What’s up everyone, welcome to a Tidal Gardens
coral spotlight.
If you are new to this channel, Tidal Gardens
is a coral farm located in Copley, OH and
here we talk about all things coral reef tank
related. One of the things we do on this channel
is to do a deep dive into a specific Genus
of coral and that’s what we are doing here
today.
This video is all about Stylocoeniella. Right
off the bat I admit I have no clue how to
even pronounce this coral’s name. It does
have a common name, that being “thorn coral”
but literally nobody calls it that. Although
seldom used, I can see why they are called
thorn coral because they often host these
wormlike critters whose tubes extend out from
the colony making it look like a thorny ball.
When I say nobody calls it that, let’s just
say I had to do a google search for it and
it didn’t show up on the first page. So…
we are left with a scientific name that is
hard to pronounce.
The variations that I’ve heard revolve around
how you pronounce that C.O.E. in the middle.
I call it Stylo-SIN-niella where the C.O.E.
is pronounced SEE like in Coelacanth. I’ve
also heard it pronounced Stylo-COE-niella.
Anyway, let’s talk about what these corals
even are.
In terms of taxonomy, their classification
is every bit as oddball as their name. They
are a member of the sub-order Astrocoeniina
and the family Astrocoeniidae… which puts
them in the category along with… nearly
nothing else.
Anyhow, Stylocorniella are an encrusting stony
coral that has features similar to small polyp
stony corals such as Montipora but also some
similarities to the small polyp varieties
of Goniopora depending on how extended the
polyps are. The goniopora comparison is a
bit of a stretch because the polyps on a stylocoeniella
are a lot smaller, but I think the shape looks
similar. If Goniopora were an SPS it would
look just like this.
These corals are found throughout Indonesia
and Australia however it isn’t frequently
imported. When they initially hit the market
Stylocoeniella were quite rare, but luckily
they are a very easy coral to propagate and
thus became more commercially available than
one would expect given their spotty rate of
import. Right now there are only a handful
of color morphs, but who knows? As more color
variants are discovered it may become as diverse
any.
That’s a little bit of background on Stylocoeniella.
Let’s now talk about their care requirements
starting with lighting and placement.
We primarily keep Stylocoeniella in low to
medium light intensity here at Tidal Gardens.
That translates to around 50 to 100 PAR. I
haven’t really tried keeping them in brighter
light, but it might be possible to get brighter
coloration under the higher intensities. The
main reason we don’t have them in higher
light, believe it or not, comes down to space
issues here. They did well in one of our lower
light systems and grew like crazy so that’s
where they stayed. When in doubt, try lower
lighting intensities until it is clear that
the coral is stable before ramping it up.
The lowest lighting we have grown this coral
in was around 40 PAR.
The coral seems adaptable and if we are able
to clear some space out for them in brighter
aquariums we might give them a try there.
If you have a colony of Stylocoeniella and
want to experiment with higher light, remember
that lighting that is too bright risks burning
the coral and it will happen quickly so if
you start to see the coral starting to turn
lighter and bleach out, move it to a dimmer
location sooner rather than later.
As for placement, I would try to find it a
spot lower in the tank, possibly even under
an overhang. I probably wouldn’t place it
on the top of the rock structure. Assuming
it could handle the light at the top of your
tank, I don’t know how well that would work
aesthetically because this coral will stay
kind of flat to the rock work and often times
hobbyists are looking for a coral that is
going to extend up towards the light structurally
like branching corals.
One other thing about placement to consider
is future growth. Stylocoeniella is a fast
growing coral that will spread quickly as
it encrusts. You don’t want to crowd it
right away and have it grow into neighboring
colonies of corals.
Let’s move on to water flow.
Stylocoeniella appreciate low to medium flow.
There are two things that I am looking to
accomplish with flow for this coral. The first
is to give it enough flow to keep it clean.
Stylocoeniella is an encrusting coral that
can quickly spread onto the rocks or bottom
glass. As a result, it can attract its fair
share of detritus. Detritus build-up can cause
the coral to die back where it collects. Providing
elevated flow around the coral can prevent
this accumulation. Even moderate flow can
serve to keep the coral clean, but pay attention
to any detritus accumulation and consider
altering the flow in your tank to compensate.
Detritus issues aside, one benefit to lower
flow is that it gives the coral a chance to
extend its polyps. In higher flow I notice
that the polyps remain tight against the body
and the whole colony resembles a Montipora
or a Porites.
