Bizarro Cyphastrea SPS Coral

If there is one coral you do not want to put in strong light or even moderate light to begin with it is a Cyphastrea because it takes a long time for them to adjust to high intensity light. We recommend lighting intensity under 100 PAR to start and if you want to move them into higher light conditions, do so very slowly. There are not a lot of benefits to giving this coral an over-abundance of light and it introduces substantial risk of overexposure. When in doubt, go with dimmer light and if you want to try and acclimate them to a brighter area of the tank do so slowly, and be prepared to move it back to shadier areas at the first signs of trouble for example if it starts to bleach or the polyps remain tightly closed.

They require a moderate, indirect flow to ensure that no detritus builds up on their body. As they grow however their shape can become more of a detritus trap and you may have to change things up to keep them clean. If the detritus is allowed to build up it will over time kill the coral underneath.

Although symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae hosted within them supply most of their nutritional requirements through photosynthesis they do benefit from supplemental feedings of Oyster-Feast, mysis shrimp, or finely chopped meaty foods.