So my friend's new boyfriend has a birthday coming up.  He also has a salt water aquarium which he loves, and in that beloved aquarium is a coral which is growing too big for the tank and he will soon need to say goodbye to.

So I thought I'd make a cake of it for him.   

Then I saw the thing (Oh yes, he has a video of it on youtube.) Here is his actual baby:
[postimage id="5073" thumb="900"]

Forget the shape -- I'm not even going to deal with that whole "let's-put-all-the-weight-in-one-big-bulb-on-the-top" thing going on there.   I'm just wondering how to do the... ... tentacles?   

I'm guessing the only answer is lots and lots and lots of tubes with iridescent petal dust.  Would sugarpaste be too fragile?  I'm wondering about how heavy those long things will be, because it's not going to be a huge cake -- enough for 10 folks, really.

Does anyone have any better suggestions at approximating that thing?   Here are some other (less structurally challenging) versions.   I feel no compunction to make HIS elegance coral, just ANY elegance coral.

[postimage id="5074" thumb="900"](this one is probably more along my lines -- it's an already toppled over cake.  my specialty)

Then there's this one....

and finally...

and yes OF COURSE I'm including the clownfish!   (His are named "Lenny" and "Bruce".)

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

I would say modelling chocolate through an extruder. Of course, getting all those little thingys dried with the same wave in them will be tricky.

true, jgifford -- if you have a spaghetti pasta maker you could get globs of stingy things more in the same direction

probably more fondant than modeling choco though due to the heat

is wafer paper an option?  Cut as big a circle as possible and then start cutting the tentacles, leaving the center intact.  Cut several and layer them.  You can curl the wafer paper around anything - skewer, pencil to give it some motion.  It also takes dust pretty well, and there's a shiny side and a matte side.

oh good idea, leah

Ooooooohhh..... That's a great idea....

here's another question-- what about gelatin?  Like you do with gelatin bubbles?

I've never used paper wafer.... I gotta go look at some tutorials and figure out what you're talking about!

https://www.amazon.com/Bakery-Crafts-BC-WFS-0811-100/dp/B00024WNVI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1473639857&sr=8-2&keywords=edible+wafer+paper

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2014/03/using-wafer-paper-in-cake-decorating/

Thanks!