Providing periodic low flow is also beneficial
for this coral for the purposes of feeding.
Spot feeding Stylocoeniella is not something
that a lot of hobbyists do, but I am all for
it if people want to be proactive. They are
not a particularly aggressive feeder especially
given its small polyp size, and if the colony
only receives strong flow it won’t get a
good opportunity to capture food.
If you want to feed Stylocoeniella, what should
you feed? Despite not being the most aggressive
feeders in the world, there are a couple types
of food that work well for target feeing.
These three are amino acids, small zooplankton,
and simply having fish present as a nitrogen
source. In other words, treat it as you would
any other small polyp stony coral. Most hobbyists
do not go out of their way to spot feed, say,
a Montipora so directly feeding a coral like
Stylocoeniella may be a little overboard.
Ours have grown exceptionally fast without
a lot of attention. Still, if you feel like
going that extra mile with feeding your corals,
we can talk about it briefly.
Starting with amino acids, they are simple
organic compounds that play a major role in
building proteins as well as other biological
functions at the cellular level. There are
a little over 20 different types of amino
acids. Most of them can be synthesized by
the organism but some cannot be and must be
taken in by feeding. Those amino acids are
termed essential amino acids and they vary
from species to species. Corals regularly
take in available amino acids from the water
column so it is easy to provide them with
adequate quantities by broadcast feeding an
amino acid solution. They are available from
any number of commercially available reef
supplement manufacturers. This may be the
easiest way to feed Stylocoeniella because
as long as amino acids are bioavailable in
the water column, the corals will soak them
up.
Next up, Small zooplankton include organisms
such as rotifers and cyclops plankton. There
are two kinds, frozen and powdered. Both varieties
do a great job of eliciting a feeding response
from a wide range of corals. They are small
enough that many small polyp stony corals
can make a meal out of them but you have to
be careful because they are a very nutrient
dense messy food which can elevate your nutrient
levels.
Last point on nutrition, having fish in and
around coral colonies tends to have a positive
effect. Fish provide a steady dose of nitrogen
and phosphorous which in small quantities
is helpful for their nutritional needs.
Although coral nutrition is important, there
is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Most of the nutrition Stylocoeniella needs
will come from the lighting and they will
be absorbing other nutrients from the water.
If you are going to experiment with broadcast
feeding or target feeding, start slowly with
it and don’t expect explosive changes overnight.
Having some phosphate and nitrate in the water
is beneficial but overfeeding can cause these
parameters to rise to dangerous levels that
can be hard to remedy.
Let’s talk a little bit more about Chemistry.
Since we just talked about the potential problems
associated with overfeeding, let’s talk
about phosphate and nitrate. Phosphate and
Nitrate are great general measurements of
water cleanliness. They show up mainly in
the food we provide the tank but decaying
plant and animal matter in the aquarium can
also elevate their levels in the water.
We generally shoot for about 5-10 ppm nitrate
and .05 to .1 ppm phosphate with varying degrees
of success. Such is life in this hobby right?
If Nitrate levels get too high corals may
react negatively by taking on drab coloration
or suddenly dying back in extreme cases. If
Phosphate levels are too high, it may feed
into an unwanted algae bloom or spur on the
growth of other undesirable organisms that
can stifle the growth of corals.
For a short period there was a push in the
hobby to have near zero levels of nitrate
and phosphate. This is done through techniques
like carbon dosing or GFO which can aggressively
bring those numbers down. Ultra low nutrient
levels though come with their own sets of
issues. There is such a thing as too clean
and I would argue the problems caused by near
zero nutrient levels are much worse than those
caused by an abundance of nitrate and phosphate.
Corals require some level of nitrate and phosphate
available to them. When starved out, the corals
first take on a shrunken emaciated look and
then they start dying off. After that there
is a risk for blooms of unwanted organisms
such as brown dinoflagellates that thrive
in ultra low nutrient conditions.
For Stylocoeniella specifically, I would rather
see Nitrate and Phosphate levels on the high
side than barely detectable because we have
kept them in systems with very high nutrient
with little to no difficulties. In some tanks
they are in 50 ppm of nitrate and 2.5 ppm
of phosphate. Those figures are obviously
super high but it is just to give you an idea
of how tolerant Stylocoeniella are on the
high nutrient side.
