and glue it to a rock. It will grow a little, then most likely split to two heads and then grow a little. It will start to look like a y shape. These heads will then split and the process continues. As they grow you can see the CaCo3 skeleton that looks like rock or bone... It has no tissue on it unlike SPS. SO if the coral gets too heavy from that original polyp it is again for lack of a better term S.O.L. The specimen cannot add mass to the skeleton to stregthen it, unlike SPS that can grow thick as it grows tall and wide. SPS can continue to alter its "frame"/skeleton as long as the colony is alive.
Why am I talking about this?!?
Lets say you have two pieces of birdsnest(S.hystrix) and they grow towards each other and eventually touch. They WILL fuse together and form a single colony and both benefit.
Now lets say you have to caulastreas and they grow towards each other. Once they meet, they will NOT fuse, if two polyps are touching, one will grow in its path(the victor) and the other will have to grow "around" it. They will not fuse.

Are you sure the seller did not glue the two onto one rock or together?
It would be a color morph issue, which can occur. I have seen people that are serious into fragging try to create interesting and different pieces. Hey I'm guilty, I've put 4 different colored mushrooms or zoos on one rock. I think I even glued a red/green candy cane on a rock w/ a green one.

Without seeing exactly what your piece looks like I couldn't personally tell you what it is.

Good luck and happy reefing!

 

I looked at them real good, they're not glued, etc..

It would be a color morph issue, which can occur.

It doesn't look like 2 that grew together, just one with a color morph, after reading your info..

one coral with 2 different colors..
Just a way of selling 1 coral as 2.. But I really like it so even tho I paid 2X's as much as it should have cost.. I think I got my moneys worth..

Thanks for all the info.. Later, Larry