The Trachyphyllia Brain Coral is also known as the Folded Brain Coral or Open Brain Coral. It is a solitary LPS coral that grows as a single organism and does not form colonies. It generally is roughly oval shaped when it is small, but as it grows it will take on its trademark folds and begin to look more like a figure eight. It comes in a wide variety of colours such as pink, green, red and rainbow. It is relatively slow growing coral, but can grow quite large over time.
The Trachyphyllia Brain Coral is native to the Indo-Pacific region and is most commonly found at depths of between 30 and 40 meters, although it is sometimes found in shallower waters. It is not generally found on reefs themselves but on the sandy areas surrounding reefs. It tends to attach itself to a piece of dead coral or a shell and is also sometimes found in sandbed in shallower water. In a home aquarium, they should be placed on the sandbed in an area of moderate lighting and flow. Because they can grow quite large and have the ability to sting their neighbours, care should be taken with the initial placement.
Because they are a deeper water coral, the Trachyphyllia Brain Coral is not particularly light-demanding. It will generally do well in a wide range of lighting intensities but it should not be placed under extremely intense lighting or in total shadow. Flow should be sufficient to keep the coral free of detritus, but not so intense that the flesh is blown around aggressively or folded over on itself.
The Trachyphyllia Brain Coral is a coral that loves to be fed and displays an interesting feeding behaviour. It will accept a wide variety of foods but spot feeding with Vitalis LPS Pellets is a simple and effective method. While this coral is photosynthetic, many hobbyists feel that supplementary feeding is very important in helping maintain its good health in a reef tank long term.
Due to the fact that this coral is not a colonial coral, fragging is very difficult. While there are some methods that are sometimes successful, attempts to frag this coral often result in the death of the organism. This is one coral that it is probably best to just enjoy and not attempt to propagate.
