Open Brain Coral

Care at a glance

Overview

A moderately aggressive but easygoing LPS that is best kept on the sandbed away from corals with long sweepers. It is an excellent feeder that grabs pellets, brine, mysis and krill, and target feeding once or twice a week helps it thrive. Because it is a single free-living polyp, it is not fragged the way branching corals are.

In the wild

Trachyphyllia is a free-living open brain coral that naturally rests unattached on soft, sandy lagoon floors across the Indo-Pacific, so it should be placed directly on the sandbed rather than on rough rock that can tear its fleshy tissue. It prefers low to moderate light around 50 to 150 PAR and low to moderate flow, since strong current keeps its balloon-like tissue from inflating. Keep temperature 24 to 27 C and pH 8.1 to 8.4.

Good to know

Trachyphyllia geoffroyi is a solitary, free-living large polyp stony coral that does not cement itself to the reef. It inflates its tissue with water by day for photosynthesis and extends feeder tentacles at night. Because it lives loose on sand, its underside skeleton is delicate and easily damaged.

Did you know

Open brains live loose on the sand rather than attached to rock, and a healthy one can slowly inflate, deflate and shift position to find the spot it likes best.

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