Moving on from the nutrient parameters, let’s
consider building block parameters, Calcium,
Alkalinity, and Magnesium.
Because Stylocoeniella are stony corals, and
fast growing stony corals at that, these are
the three major chemical parameters that are
needed to support that skeletal growth rate.
Starting first with Calcium… Calcium is
one of the major ions in saltwater. In the
ocean, its level hovers around 425 parts per
million. As a coral grows calcium is absorbed
from the water and used to forms its calcium
carbonate skeleton.
Alkalinity on the other hand is not a particular
ion, but rather a general figure of carbonate
availability in the water. Technically it
is the amount of acid required to lower the
pH of saltwater to the point bicarbonate turns
into carbonic acid. If you have more alkalinity,
it can soak up more acid. Less alkalinity
and you have less buffering capacity making
the tank more susceptible to chemical changes.
In practice alkalinity tends to be the parameter
that fluctuates the most, so if you can only
manage one test, test for alkalinity. In natural
sea water, the alkalinity of the water measures
around 7 or 8 dkh though most salt mixes these
days mix up closer to 8 to 9 dkh. Some aquarists
like to overload this parameter a little and
keep their tanks around 10 or 11 dkh with
the belief that having elevated calcium and
alkalinity in the water contributes to faster
stony coral growth.
Raising both calcium and alkalinity together
can be tricky because of how they interact.
Calcium ions and carbonate want to react with
one another. Addition of a calcium supplements
often comes with a corresponding fall in alkalinity
levels and vice versa. If you are experiencing
this in your systems, it is normal, but wild
swings are not. If you are experiencing dramatic
swings of calcium and alkalinity every time
you use an additive, you may want to look
at your Magnesium levels. Magnesium behaves
chemically similar to calcium. It can bind
up carbonate ions thus increasing the overall
bioavailability of alkalinity compounds in
the water. In the ocean, Magnesium sits at
about 1350 ppm.
That should give you a little bit of background
on the chemical parameters to keep an eye
on. Remember though that the growth rate of
Stylocoeniella may make chemical stability
more difficult to pin down, especially as
this coral spreads into a large colony. Fast
growing SPS colonies soak up calcium, alkalinity,
magnesium and trace elements at a much faster
rate than their slower growing relatives.
At first just regular water changes may be
sufficient to keep up with the chemistry demands
of the corals, but as the biomass increases,
you may have to work in supplementation such
as kalkwasser, calcium reactors, or two part
dosing… or some combination of the three.
When will this happen in your tank? Hard to
tell, and that’s why regular testing is
recommended so frequently. It can really help
with your decision-making process and to avoid
major pitfalls.
Last point I will make about water chemistry
is that stability is the goal. Even if one
or two parameters are “off” a little bit,
it is better for them to remain consistent
at that level than for the hobbyist to hurriedly
try to change the values trying to hit a particular
target value. We have kept corals alive and
thriving in less than ideal conditions because
they were adjusted to them for a long period
of time and eventually we got the water chemistry
back in line but did so over the course of
several months. Also, there is such a thing
as a bad test kit that reports an inaccurate
number. If I see a bad value, I like to confirm
with with a few different methods before taking
any drastic action.
Ok, that about does it for Stylocoeniella.
So what kind of tank is Stylocoeniella best
suited for? I see can see this coral being
used in a couple of different ways creatively.
I can see it used as a ground cover in high
energy SPS dominated tanks as well as lower
flow mixed reefs with other stony corals.
It is a very fast growing coral and can quickly
cover rock work basically acting as a much
more exotic replacement for encrusting corals
such as Montipora or Porites in high light
situations or Pavona or Cyphastrea in lower
light situations.
Either way, Stylocoeniella is an oddball coral
that is a nice break from the norm. There
are several monochromatic color variants but
more and more multi-colored variants are popping
up such as the red and yellow “burning banana
variety” and we even came across one with
a rainbow coloration that goes by “loony
tunes” stylocoeniella online.
Anyway, that does it from here.
Hopefully this video is helpful for those
looking to try them for the first time. If
you would like more information or perhaps
purchase Stylocoeniella for your home aquarium,
I invite you to visit us at tidalgardens.com
and see what we have in stock. We are always
on the lookout for new and interesting color
morphs of this coral to add to our collection.
Until next time, happy reefing.
