WWC Electric Daisy Stylocoeniella

Stylocoeniella Coral
(Stylocoeniella)
Placement: Middle to High
Light: Moderate to High
Flow: Moderate to High
Care Level: Easy for an SPS
Type: Encrusting SPS
Compatibility: Peaceful
Growth Rate: Fast
Photosynthetic: Yes
Special Care: None

As a relative newcomer to the hobby Stylocoeniella make a unique and colourful addition to a home tank and are relatively easy to care for. Also known as the Thorn Coral, the Stylocoeniella Coral is a unique encrusting SPS coral that
offers a unique alternative to aquarium staples such as encrusting Montipora. They are relatively new to the hobby, but their vivid colours and speed of growth have led to an explosion of popularity in recent years. They are available in a wide variety of colour morphs with trade names such as Burning Banana, Looney Tunes and Sunset. The name usually comes from the contrasting colours of the base and polyps. For example, Burning Banana has a yellow/green base with bright red polyps. Stylocoeniella grow by encrusting over rockwork and generally do not plate or form mounds.

They are found in the waters of Indonesia and the Great Barrier Reef, but due to the popularity of specific colour morphs, the vast majority of specimens available for sale have been aquacultured. This helps to ensure uniformity of colour and also helps to produce corals that are well adapted to living in home aquariums. In the wild, they are found on shallow reefs at depths of up to 10 meters. In a home aquarium they should be placed on an exposed rock ledge where they will receive moderate to high levels of light and flow. Many hobbyists will place them slightly lower, since they will generally grow towards the light. Because they are an encrusting coral, care should be taken with the initial placement to ensure that they will not encroach on other corals.
Stylocoeniella require moderate to high levels of both light and flow. A good rule of thumb is that a coral that is turning brown may not be receiving enough light and one that is turning white or becoming pale may be receiving too much light. Because this is an encrusting coral, flow should be sufficient to prevent detritus from building up on it. Like all SPS corals, it prefers strong, indirect flow. They are photosynthetic but can be fed an SPS specific food such as Vitalis SPS Food. Due to their growth speed, Stylocoeniella are ideal candidates for propagation. One popular method is to place a frag plug or disc next to the coral, wait for it to encrust and then simply remove the plug.