Blastomussa Merletti are a colonial LPS coral that is sometimes referred to as a Pineapple Coral. They generally are found in combinations of red and green and have a whiskered appearance, which differentiates them from their cousin, the Blastomussa Wellsi. The polyps of the Blastomussa Merletti also tend to be significantly smaller. They grow as colonies and one single polyp can soon grow into a colony. Like all LPS corals, their skeleton is made out of calcium carbonate. They usually have a green center surrounded by a red ring and grow as a tightly packed colony.
Blastomussa Merletti are found in a wide range of oceans, including the coast of East Africa, the Indo-Pacific region and the Great Barrier Reef. Due to their increasing popularity, they are also beginning to be available as aquacultured specimens. In the wild, they generally live on the reef walls at lower depths and can be found as deep as 150 feet. In a home aquarium, they can either be placed on a piece of rock on the bottom of the tank or on the main rockwork in the lower portion of the tank. They can be placed on rocky substrate but it is not recommended to place them directly on a sandy bottomed tank, as they will quickly become dirty. They can safely touch other Blastomussa Merletti but generally should not touch other coral species.
Blastomussa Merletti prefer lower levels of light and, for this reason, they should be placed in a lower light area of the tank near the bottom. If exposed to too much light bubbles may begin to form in their flesh and they should be moved into a lower light area. They also prefer lower levels of flow. The flow should be sufficient to prevent detritus from building up on them but should not cause the flesh to move excessively or retract. Their polyps can be damaged from excessive flow.
Like all LPS corals, Blastomussa are photosynthetic and can derive all their energy needs from aquarium lighting. However, they do respond well to being spot fed and will happily accept LPS pellet food such as Vitalis LPS Food. They are fairly easy to frag since a single head will become a colony quite quickly.
While Blastos are one of the easier LPS corals to keep, they require stable water parameters and monitoring of alkalinity and calcium levels.
