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Hard Coral


Button Coral Bird's Nest Blue Coral Brain Coral Brain Coral, Favites Bubble Coral Cactus Coral Candy Cane Coral Cat's Paw Coral Cauliflower Coral Daisy/Flowerpot Coral Doughnut Coral Elegance Coral Elephant Nose Coral Flower Pot Coral Frogspawn Coral Galaxy Coral Goniastrea Brain Coral Hammer Coral Horn Coral Jeweled Finger Coral Lettuce/Cabbage Coral Lobophyllia Brain Coral Nemenzophyllia Fox Coral Pearl Bubble Coral Pineapple Coral Pipe Organ Coral Plate Coral LT Plate/Disk Coral Platygyra Brain Coral Slipper/Tongue Coral Spiny Cup/Lettuce Coral Staghorn Coral Torch Coral Tube Coral Turbinaria Coral Velvet Coral


Soft Coral


Sea fan Cabbage Leather Coral Tree Coral Christmas Tree Coral Clove / Glove Polyp Colt Coral Corky Sea Fingers Devil's Hand Coral Finger Leather (Cladiella) Finger Leather (Sinularia) Flexible Leather Coral Kenya Tree Coral Mushroom / Leather Coral Pipe Organ Coral Pulse Coral Purple Sea Blade Rough Sea Plume Sea Rod / Red Tree Star Polyp Strawberry / Pink Cauliflower Tree Coral - Yellow Tree Coral - Paralemnalia Waving Hand Coral Yellow Sea Blade


Mushrooms


Actinodiscus Mushroom Coral Bullseye Mushroom Coral Elephant Ear Mushroom Coral Giant Cup Mushroom Coral Hairy Mushroom Coral Ricordea Mushroom Coral


Zoanthids


Elegant Moon Polyp Palythoa Button Polyp Stick / Tree Polyp Zoanthus Button Polyp

Tube Coral

The Tubastraea Tube Coral is a large polyp stony (LPS) coral, and is found in a variety of colors and forms depending upon species. Tubastraea micrantha is the Black Tube or Black Sun Coral, and T. faulkneri is known as the Orange Cup or Sun Coral. T. aurea has a more delicate peach-orange color and is known as the Golden Cup Coral. The genus name, Tubastraea, is derived from the Latin words tubus (tube) and astron (star), describing its skeletal structure which is tubular, with stars at the tip of each tube. The center skeleton is round with the tubes branching off in all directions.

Tubastraea sp.

Quick Stats: Tube Coral
Family: Dendrophylliidae Polyp Size: LPS - Large polyp stony Range: Indo-Pacific Color Form: Orange, Black Ideal Supplements: Calcium, Strontium, Trace elements Reef Compatible: Yes Tank Conditions: 72-78ºF; sg 1.023-1.025; pH 8.1-8.4 Water Flow: Medium to Strong Light: Low Dominance: Peaceful Placement: Low Care Level: Moderate

The Tubastraea Tube Coral can be quite fragile and must be handled with extra care. When placing in the aquarium, it must be picked up by its underside. It should have a medium to strong water current combined with low lighting levels within the aquarium. It will also benefit from the addition of calcium, strontium, and other trace elements to the water.

While it is a hardy coral for the reef aquarium, it is classified as moderately difficult to maintain because it has special dietary needs. It is one of the few corals that does not contain the symbiotic algae zooxanthellae. Instead, it must be regularly fed vitamin-enriched brine shrimp or micro-plankton from an eyedropper directly to each of its polyps to promote rapid polyp budding. Usually, it will only expand its polyps in the evening unless it is hungry, when it may expand its polyps during the day.

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