ORA Meteor Shower Cyphastrea

Description

Most Cyphastrea in the hobby are aquacultured, though they originate from reefs off the shores of Indonesia and Australia. The frags of Meteor Shower Cyphastrea sold here are aquacultured ORA. Aquacultured corals come with several benefits that will be discussed below. Meteor Shower Cyphastrea is an encrusting coral with a teal-blue base and orange-red polyps. Sometimes the base can appear more green and the polyps can appear more pink. Cyphastrea are one of the easiest stony corals to keep, but there are some mistakes that can be easily made. Let’s go over the basic care requirements for this coral in case you’re unfamiliar with it. To start, let’s discuss lighting. With the light fixtures that are available to the hobby today, too much lighting is an incredibly common problem that new hobbyists easily overlook. Cyphastrea have small polyps, giving them an SPS appearance. However, they behave more like LPS in terms of lighting. This is why the whole “LPS and SPS” identification the hobby came up with can be problematic. Anyway, you are much more likely to give this coral too much light than too little. For most reef aquariums, this coral will do best in some of the darker spots of the aquarium. They can be placed under slightly higher light if acclimated very slowly, but this isn’t recommended as it greatly increases the chances of bleaching. Cyphastrea requires moderate, indirect flow. It is important to ensure that detritus does not settle on the coral because this can quickly cause die-off. As the coral grows larger, you will likely have to provide stronger flow to keep the whole colony clean. Being stony corals, Cyphastrea require consistent levels of calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium. You might be able to maintain these levels with water changes alone, but you may need to supplement these levels as your stony corals grow. Calcium reactors, dosing systems, and kalkwasser are the three most popular ways to do this. These are fast growing corals, so you likely won’t be able to get away with water changes alone for long if you have lots of other stony corals. Along with that, you need to keep your nutrients in a good place. Generall, you should shoot for nitrates of 1-5 ppm and phosphates as close to 0.01 as possible bot not 0. It is okay to have slightly higher nutrients, but that is the range you should shoot for. Keep your temperature between 72-78 degrees Fahrenheit and stable. Finally, let’s discuss feeding. Cyphastrea contain a photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae which provides the coral with most of its nutritional needs. Despite this, you can feed Cyphastrea prepared coral food if you want. However, feeding Cyphastrea might be more trouble than its worth. Dosing your aquarium with phytoplankton and amino acids is usually plenty to keep this coral happy, at least concerning nutrition.

Care requirements

Purchase Size: 1″

Placement: Bottom to middle

Lighting: Low

Flow: Moderate

Parameters:  72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, salinity 32-35 ppt

Calcium: 350-450 ppm

Alkalinity: 8-12 dKH

Magnesium: 1,250-1,350 ppm

More Information

Aquacultured corals such as this Meteor Shower Cyphastrea from ORA are better adapted to aquarium conditions and are overall hardier than corals collected from the ocean. They are also far less likely to carry pests and disease, though you should still dip and/or quarantine them to be safe. These corals are much more likely to survive and do well in your aquarium. They are also more sustainable and environmentally friendly!