Bubble Coral

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep light on the low side of moderate, around 100–150 PAR, since intense lighting can keep the bubbles from inflating properly or bleach the coral outright. Flow should be gentle, just enough to keep detritus from settling, because strong current can tear or deflate the vesicles. Give it a shadier lower or mid placement with a few inches of open space on every side. After the bubbles deflate at night it extends sweeper tentacles roughly 3–4 inches (7.5–10 cm) armed with a strong sting, so keep it clear of anything it could reach once the lights go out. It is not a demanding feeder and does fine on light alone, though it will take small meaty foods like mysis at night if offered.

In the wild

Plerogyra sinuosa grows in sheltered lagoons and the shaded, calmer parts of reef slopes across the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea, where it forms meandering ridges of skeleton topped with large, smooth, grape-like vesicles. Those bubbles stay inflated through the day to spread the coral's zooxanthellae toward the light and collapse down each evening. In the tank, give it a lower to mid rockwork spot in a calmer, shadier corner where the bubbles can inflate fully without bumping into rock or neighboring corals.

Good to know

Plerogyra sinuosa is a large polyp stony coral in the family Plerogyridae, a family split out specifically for the bubble corals and their close relatives. Its thin, calcified skeleton grows in winding, wall-like ridges that stay completely hidden under the daytime bubbles. The vesicles are filled with fluid rather than air, and their real job is boosting light capture for its symbiotic algae; the coral pulls them in at night to reveal its true feeding tentacles underneath.

Did you know

The bubble coral's daytime look is almost entirely a disguise: every evening the smooth, grape-like vesicles deflate and pull back to reveal sweeper tentacles that were hidden inside them the whole time.

Related species

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