Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

I had a bunch of live rock pieces in a corner of my aquarium and saw this in the middle of them. Looks like a coral is growing back. I remember this rock because a mushroom came on it and i moved it onto one of my bigger rocks.There was nothing on it except for coralline algae growing over it. The part growing is about the size of a fingernail but is growing fast. This was in my 20 gallon long reef aquarium. Not much in it right now because 5 months ago a sea cucumber did a suicide mission in the filter and i haven't had the money to get back into it. Can anyone tell me anything about it. These are the best pics i could get becasue it is so small. thanks, Jonathan

Probably a Porites spp., which tend to be the most common little corals that come in on rock. They are relatively easy and hardy, growing pretty quickly with good circulation and light. One way to tell for sure is to look for intervals in which the coral closes up (usually for a day or so) and suddenly polyps out again. That is the easiest way to distinguish them from Montipora spp.

It's cute, whatever it is. To add to what Andrew said, some species of Porites don't necessarily need massive amounts of light. With good lighting, some of the encrusting species have nice color.

It's growing fast, hopefully it will cover some rock. thanks, jonathan

it is true that they don't need it, but their growth is phenomenal in higher light and flow. Certain species can tolerate more light and flow than most other corals, even Acropora spp. These are the corals that get pounded on the reef crest, after all.